More Americans are becoming obese, a striking study finds

More Americans are overweight or obese now compared to 20 years ago, a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine shows. Despite an onslaught of healthy eating and exercise campaigns in recent years, 75 percent of men and 67 percent of women ages 25 and older are overweight or obese.

The new data is a "wake-up call" for policymakers, wrote Washington University School of Medicine researcher Lin Yang in a statement released with the report. She told The Washington Post that technological advances play a huge part in the shift, as they make people more stationary at work and at home.

For the first time, the number of obese Americans is higher than the number of those who are overweight.

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