The percentage of American adults 100 or more pounds over a healthy weight has skyrocketed over the past decade, a new study finds.
In 2010, about 6.6 percent of Americans were "severely obese," up from 3.9 percent in 2000, says analysis from the RAND Corp., a nonprofit research group. That's a 70 percent growth, a much faster growth than for those with moderate obesity.
The findings mean that more than 15 million adult Americans are morbidly obese with a body mass index of 40 or more. But there is some good news: Beginning in 2005, the near-exponential growth of the severely obese group began to flatten out, the study shows.
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