According to a Gallup Wellbeing study, Blacks are among the most likely in the United States to be very obese, with about 9% falling into obese class II and 6% obese class III—the highest Body Mass Index (BMI) categories. Asians are by far the least likely to fall into these two classes of obesity.

Hispanics are on par with whites for each obesity class.

Relationships by race and the others presented in this article hold true even when controlling for age, ethnicity, race, marital status, gender, employment, income, education, and region.

The findings are based on data collected as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index from Jan. 1, 2010 through May 31, 2012, and include interviews with more than 800,000 American adults aged 18 and older. Gallup calculates respondents’ BMIs using the standard formula based on their self-reported height and weight.

An average of 26.3% of all respondents surveyed reported a height and weight that led to a BMI calculation high enough to be categorized as obese. Gallup and Healthways have been tracking Americans’ BMI levels daily since January 2008 and find obesity is slightly higher now than it was in 2008.