The analysis of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adult age and sex groups of the Russian population in the dynamics of observation from 1994 to 2012 was based on anthropometric measurements of weight and height in Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. The mean values of body mass index (BMI) and the frequency of obesity (BMI > 30.0) of the entire population have been increased during the observation period. The analyzing the data by gender revealed a significant increase in the frequency of obesity mainly among men, especially in the period 2005-2012, whereas among women increased incidence of obesity was negligible. The most rapid increase in the frequency of overweight and obesity in men noted in the age period of 20-30 years, and further increase in frequency of overweight and obesity with age were negligible. The rate of overweight and obesity in women had almost linear increase in the age period of 20-60 years. Comparative analysis of the prevalence of obesity showed that the obtained values for the 2000-2012 period were close to those characteristic of the developed world in recent decades. The growth of obesity rate in the general adult population in 2000-2005 and the 2005-2012 was 0.4% per year. At the same time, men showed a significant acceleration of the growth rate of obesity in the period 2005 to 2012 (0.61% per year) compared with the period 2000-2005 (0.44% per year). Increase in the frequency of obesity was observed in all regions in 2000 to 2012. The data should be considered as a rationale for research into the causes of gender differences in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the first place to find differences in the peculiarities of dietary intake between men and women at different ages of life, leading to the development of overweight and obesity.