More than 165,000 members of the Harris Poll Online panel have agreed to share their height and weight statistics with the agency, allowing it to classify panellists as either underweight, normal, overweight or obese.

“Over the years we’ve seen a rise in the amount of research that focuses on weight, whether it relates to solving weight problems or as a component of addressing other conditions,” said Felisha Lewis, vice president of healthcare research.

“The rise in obesity rates has led to an increase in chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease across all age groups. With the passage of healthcare reform in the US, there is a greater focus on disease prevention, which many say starts with reducing the levels of obesity.”