Weigh This: Marin Residents Are Getting Fatter

By Heather Martino

America’s epidemic of fatness extends all the way to Marin, with obesity rates at 22.9 percent for men and 21.1 percent for women in 2011. Using the map above, you can see the rate was only 20.3 percent for men and 19.2 percent for women in 2001.

But obesity in the state of California increased much more than Marin County, with a 5.5 percentage point increase in the same time period for women and a 5.3 percent point rise for men. 

Compared to neighboring Sonoma County, Marin is much slimmer. In Sonoma, 30.5 percent of women and 29.3 percent of men were obese in 2011

Marin County's obesity rates are lower than the national average and they also are increasing at a slower rate than the country's. The prevalence of obesity in women in the U.S. in 2011 was 36.1 percent, an increase of 7.4 percentage points from a decade earlier. The rate of obesity in men nationwide grew even faster, increasing 7.7 percentages points from 2001 to 2011, when the rate was 33.8 percent.

In 2011, obesity prevalence for both genders in the U.S. ranged from 20.7 percent in Colorado to 34.9 percent in Mississippi, according to the CDC.

The county figures on the map were obtained from a recent study from the University of Washington, which found that nationwide women are more obese than their male counterparts.

But men and women aren’t gaining weight at the same rate: In Marin, men reported a 2.6 percentage point increase, while women’s obesity rates rose 21.9 percentage points from 2001-2011.

According to the CDC, obesity affects more than one-third of adults, or 35.7 percent of the population in the United States. Obesity is calculated by measuring a person’s height and weight, and deriving at a ratio called the body mass index, or BMI. This number often correlates to an individual’s amount of body fat, and is used to ascertain whether a person is considered underweight, a normal weight, overweight or obese.

Obese individuals have a 50-100 percent increased risk of premature death, and it’s estimated that obesity may be the cause of 300,000 deaths per year according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Interestingly, Americans claim to be exercising more during the same time period that obesity climbed. “Around the country, you can see huge increases in the percentage of people becoming physically active, which research tells us is certain to have health benefits,” said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray in a press release. Murray added that “If communities in the US can replicate this success and tackle the ongoing obesity impact, it will see more substantial health gains.”

The good news is that there may be silver lining to America’s fat epidemic. While we’re still getting fatter, at least it’s happening at a slower rate than in past years. And if this rate continues to drop, Marin might soon be reporting slimmer, healthier residents.