Obesity continues to plague the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the goal of reducing adult obesity levels to 15 percent has gone unmet.

Instead, obesity rates have actually increased. The CDC says that obesity levels between 2007 and 2009 have risen 1.1 percent in adults over the age of 18.

The research findings based on a report from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System also shows that obesity levels are higher in southern regions and within certain ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic black women, for example, have a 41.9 percent obesity rate.

"Obesity is a complex problem that requires both personal and community action," said CDC division of nutrition director Dr. William Dietz. "People in all communities should be able to make healthy choices, but in order to make those choices there must be healthy choices to make. We need to change our communities into places where healthy eating and active living are the easiest path."

The financial implications obesity has to the health care system are staggering. America's Health Rankings estimates that $75 billion of public health money in 2003 went towards obesity-related conditions.