Percentage of severely obese adults skyrockets

October 2, 2012 - 9:52 am | Category: Health

The percentage of American adults who are severely obese has nearly doubled since 2000, a new study out this week reveals.

In 2010, 6.6% of U.S. adults (about 15.5 million people) were 100 pounds or more overweight. That’s up from 3.9% in 2000.

“There is no question that severe obesity is going up very fast,” says lead author Roland Sturm, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation. “Severe obesity has severe effects on quality of life, chronic conditions and health care costs.”