Report: 50 percent of Americans will be obese by 2030 at current rate

A new report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation utilized government data to estimate that nearly 50 percent of Americans would be obese by the year 2030, according to CNN.

The report, titled "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2012," predicted that every state would have obesity rates of at least 44 percent, and 13 states would have obesity rates of over 60 percent, based on data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Obese is defined as having a body mass index above 30, whereas overweight means a BMI from 25 to 29.9, Reuters noted.

Reuters reported that the study also predicted higher risk for numerous diseases linked to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes and endometrial cancer, which would mean more sick people and higher medical costs. The report projected 7.9 million new cases of diabetes per year, and 6.8 million cases of chronic heart disease and stroke, compared to 1.9 million and 1.3 million per year now, respectively.

"With 6 million new cases of diabetes, 5 million cases of heart disease and stroke, and more than 400,000 cases of cancer in the next 20 years, we are on a tragic course that will have a horrible impact on the quality of life of millions of Americans and could overwhelm an already over burdened health care system," said Dr. Jeffrey Levi, the study's author and executive director of Trust for America's Health, according to ABC News.

More on GlobalPost: Swedish doctors claim first mother-to-daughter uterus transplant

The health care costs could add up to $66 billion in treatment, said ABC News, and $500 billion in lost economic productivity.

The estimates are consistent with a 2012 study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, which concluded that by 2030, 42 percent of adults would be obese, according to CNN. In that study, the prediction of health care spending from now to 2030 amounted to $550 billion.

The projections suggest that Mississippi, the heaviest state, will have 66.7 percent obesity, while Colorado, the thinnest, will have 44.8 percent, Reuters said.

Also on the obesity front, the Associated Press reported that a new study suggested a connection between BPA chemicals and childhood obesity, though it did not identify BPA as the cause of obesity. The study, from New York University, found that children with the highest levels of plastic chemicals in their urine were twice as likely to be obese.

More on GlobalPost: Three-parent babies could become legal in UK