According to U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey online, the percentage of over weight and obese people hit the %61 mark in the year 1999. Since then the percentage has almost doubled in size! Contrary to popular belief in some people, being over weight or obese isn't a choice, its something they have had to live with for a long time. Some people are over weight for other reasons besides what they eat and how they live. People are often over weight or obese for reasons such as:

Ltd., physical exercise

Poor nutrition

Genetics

Hormones

Eating disorders such as binging and purging

Alcoholism

Stress

As far as limited exercise goes people that have desk jobs are less mobile, meaning they are more or less susceptible at being over weight or obese. Being sedentary or having a sedentary lifestyle can cause your metabolism to slow down. When your metabolism slows down, it doesn't burn the fat or carbs or any of the other junk you're putting into your body. "A sedentary lifestyle is defined as engaging in no leisure time physical activity, such as exercises, sports, or physically active hobbies, in a two week period."

Being overweight refers to the excess of body weight compared to set standards. The excess weight can come from muscle, bone, fat or body water.

Obesity refers specifically to having an abnormally high proportion of body fat.

A lot of people try to lose weight, all sorts of ways. From dieting fads, to exercise, to eating right, to diet weight loss pills and vitamins. First and foremost I have to say you really should try exercise and eating right. But if you've tried that before and it hasn't worked for you. Check out some of the popular diet and weight loss pills eat you can take. There are several sites online that are willing to help you by giving you reviews, brochures, advice and information.

And lastly if none of this works for you. There are also two more alternatives that I know of. One is weight loss programs, such as Jenny Craig, or Weight Watchers. One of the very last option is gastric bypass. Gastric bypass surgery makes the stomach smaller and allows food to bypass part of the small intestine. Of course, in some instances people have gotten gastric bypass surgery and either think that this means they can continue to live a sedentary life or in some cases deemed the wight back in a few months to a year. Gastric bypass surgery in my personal opinion, should be the very last option, you should look at, unless all other options fail.

If you're searching for more into information on being overweight or obese, or you're looking for more information on diet pills, weight loss programs, or other ways of losing weight. Look for things online that have to do with weight loss. Good luck!