Are Bethlehem Residents Gaining Weight?

Written and reported by Heather Martino

America’s epidemic of fatness extends all the way to the Lehigh Valley and Bethlehem, where the obesity rate grew between 2001 and 2011.

In Northampton County, the obesity rate rose almost 8 percent to 37.5 percent. 

Lehigh County is not as fat with the obesity rate increasing less than 5 percent to 34.3 percent.

Obesity in Pennsylvania marked an 8.3 percent increase in the same time period for men, to 35.3 percent, and a 7.9 percentage-point increase for Pennsylvania women, 37.6 percent of whom were obese in 2011.

Across the country, 33.8 percent of men are obese, as are 36.1 percent of women.

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 Northampton County, the change in obesity rate for men was 8 to 10 percent over 10 years compared to 6 to 8 percent for women. In Lehigh, men saw a 4.8 percent increase, while women’s obesity rates rose 8.5 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 individual’s 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 percent 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.

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. Murray added that “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 a 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.