November 2000 • Volume 6 Number 11
Why bother with obesity?
The last decade of the 20th century left one statistic behind that America shouldn't be proud of: From 1990 to 1999, there was an unprecedented increase -- a whopping 60 percent increase -- in the number of overweight Americans.
That's got everyone worried, from parents of obese children, to physicians who observe the condition in their patients every day, to officials at the CDC. Experts compare the rapid spread of obesity to that of a communicable disease.
Obesity contributes to 300,000 deaths annually in the United States, making it the second leading cause of preventable mortality in this country. The World Health Organization estimates that more than half of U.S. adults are overweight, and about one-quarter are clinically obese. Perhaps even more alarming is the fact that one out of four American children and teens is overweight or obese.
Overweight and obesity are big business in the United States, too, with weight loss programs and special foods pulling down a hefty $30 billion or more annually. That amount, however, pales in comparison with the drain on the U.S. economy from obesity-related health problems. That drain now hovers around $100 billion -- nearly 7 percent of total U.S. health care expenditures.
Got your attention? Good. On this and the following two pages, here's a closer look at dealing with America's obesity epidemic. And watch for the December FP Report for more on the topic.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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