[TRANSCRIPT]

Rosina Switras

The Journal of American Medicine reported Tuesday the United States hasn’t been very successful in its battle against obesity, despite hundreds of millions of public dollars being spent every year on research, programs and pharmaceuticals meant to fight obesity.

For women the findings are especially grim. Between 2005 and 2014 women’s obesity rate grew five percent to 40 percent. The rate for men remained at 35 percent over the same period.

The study measured obesity using body mass index…a formula that uses height and weight to determine a person’s fitness level. A BMI of 30 is considered obese. Women’s class three obesity rates have also risen during the same decade. The number of women with a BMI of 40 or higher climbed to ten percent. That’s nearly double the rate of men who are extremely overweight.

Authors of the journal article wrote that it is time to focus on preventative answers. They called on the food industry to focus on producing healthy foods after years of producing unhealthy foods.