The increase in obesity is seen in all racial/ethnic, gender, and age groups. According to National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, an estimated 60.6% of white men and 56.7% of African-American men are overweight or obese; 47% of white women and 65.9% of African-American women are overweight or obese. Among U.S. states, Alabama , Louisiana , Mississippi , and West Virginia have the highest incidence of obesity; Colorado , Delaware , Hawaii , and Montana represent the states with the lowest incidence of obesity.

The increasing prevalence of obesity in the industrialized world constitutes an alarming epidemic. In a 1999 press release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta director Jeffrey P. Koplan, M.D., commented that the obesity epidemic "should be taken as seriously as an infectious disease epidemic." Despite the goal to decrease the prevalence of obesity in the United States to less than 20% by the year 2000 (Healthy People 2000, National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention objectives), studies have estimated that 54.9% of the U.S. population greater than 20 years of age are overweight or obese. This represents an 8% increase in the past 10 years.

Obesity is now recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is strongly associated with other risk factors, including hypertension. The nature of health risks related to overweight and obesity is similar in all populations. The specific level of risk associated with a given level of overweight or obesity may vary with race/ethnicity, age, gender, and societal conditions. Phentermine Online

Morbidity for a number of health conditions increases as body mass index (BMI) increases above a BMI of 20.

The relationship is well established between excess body weight and medical conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and osteoarthritis. The benefits of weight loss for reducing blood pressure, improving glycemic control, and improving dyslipidemias are clear. A body weight reduction of 2.2 lb. has been shown to decrease systolic blood pressure by 2 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 1 mmHg. Additionally, a weight reduction of 10% has been shown to decrease a patient's HbA1c by 0.9%.