Once considered primarily a problem or U.S. poor people, obesity is growing fastest among those making more than $60,000 a year. “There has been a perception that poor people are more likely to be fat,” said Nidhi Maheshwari, a graduate research assistant in epidemiology in the University of Iowa College of Public Health in Iowa City, Iowa. “However, obesity is growing at a much faster rate in those with the highest incomes.” The researchers compared data collected in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys during 1971-74 with data collect 2001-02. The researchers found the highest income category, above $60,000, had the greatest increase – 27.6 percent — in obesity prevalence from 9.7 percent in 1971-1974 to 26.8 percent in 2001-2002. “The inverse relationship between income and obesity seen in earlier studies has eroded,” said study co-author Dr. Jennifer Robinson of the University of Iowa. The findings were presented during the American Heart Association’s 45th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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