NEW YORK – Despite public-health campaigns and other initiatives to lower the obesity rate in the United States, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that obesity is still increasing among U.S. adults, the Associated Press reports. Overall, the obesity rate among adults soared to close to 38% in 2013-14, a 6% jump from 2003-04.

“This is a striking finding,” said Dr. William Dietz, an obesity expert at George Washington University. Dietz suggested that the report showed a worsening, not stabilizing, obesity epidemic. However, the University of North Carolina's Barry Popkin wasn’t as alarmed, pointing out that the study’s participants shouldn’t be taken as a true representation of Americans collectively.

While obesity rates for women and men have been about the same for 10 years, the new research found that more women (38%) were obese, as opposed to men (34%). Obesity has become one of the country’s top health concerns in recent years.

The report also took a look at children, but the data showed that the rate of youth obesity has stayed roughly the same. The results come after years of concentrated efforts by the government to urge people to exercise more and eat healthier foods.