Community Corner

Baltimore County Is Still Getting Fatter – Just at a Slower Rate

Obesity is responsible for over 300,000 US deaths annually. Find out how fat Baltimore County is.

By Heather Martino and Sonia Su

America's epidemic of fatness extends all the way to Baltimore County, with obesity rates at 35.4 percent for men and 46.1 percent for women in 2011. Using the map above, you can see the rate was only 29.1 percent for men and 39.2 percent for women in 2001.

Obesity in the state of Maryland increased only slightly more than Baltimore and the rest of Baltimore County, with an average of 8.4 percentage point increase in the same time period for men and women.

The obesity rate for women in 2011 of 46.1 percent is a 10 percentage-point difference from the national female obesity rate of 36.1.

Compared to neighboring Howard County's 2011 female obesity rate of 28.1 percent, Baltimore County's women in 2011 were 18 percentage points fatter.

But compared to other counties, women in Carroll County are slightly fatter than the those in Baltimore County. 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.

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 their male counterparts.

But men and women aren’t gaining weight at the same rate: In Baltimore and the rest of Baltimore County, men reported a 6.3-percent increase, while women’s obesity rates rose 6.9 percent from 2001 to 2011.

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 individuals 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 to 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, and added, "If communities in the US can replicate this success and tackle the ongoing obesity impact, it will see more substantial health gains."

The good news is that there may be silver lining to America's fat epidemic. While we’re still getting fatter, at least it's happening at a slower rate than in past years. And if this rate continues to drop, Baltimore County might soon be reporting slimmer, healthier residents.


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