Los Angeles, CA (April 23, 2010) Obesity1 rates for American adults have stabilized2 while the rate of childhood and minority obesity(肥大,肥胖) is rising, according to a study in the journal Medical Decision Making, published by SAGE3. Using a novel simulation approach based on national data from 2000-2004 and validated4(生效,确认) against 2005-2006 data, the study looked at future projections5 for the distribution of body mass index(身体质量指数) in the United States. The research explored statistics for many categories of Americans based on gender6, age and race, seeking to discover which overweight groups were the most likely to have stable, rising or lower rates of weight.
Projections(投影,发射) reveal that obesity rates across all age categories for the adult US population will remain stable for the next 10 years. That positive report, however, is contrasted to less positive projections indicating that the following groups of Americans may have rising rates of overweight:
Black young adults (age 18-39 years)
Children – mainly boys – (ages 6-9)
Black children (10 and over)
"The unprecedented7 rise in obesity among U.S. adults over the past two decades appears to have stabilized and will continue to remain stable over the next 10 years," said author Anirban Basu PhD, University of Chicago School of Medicine. "Levels of obesity, however, remain very high and we're particularly concerned with the increase in rates of overweight among 6-9 year-old children – especially boys. As they age they could contribute again to the rise of adult obesity, so addressing these risks in early childhood is of utmost(极度的,最远的) importance."