Population, Health, and Environment News
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Obesity Remains Prevalent Among U.S. Adults

(August 2008) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that more than one in four American adults (26 percent) are obese—having a body mass index of 30 or greater. This is according to data from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, which documents a steady increase in obesity among U.S. adults since 1995, when the prevalence was 15 percent.

Obesity prevalence was high among virtually all groups, although some groups had higher shares than others. Blacks (36 percent) and Hispanics (29 percent) had higher obesity rates than did non-Hispanic whites (25 percent). Obesity was slightly more prevalent in the South and Midwest (roughly 27 percent each) than in the Northeast (24 percent) and West (23 percent). The youngest (ages 18 to 29) and oldest (age 70 and older) adults were less likely to be obese than adults in other age groups—19 percent versus more than 26 percent, respectively. And 29 percent of adults with no more than a high school diploma were obese in 2007, compared to 20 percent of college graduates.

None of the 50 states—or the District of Columbia—met the 15 percent target for obesity prevalence, as established by CDC’s Healthy People 2010 initiative. Three states (Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee) had obesity rates exceeding 30 percent, while only Colorado had a rate under 20 percent.

—Kelvin Pollard, PRB Senior Demographer

Reference: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “State-Specific Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults—United States, 2007,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 57, no. 28 (July 18, 2008): 765-68, accessed online at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5728.pdf, on July 23, 2008.

A New Baby Boom? U.S. Births Could Reach Highest Level Ever

(August 2008) Provisional figures from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) report more than 4.3 million births in the United States in 2007—which would set a record for most registered births in a calendar year. This marks the eighth consecutive year that births had exceeded the 4 million mark, which is the longest stretch since the peak years for the post-World War II baby boom in the mid-1950s.

The 2007 data are provisional. They are based on a combination of registered births (based on when the birth occurred) and estimated counts provided by the states (some of which are based on when the birth record was processed). As NCHS works with the states to ensure the accuracy of the data, the final number of registered births likely will differ from the provisional number. For example, the final number of registered births in 2005 stood at 4,138,349—about 5,000 fewer births than the provisional 2005 figure.

—Kelvin Pollard, PRB Senior Demographer

References: "Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2007," National Vital Statistical Reports 56, no. 21 (July 14, 2008): table A, accessed online at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_21.pdf, on July 23, 2008; "Births: Final Data for 2005," by Joyce A. Martin et al., National Vital Statistical Reports 56, no. 6 (Dec. 5, 2007): table 1, accessed online at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_06.pdf, on July 23, 2008; and "Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2005," National Vital Statistical Reports 54, no. 20 (July 21, 2006): table A, accessed online at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_20.pdf, on July 23, 2008.

Mixed Progress on Improved Sanitation

(August 2008) According to a new report by UNICEF and the World Health Organization, more than three-fifths (62 percent) of the world’s population have access to improved sanitation facilities—those that are likely to ensure privacy and hygienic use, such as connection to a public sewer or a septic system. This represents an improvement of 8 percentage points since 1990. Moreover, more than half (53 percent) of people in developing regions had improved sanitation facilities in 2006—up from just 41 percent in 1990. Progress occurred in almost every region, with Southeast Asia (50 percent to 67 percent), East Asia (48 percent to 65 percent), North Africa (62 percent to 76 percent), and Latin America (68 percent to 79 percent) registering the most impressive gains.

Yet issues remain. Despite improvement since 1990, only one-third of people in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have improved sanitation facilities. Rural areas still lag behind urban ones, especially in many developing countries. And even with its post-1990 progress, the world is well behind the level it needs to be in order to make the Millennium Development Goal target of 77 percent in 2015. Overall, 2.5 billion people worldwide still lack access to improved sanitation.

—Kelvin Pollard, PRB Senior Demographer

Reference: World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation (New York: UNICEF; and Geneva: WHO; 2008): 7-11, accessed online at www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2008.pdf, on Aug. 6, 2008.