LARGER

Study: Obesity Epidemic to Continue

Even as rates seem to level off.

America is growing, the Associated Press reported Monday, but not in the way Mitt Romney and Barack Obama would like it to. Drawing on new government data, Duke University researchers predict that by the year 2030, the rate of severely obese Americans, people who weigh 100 pounds over the recommended weight for their body size and type, will have doubled to 11 percent of the population. Over the same time period, researchers estimate, the number of Americans who are obese will jump to 42 percent of the population. The new data showed that even while the rate at which Americans are becoming obese is leveling off, health problems like diabetes and heart disease will continue to plague American health-care costs.