Over a thirty-year span, 90 percent of men and 70 percent of women will be or will become overweight, according to a study in the Oct. 4 Annals of Internal Medicine.
More than 4,000 Caucasian adults ages 30 to 59 enrolled in the study and were monitored from 1971 to 2001. This cohort was drawn from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study.
According to estimates from the 1999 - 2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 65 percent of adults 20 or older are either overweight or obese, and about 30 percent of adults are obese. Results of this study showed, however, that even those at normal weight when they entered the study had no guarantee they would remain so -- even in the short term. One in five women and one in four men who were at a healthy weight when they entered the study became overweight after four years. Of those who were overweight at the beginning of the study, 16 to 23 percent of women and 12 to 13 percent of men became obese within four years.
Researchers determined obesity or overweight status by measuring body mass index, or BMI, which measures weight relative to height. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 kg per square meter is considered normal and healthy for adults. Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2 and obesity is a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or higher.
Long-term findings from the study were even more alarming, with nine out of 10 men and seven out of 10 women being or becoming overweight over a 30-year span. One in three became or were becoming obese over that same time period.
Researchers have demonstrated that being overweight increases patients' likelihood of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, stroke, asthma, diabetes, osteoarthritis, gall bladder disease, and some forms of cancer.
The tendency of Americans toward overweight and obesity also has fueled the weight-loss industry. Although many agencies do help hefty Americans live healthier, others profit from defrauding .
In the past two years, the Federal Trade Commission has sent warning letters to 25 weight-loss firms making false product/service claims and advisory letters to over 1,000 manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements reminding them of the legal requirements for dietary supplement labels.
Since a Trilateral Cooperation Charter was signed by the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2003, agencies within each of these countries have taken a total of nearly 730 compliance actions against North American companies that promote false weight-loss products or make misleading claims.
