Obesity in America continues to rise; women more obese by 40% compared to men: CDC

American obesity rates have continued to rise in the past three years, according to the new survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report was conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics and found that 38 percent of US adults were obese as of 2014. The survey was taken from nearly 5,000 participants. The percentage rose from 35 percent which were from 2011 to 2012, according to the survey. Additionally, women have become heavier at 38.3 percent compared to 34.3 percent of men.

Obesity in children also rose from last year with 17.2 percent compared to 16.9 percent in 2011 to 2012, according to CDC.

In the report by Los Angeles Times, it was revealed that adults in their 20s to 30s had lower rates of obesity compared to middle-aged Americans in their 40s to 50s. By order of racial or ethnic groups, the most race to be likely obese were African Americans with 48.1 percent, followed by Latinos at 42.5 percent, whites at 34.5 percent and Asian Americans at 11.7 percent.

The report also noted that while obesity rates among youth did not rise, in fact, it declined due to the efforts of first lady Michelle Obama in changing food lunches and removing sugary beverages in school. According to New York Times, despite conscious improvements to the American diet in the last several years, obesity among adults continued to rise especially in low-income and less educated American households.

According to Dr. Walter Willett of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, there is a "big gap" among rich and poor.

"When we take the U.S. average, we are hiding a lot of detail," Dr. Willett said via the outlet.

An expert told ABC News that health practitioners need to better advice their patients regarding what not to eat and what to substitute it with.

"The best example we have is we got this message out that we need to reduce fat consumption, they reduced their fat intake and replaced it with refined carbohydrates," said Lisa Cimperman, registered dietitian at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "The intake of refined carbohydrates was just as bad as a high-fat diet."

She added that initiatives for healthier eating that emphasizes of whole and fresh foods may take a bit of time for results to show among the populace.

"I think that we've been on this trajectory for at least 40 to 45 years, so it's going to take time to reverse it. It's like trying to stop an enormous vessel in the sea—to turn that thing around is going to take a lot of time," she said.