10 Quick Facts on Obesity and Heart Disease

Health Hacks Until recently the relation between obesity and coronary heart disease was viewed as indirect. New research has found that this might not be the case.

CLOSE THE BAG: Obesity stats alone are enough to get you to put down the chip.

Obesity

There are 71.3 million overweight and obese adult women, representing 62.3 percent of the women in the U.S.
40.1 million women are obese, representing 35.2 percent of women with a BMI equal or greater than 30.
26.5 percent of Caucasian women are overweight and 32.8 percent are obese.
26.7 percent of African- American women are overweight and 51 percent are obese.
31.7 percent of Mexican- American women are overweight and 43.4 percent are obese.
Within 30 years, the percent of obese adult women has more than doubled:
- 1976-1980; 17.1 percent obese
- 2003-2006; 35.2 percent obese

Heart disease

42.7 million women are currently living with some form of cardiovascular disease. More than 8 million women have a history of heart attack and/or angina.
Seven and a half million women will suffer angina.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death of American women, killing more than a third of them.
More women than men die of heart disease each year.