In traveling more than most Americans, I think, since I was sixteen, the idea that Americans are generally overweight doesn't seem all that foreign to me. A quick trip between Frankfurt and Chicago airports always seems to confirm this. The numbers, however, in a Flash based map on cnn.com don't seem to make sense. The described increase in obesity in the US seems statistically unlikely (in my mind) and I'm wondering if the rapid increase is due to the criteria for obesity changing along with moderate increases.
Take a look for yourself: CNN.com/heath: Obesity in the U.S. from 1985 to 2006
At the bottom of the map, Obese is defined as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher. In the Wikipedia article on Body Mass Index, it states:
"In 1998, the US National Institutes of Health brought US definitions into line with WHO guidelines. They decreased the normal/overweight cut-off from BMI 27.8 to BMI 25. About 30 million Americans who were fine before, are now seen as overweight. The World Health Organization uses the term "pre-obese" where the USA uses "overweight"." (link: Wikipedia Body Mass Index)
With this type of statistical reporting and the obvious questions that should arise if the numbers aren't recalculated based upon one type of value versus another, how are we to trust what our eyes are being told? Furthermore, how are we to trust the people providing the numbers without placing them in the appropriate context?
- Note: the direct source of the map is at this link: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/fit.nation/obesity.map/spread.3.swf
