Research based on surveys by the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that obesity rates are increasing despite more public awareness about healthy diets. The survey showed a nearly 3 percent increase in obesity rates since 2011 and 2012, while 5 percent more women than men had a higher-than-normal weight and body mass index (BMI).
CDC survey data was taken from around 5,000 participants. Obesity rates increased to about 37.7 percent for U.S. adults, up from 34.9 percent in 2011 to 2012.
Meanwhile, women's obesity rates at 33.8 percent were higher than the 34.3 percent figure for men, according to ABC News.
Child obesity rates also rose last year, at 17.2 percent. It was a .3 percent uptick from 2011 to 2012.
Experts argue that medical providers should talk to their patients differently about maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise. Their current methods are not working.
Lisa Cimperman is a registered dietician at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. She said that in recent years Americans cut unhealthy foods from their diet, but did not add healthy foods That included replacing fat with refined carbohydrates such as white bread.
Cimperman explained that the trend of increasing U.S. obesity rates has continued for at least four decades. It will take a long time to reverse it.
She recommended that people focus on eating a well-balanced healthy diet. It is better than focusing on one ingredient, such as fat, sugar, or carbs.
In another recent study published in the journal Obesity Science & Practice, researchers reviewed CDC survey data from 2007 to 2008, to learn whether U.S. adults with a higher BMI ate candy, junk food, and soft drinks more often, according to KSL. They asked 5,000 Americans to record what foods they had eaten on two different days.
Neither overweight nor morbidly obese (40+ BMI) American adults ate French fries, desserts, or sodas more often than people with normal weights (18.5 to 24.9 BMI). The study's results do not imply that food choices have no repercussions. However, it showed that healthy diets can include a little junk food.
Here are some of the top "superfoods" to eat: