Obesity statistics Alison Gainok HCS/438 May 14, 2012 Randall Medeiros Obesity statistics Michelle Obama, the First Lady founded “The Let’s Move” program to raise awareness about eating healthy foods and the importance of exercising for children. The Los Angeles Times newspaper published recent research on the obesity rates of Americans. Whereas, certain group’s weight continues to increase, American’s weight appears to be leveling off (Roan, 2012). The article in Los Angeles Times newspaper,, “Obesity rates in the U.S. appear to be finally leveling off,” does not give the mean, mode, or median. However, it does report the sample size of people surveyed from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey done from 2009 to 2010. Seventy million people in America are obese with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 and higher. This statistical data is similar to years 2005 to 2006. Furthermore, children and teenagers weights in 2007 to 2008 have not increased or decreased according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Percentages of decrease or increase, according to the Los Angeles Times, are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey along with other statistical data collected for this article (Roan, 2012). The study done by the CDC reported in the Los Angeles Times concludes Americans are positively affected by the recent nation’s campaign to lose weight and become healthier citizens. Percentages are reported in this article to illustrate recent obesity rates such as“35% of U. S. adults are obese” (2012). Calculated BMI rates of participates were similar to BMI rates in 2005 to 2006, supporting claims of America’s obesity rate is leveling off. According to the CDC, this survey was done from 1999 through 2010 by conducting surveys on a sample size of 10, 253. Line charts displaying trends of weight loss and gains of people age 20 and above and people age two to 79 are used on the CDC website to illustrate collected data. Also on the CDC’s website are histograms and bar graphs to display obesity rates of participates age groups including men, women, and children, which are examples of descriptive statistics (www.cdc.gov) Distribution such as age, gender, weight, and body mass index are listed by categories on the CDC website. Categorical data (qualitative data) was used to capture this data and presented with histograms, line charts, and bar graphs. Percentages of women, men, and children which are obese are reported in groups by age, which consist of ages two to 19, 20 to 39, 40 to 59, and 60 to 79 in these graphs (www.cdc.gov) Researchers have compared data from recent studies to their current studies and have determined that the statistics are similar. So, the statistical significance of this study could mean that there is a small possibility of the results happening by chance. There is not statistical significance reported in this article and prior year’s statistics are not reported. However, the statistical significance can be determined for males under age 19 and adult males. According to the Los Angeles Times, 14% of adolescent males in 1999 to 2000 were obese, whereas, most recently, the survey reports a rise in adolescent males to 18.6% are obese. More apparent is the increase in adult males which are obese with rates of 27.5% rising to 35.5% (Roan, 2012). This data shows that the data is statistically significant because this unlikely happened by chance and the sample size is large. If there would have been fewer percentages between prior data and recent data, such as 34% rising to 35%. This determines there is not enough of a change to say the rise unlikely happened by chance, so this example would not be statistically significant (Bennett, Briggs, & Tiola, 2009). Conclusion The article from the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Obesity Rates in U. S. Appear to be Finally Leveling Off, concludes with supporting data that most Americans are no longer increasing in weight. However, adolescent males and adult men reveal a statistical significance that they are still putting on the pounds. Data was collected from males and females ages two to 79 from years 2009 to 2010, which is illustrated with histograms, bar graphs, and line charts on the CDC website. According to recent research by the CDC, American’s weights are leveling off evidenced by obesity rates are currently similar to previous data rates in 2005 to 2006 research (Roan, 2012).

References Bennett, J.O., Briggs, W.L., & Triola, M.F. (2009). Statistical reasoning for everyday life (3rd ed., p. 2). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). Databriefs. Retrieved on May 10, 2012 from www.cdc.gov/nchs/data
Roan, S. (2012, January 17). Obesity rates in U.S. appear to be finally leveling off. Los Angeles Times. www.latimes.com/la-he-obesity-201201118.0.3334913.story.