In spite of the extensive attempts to persuade Americans to lose weight, the number of U.S. adults who are obese rose with approximately 2 percent between 2005 and 2007, according to a new report.

The proportion of U.S. adults who are obese increased from 23.9 percent in 2005 to 25.6 percent in 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday in the July 18 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The number of adults who have overweight problems differs from state to state. For instance, in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, 30 percent of the residents registered as being obese, compared with only 18.7 percent in Colorado, which had the lowest frequency of obesity.

Furthermore, the study shows that in terms of age, among people aged from 50 to 59, 31.7 percent of men and 30.2 percent of women were obese. In the case of individuals aged from 19 to 29, 19.1 percent of men and women were obese.

Deb Galuska, associate director for science at the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, reported in a news release that obesity was a significant “risk factor for a number of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.”

The CDC describes obesity as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above. BMI is calculated by taking into account the height and weight. For example, an adult who is 5-feet, 9-inches tall is considered obese if he or she weighs 203 pounds.

In registering the data, the CDC used its Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which gathered information on more than 350,000 adults through telephone interviews.