The U.S. obesity rate is moving up, despite the “Let’s Move” project pushed by first lady Michelle Obama, according to a new Gallup survey.
The obesity rate among adults rose to 27.7 percent, up from 25.5 percent in 2008, marking another heavyweight failure of big progressive government.
Since 2001, the obesity rate has risen steadily, despite progressives’ centrally planned dietary advice, federally-designed school lunches and agency hectoring of Americans to change their eating habits.
The campaign began in 2001, with the publication of the Surgeon General’s “Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.”
Michelle Obama’s 2010 plan was titled “Solving The Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation.”
“There are clear, concrete steps we can take as a society to help our children reach adulthood at a healthy weight… that taken together, will put our country on track to solving the problem of childhood obesity,” she promised when her plan was announced.
But her ambitious plan has proven ineffective.
“The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period,” said a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, officials claim that obesity among kids younger than six has dropped sharply. “The prevalence of obesity among children aged 2 to 5 years decreased significantly from 13.9% in 2003-2004 to 8.4% in 2011-2012,” according to the CDC.
According to Gallup, the rate of dangerous “morbid obesity” among adults rose from 3.4 percent in 2008 to 4.0 percent in 2014, Gallup reported.
Obesity tends to be higher in southern states that include large minority populations, because the obesity rate among whites tends to be lower than average.
The obesity rate among blacks rose slightly, from 35.0 percent to 35.5 percent.
However, the obesity rate among Hispanics actually declined, from 28.8 to 28.3 percent, said Gallup.
But whites continued to pack on the pounds, and their obesity rate expanded 24.3 percent to 26.7 percent. Obesity expanded by roughly 3.8 percent among Americans older than 45 and by 2.9 percent in the Midwest.
Obesity also tends to be greater among poor people, especially those without a family. It rose by 2.3 percent, up to 32.3 percent, among people with an income lower than $36,000, according to Gallup.
But obesity also rose by 2 percent, up to 23 percent, among people with an income greater than $90,000.