Obesity in the Unite States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. While many industrialized countries have experienced similar increases, American obesity rates are the highest in the world with 64% of adults being overweight or obese, and almost a quarter being obese. Estimates of the number of obese American adults have been rising steadily, from 19.4% in 1997, 24.5% in 2004 to 26.6% in 2007.