According to a medical study performed at the RAND Corporation, the number of severely obese people is 50% higher in 2005 than it was in 2000. The study concludes that 3% of the U.S. population is severely obese, which is officially defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher.

As of April 13, 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 301.6 million people in the United States. Three percent of that number is about nine million severely obese people.

BMI is calculated by dividing weight (in kilograms) by the square of a person’s height (in meters).

A severely obese person typically is a man with a weight of 300 pounds (135 kilograms) and a height of 5 feet, 10 inches (1.78 meters) and a woman with a weight of 250 pounds (114 kilograms) and a height of 5 feet, 3 inches (1.63 meters).

Reporting later in the year within the journal Public Health, the RAND researchers, led by U.S. economist Roland Sturm, also found that people with (1) a BMI of 30 or more increased by 24% and (2) a BMI of 50 or more increased by 75% between this same five-year period (2000 to 2005).

Sturm’s team also reported that severe obesity is not a rare condition due to a person’s genetic makeup, but is a natural feature of a population that is growing larger by weight, which is what the population of the United States is doing—RAPIDLY!

Being unhealthy and overweight also considers, besides the BMI measure, waist circumference and health factors such as diseases and conditions associated with obesity such as diabetes and heart disease. BMI is only applicable for adults, not children and teenagers and people over 65 years of age.

Health care costs for severely obese people are already known to be much more than with people with normal weight. To calculate your BMI, go to “BMI Calculator” at: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/healthyweight/bmicalculator/.

An Underweight person has a BMI of 18.5 or less; Normal person = 18.5 to 24.9; Overweight = 25.0 to 29.9; Obese = 30 to 39.9; and Severely Obese = 40 and over.

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