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(CNN) - Americans weigh more this decade than last, but fewer adults say they want to lose weight.
According to a new Gallup survey, 28% of Americans said they weighed 90 kilos or more between 2010 and 2019, a four-point jump from 2001 to 2009. Even so, fewer Americans are now considered overweight or obese.
That could reflect changes in the attitude towards weight, but pollsters said it is not a good omen for health. Local and state programs to address obesity have not been sufficient to stop its spread in the United States, despite the increased risk of fatal diseases that accompany excessive weight gain.
The participants self-reported their weight and their desire (or lack thereof) to lose it. Fewer American adults want to lose weight compared to the last decade: 54%. Almost 40% of men and women are happy with their current weight.
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Perhaps, as expected, 60% of women said they still want to lose weight, although men are more likely to weigh 90 kilos or more (42% of men surveyed compared to only 14% Women's).
The self-reported weight of the average American has increased 1.8 kilos, rising to 80.7 kilos. In the previous decade, more than half of the adults surveyed weighed within or below that range.
BMI keeps going up
Obesity is typically defined as having a body mass index of 30 or more, while an overweight BMI starts around 25.
While 90 kilos is not an unhealthy weight for people 1.90 meters or more, for most Americans who are shorter, that weight can be considered overweight or even obese, according to the Center's BMI calculator for adults for US Disease Control and Prevention
Gallup results are self-reported, so respondents may not know their exact weight or where it falls in the BMI range.
But deeper studies show similar results. A 2018 report by the National Center for Health Statistics (CDC) found that the average weight of men and women is rising, despite the fact that their average height has stagnated.
The average US BMI calculated in that study was somewhere around 30.
Obesity as an epidemic
Obesity is considered a national epidemic in the United States. More than 70% of adults are overweight or obese, according to a recent National Survey of Health and Nutrition Examination.
Excessive weight gain is related to worse mental health and several leading causes of death in the US, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer, according to the CDC.
The side effects of obesity may be related to a continuously lower life expectancy in the United States. A study of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published this week found that mortality rates in middle age increased more than 114% in obese people.
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The causes of obesity complicate its treatment. The CDC says that some people may be genetically predisposed to be hungry, which makes them more likely to be obese or learn behaviors that affect the way they eat and see food throughout their lives.
Culture can also be a culprit. Cheap and highly processed foods are available in the US, where urban areas are designed around drivers instead of pedestrians or cyclists, according to World Health Organization researcher Temo Waqanivalu told CNN in 2017 .
As such, the treatment of obesity is also wide and varied. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recommends eating more healthy foods with fewer calories instead of sacrificing food altogether. If obesity is not extensive enough to require prescription medications or surgery, weight control programs can help facilitate difficult lifestyle changes.
The Gallup survey indicates that the increase occurred simultaneously with a new batch of fad diets, which promise quick results, often at the cost of eliminating important nutrients. Because many of them have emerged recently, the long-term effects of these diets for not losing weight have not yet been thoroughly studied.
Obesity in the United States