America's Obesity Epidemic Hits a New High

The U.S. obesity epidemic continues to worsen: The latest reports show that 40 percent of U.S. women are obese, and American teenagers are also continuing to put on weight.

The two reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that efforts to encourage Americans to lose weight — at least to stop putting on more weight — are having little effect.

People who are obese have higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease.

The teams at CDC's National Center for Health Statistics looked at national survey of more than 5,400 adults for their first study.

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