US: After decades of expansion, American women have stopped getting fatter but two out of three are still overweight, according to a federal health study published yesterday. Between 1999 and 2004, the proportion of American women defined as obese remained steady at about a third, according to official data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers said it was too early to tell if obesity among women had started to decline but they welcomed what is the first piece of good news in the fight against fat for 25 years.
"It looks like it's levelling off. We'll need more data over the next few years to know for sure but hopefully we'll see this continue, which would be terrific," Cynthia Ogden of the National Center for Health Statistics told the Washington Post.
The proportion of Americans who are overweight and obese has doubled among adults and tripled among children since the 1980s. Yesterday's study shows that obesity rates among men and children have worsened in recent years, with 71 per cent of American men now overweight and 31 per cent obese, while 18 per cent of boys and 16 per cent of girls are obese.
People with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 25 are classified as overweight and those with a BMI of more than 30 as obese.
Yesterday's report came as a Louisiana State University study suggested that a low-calorie diet could prolong life even for those who are not obese to begin with. Over six months, three groups of overweight people who were not obese were put on different diets. The group placed on the most restrictive diet of 890 calories a day - less than half of what most adults need to maintain their weight - saw their insulin levels and body temperature decrease, usually considered signs of longevity.