Americans Gain the Most Weight While Still in Their Twenties
A study that examined the long-term weight gain of more than 13,800 U.S. adults found that on average, people gained about 17 pounds between their twenties and thirties. Adult women gain about twice as much weight as men, with the average female gaining about 12 pounds a decade, according to the findings published in the Journal of Obesity.“The U.S. obesity epidemic is not slowing down,” says lead author Larry Tucker, PhD, professor in exercise sciences at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. “These results leave no doubt that 10-year weight gain is a serious problem within the U.S. adult population,” he says. That’s because long-term weight gain drives overweight and obesity, and obesity is replacing smoking as the most serious preventable cause of premature death and disease in America, says…