PREVALENCE OF OBESITY

Numerical values for prevalence of obesity are highly dependent on the criteria used to identify the condition and its gradations of severity. Prevalence is also affected by the makeup of the surveyed population. Recently, national surveys of prevalence of obesity in the United States and some European countries have been reported in terms of criteria that permit direct comparison of the findings. When the prevalence of a body mass index is 30 kg/m2 or more in US adults is compared with findings in adults in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Italy, the differences are striking, with prevalence ratios ranging from approximately 1.5 (US versus UK) to 3.0 (US versus France).