America is 4.6 billion lbs. Overweight, and Our Health Care System Is Straining from the Weight of It All
The obesity epidemic affects adults and kids across America. And those extra pounds that weigh us down as individuals are all adding up to a big health challenge for our country.
Temptations are everywhere, and with so much "glorious food," odds are good that if you dare to step on the scale this morning you are not going to like what you see. It's gotten so bad that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates that one-third of American adults are overweight. Another third are obese", about 100 million are obese
"It has an impact at every step along the way, on costs and on quality of life, on a productive workforce.” "We are really putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage in a global economy by having a nation that is vastly overweight."
This is not the first time the federal government has sounded this alarm. Dr. David Satcher was one of the first to say there was an obesity epidemic in America, nearly a decade ago, when he was Surgeon General.
"We have addicted ourselves, and we are now addicting our children, to sedentary lifestyles, diets that are high in fats, salts and sweets," he said.
"Obesity increases the risk of diabetes, dramatically. It increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, hypertension, increases the risk of many forms of cancer. And you think about the costs of health care and the role that chronic disease play, obesity is a major factor in these chronic diseases listed here.
"About $147 billion a year are spent directly related to obesity and the underlying health conditions related to obesity. "That compares with all the cancers that people have across America, which cost a little under $100 billion a year.
Obesity is determined by your body mass index, a rough calculation of body fat based on your height and weight. Also, now the height weight ratio needs to be taken into consideration when evaluating overall body analysis.
- 18.5 - 24.9 is considered normal
- 25 - 29.9 is considered overweight
- 30 and above is obese
So, if you're 5'10" and tip the scales at up to 173 pounds, your weight is considered normal. From 174 to 208 pounds, you're overweight. And 209 pounds upward qualifies as obese. Adult obesity rates have doubled in the past thirty years. Why? Some of the answers may be familiar. Instead of sitting down for that home-cooked family meal, we'll grab something "on the go." Maybe we'll "super-size" it for good measure. Whatever the reason, on average we're consuming 300 more calories a day than a quarter century ago. And we're not burning them off. Today, we spend less time walking, more time driving, sitting in front of the computer or TV.
"In children, obesity rates are about four times higher than they were, say, 40 years ago," said Dr. Walter Willett, who chairs the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health.
"Part of the problem is we don't see the full impact of obesity until many decades later," he said. "So the children who are now growing up obese, 20 and 30 years down the road are going to have horrendous problems that we've really not seen before."
Today, one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese comes ballooning health care costs and crippling disease
"I think to me one of the most sobering statistics is the fact that we have a generation of children alive today who may live shorter life spans than their parents and the major cause for that is obesity."
If you want a free evaluation of where you are at give us a call, stop by our office to find out. It takes 10 minutes to determine your health factors and risks. 407-936-7999.