A View of the U.S. Obesity Epidemic

Posted on November 7th, 2012 by Dr. Francis Collins

These snapshots reveal a very disturbing trend: the rise in obesity in the US from 1985 to 2010. Today one third of adults in the US are obese, another third are overweight.

Because obesity has risen to epidemic levels—causing devastating and costly health problems, reducing life expectancy, and provoking stigma and discrimination—the NIH has established the NIH Obesity Research Task Force to accelerate progress in obesity research. For example, why are some individuals more susceptible to obesity? Can knowledge of biology and behavior be leveraged to develop better intervention strategies? What strategies work? For whom? Can these approaches be scaled up?