Characterization of adult obesity in Florida using the OneFlorida clinical research consortium

INTRODUCTION: With obesity rates and obesity‐related healthcare costs increasing, policy makers must understand the scope of obesity across populations. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to characterize adult obesity using electronic health records (EHRs) available from a statewide clinical data research network, the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium, which contains claims and EHR data from over 12 million patients in Florida. The primary aim was to compare EHR‐based Florida obesity rates with those rates obtained from the Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). METHODS: Body mass index from OneFlorida patient data (2012–2016) was used to characterize obesity among adults 20–79 years old. Obesity rates from both OneFlorida and BRFSS (2013) were reported by demographics and by county. RESULTS: Among the 1,344,015 adults in OneFlorida with EHR data and who met inclusion criteria, the obesity rate was 37.1%. Women had higher obesity rates compared with men. Obesity rates varied within racial/ethnic groups, with the highest rate among African–Americans (45.7%). Obesity rates from OneFlorida were consistently higher than those found in BRFSS (overall 27.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Utilizing clinical big data available through hospital system and health partner collaborations provides an important view of the extent of obesity. Although these data are available only from healthcare users, they are large in scope, directly measured and are available sooner than commonly used national data sources.