Charleston County Men, Women Getting Fatter

Over the past decade, men and women across the country have been getting fatter.

Charleston County is no exception.

More than 36 percent of Charleston County women are listed as obese, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation using 2011 statistics. More than 30 percent of men are obese. 

Nationally, more than 36 percent of women and nearly 34 percent of men are obese, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and both segments are growing quickly.

In 2001, nearly 29 percent of women and more than 26 percent of men were listed as obese.

While the number of men struggling with obesity is growing faster than women, that's not the case in Charleston County. Women dealing with obesity is up 10.3 percentage points in the past decade. The number of obese men is up 5.7 percentage points.

These county figures on the map were obtained from a recent study from the University of Washington, which found that nationwide women are more obese than their male counterparts. 

According to the CDC, obesity affects more than one-third of adults, or 35.7 percent of the population in the United States. Obesity is calculated by measuring a person’s height and weight, and deriving at a ratio called the body mass index, or BMI. This number often correlates to an individual’s amount of body fat, and is used to ascertain whether a person is considered underweight, a normal weight, overweight or obese.

Obese individuals have a 50-100% increased risk of premature death, and it’s estimated that obesity may be the cause of 300,000 deaths per year according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Interestingly, Americans claim to be exercising more during the same time period that obesity climbed. “Around the country, you can see huge increases in the percentage of people becoming physically active, which research tells us is certain to have health benefits,” said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray in a press release. Murray added that “If communities in the US can replicate this success and tackle the ongoing obesity impact, it will see more substantial health gains.”

The good news is that there may be silver lining to America’s fat epidemic. While we’re still getting fatter, at least it’s happening at a slower rate than in past years.