Study predicts all Americans could be overweight by 2048

A new study from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality concluded that if the obesity trends observed for the past 30 years continue, every American could be overweight in 40 years (Source: “All U.S. adults could be overweight in 40 years,” Reuters, Aug. 6, 2008).

Using government survey data collected between the 1970s and 2004,  the study, which was published in the journal Obesity, estimates that 86 percent of American adults will be overweight and 51 percent will be obese by 2030. If that trend were to continue, all U.S. adults could be categorized as at least mildly overweight by 2048.

The authors of the study concede that it would be nearly impossible for the overweight number to ever reach 100 percent and point out that their study assumes that no changes are made to address the issue.

"This is really intended as a wake-up call to show what could happen if nothing changes," said Dr. Lan Liang of the federal government's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, one of the researchers on the study.