Are Men or Women Gaining Weight in Fenton or High Ridge?

This article was written by Heather Martino

America’s epidemic of fatness extends in a big way to Jefferson County, where the rates of obesity for men is well ahead of state and national averages, and for women, the rate only slightly beats the average.

For Jefferson County, 41.2 percent of men are considered obese in 2011, an increase of 13.3 percentage points from 2001. For women, the rate of obesity is 36.5 percent in 2011, up 7.7 percentage points from 2001.

The county figures on the map were obtained from a recent study from the University of Washington, which found that nationwide women are more obese than men.

Jefferson County's rates are in stark contrast to the Missouri average of 36.6 percent for men and 38.9 percent for women. In other words, Jefferson County men are a lot fatter than than the state of Missouri's average, and women are slightly leaner.

Obesity in Missouri increased rose for men 8.5 percentage points in the same 10-year period; and rose 8.9 points for women statewide.

Compared to neighboring St. Louis County, Jefferson County men have packed on the pounds a lot faster. In St. Louis County, 32.9 percent of men are considered obese, up 7.4 points from 2001. Jefferson County women compare more favorably to St. Louis County, where 36.8 percent of women there are considered obese, up 8.6 points from 2001.

Both genders in Jefferson County lose out to the national averages, according to the 2011 numbers: 33.8 percent of men nationally are obese; 36.1 percent of women nationally are obese. 

In 2011, obesity prevalence for both genders in the U.S. ranged from 20.7 percent in Colorado to 34.9 percent in Mississippi, according to the CDC.

According to the CDC, obesity affects more than one-third of adults, or 35.7 percent of the population in the United States. Obesity is calculated by measuring a person’s height and weight, and deriving at a ratio called the body mass index, or BMI. This number often correlates to an individual’s amount of body fat, and is used to ascertain whether a person is considered underweight, a normal weight, overweight or obese.

Obese individuals have a 50-100 percent increased risk of premature death, and it’s estimated that obesity may be the cause of 300,000 deaths per year according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Interestingly, Americans claim to be exercising more during the same time period that obesity climbed. 

“Around the country, you can see huge increases in the percentage of people becoming physically active, which research tells us is certain to have health benefits,” said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray in a press release. Murray added that “If communities in the US can replicate this success and tackle the ongoing obesity impact, it will see more substantial health gains.”