[Home button] Overweight persons 20 years of age and over, according to sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin: United States, 1960-62, 1971-74, 1976-80, and 1988-91 [Data are based on physical examinations of a sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized population] Sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin1 1960-62 1971-74 1976-802 1988-91 20-74 years, age adjusted Percent of population Both sexes 24.4 24.9 25.4 33.0 Male 22.9 23.6 24.0 31.9 Female3 25.6 25.9 26.5 34.1 White male 23.1 23.8 24.2 32.3 White female3 23.5 24.0 24.4 32.6 Black male 22.2 24.3 25.7 32.9 Black female3 41.7 42.9 44.3 49.6 White, non-Hispanic male - - - - - - 24.1 32.4 White, non-Hispanic female3 - - - - - - 23.9 31.0 Black, non-Hispanic male - - - - - - 25.6 32.9 Black, non-Hispanic female3 - - - - - - 44.1 49.8 Mexican-American male - - - - - - 31.0 39.9 Mexican-American female3 - - - - - - 41.4 48.2 20-74 years, crude Both sexes 25.5 25.5 25.7 33.3 Male 23.4 24.0 24.2 31.9 Female3 27.4 27.0 27.1 34.6 White male 23.7 24.2 24.4 32.6 White female3 25.4 25.2 25.1 33.3 Black male 22.5 24.5 25.7 32.4 Black female3 43.0 43.2 43.7 48.6 White, non-Hispanic male - - - - - - 24.4 32.9 White, non-Hispanic female3 - - - - - - 24.8 31.8 Black, non-Hispanic male - - - - - - 25.6 32.4 Black, non-Hispanic female3 - - - - - - 43.4 49.0 Mexican-American male - - - - - - 29.5 35.4 Mexican-American female3 - - - - - - 39.1 47.3 Male 20-34 years 19.6 19.2 17.3 22.8 35-44 years 22.8 29.4 28.9 35.7 45-54 years 28.1 27.6 31.0 35.5 55-64 years 26.9 24.8 28.1 40.5 65-74 years 21.8 23.0 25.2 42.2 75 years and over - - - - - - - - - 26.0 Female3 20-34 years 13.2 14.8 16.8 24.5 35-44 years 24.1 27.3 27.0 35.1 45-54 years 30.7 32.3 32.5 39.8 55-64 years 43.2 38.5 37.0 48.7 65-74 years 42.9 38.0 38.4 39.7 75 years and over - - - - - - - - - 31.5 - - - Data not available. 1 The race groups, white and black, include persons of Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin. Conversely, persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. 2 Data for Mexican Americans are for 1982-84. 3 Excludes pregnant women. NOTES: Overweight is defined for men as body mass index greater than or equal to 27.8 kilograms/meter2, and for women as body mass index greater than or equal to 27.3 kilograms/meter2. These cut points were used because they represent the sex-specific 85th percentiles for persons 20-29 years of age in the 1976-80 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Height was measured without shoes; 2 pounds are deducted from data for 1960-62 to allow for weight of clothing. Some data have been revised and differ from previous editions of Health, United States. SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Health Examination Statistics. Unpublished data. Suggested citation: National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 1995. Hyattsville, Maryland: Public Health Service, p 183. 1996. (The NCHS Web site contains instructions to download the AcrobatÆ reader required to view this publication.) For more detailed data on overweight, see Kuczmarski RJ, Flegal KM, Campbell SM, Johnson CL. Increasing prevalence of overweight among U.S. adults. JAMA. 272(3):205-11. 1994. About NCHS | News Releases | What's New Publications and Information Products | (CDC) Privacy Policy Notice Coming Events | Data Warehouse | FASTATS A to Z Search | How To... | Other Sites | Employment Frequent Questions | E-mail | Customer Satisfaction Survey Surveys and Data Collection Systems CDC | Text-based Table of Contents [Home button] Updated 11/06/96