How many American adults are overweight or obese?
How many American children are overweight or obese?
What is the difference between overweight and obese?
Why are so many people overweight or obese today?
How does overweight and obesity affect your health?
What can be done about this major public health problem?
What are the costs associated with overweight and
obesity?
What is CDC doing to address the problem of overweight
and obesity?
What does CDC recommend to help people lose weight?
How many American adults are overweight or obese?
- In 1999, an estimated 61 percent of U.S. adults were either
overweight or obese, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 25
or more.
- In 2000, a total of 38.8 million American adults met the
classification of obesity, defined as having a body mass index score
of 30 or more.
To read more about American adult overweight and obesity trends,
visit
CDC, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Obesity
and Overweight: Obesity Trends
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/index.htm
CDC, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Obesity and
Overweight: Body Mass Index (BMI)
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/bmi.htm
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How many American children are overweight or obese?
- Today there are nearly twice as many overweight children and almost
three times as many overweight adolescents as there were in 1980.
- Results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(1999) showed that 13 percent of children and adolescents were
overweight.
To read more about childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity,
visit
CDC, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Obesity
and Overweight: Trends
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/index.htm
National
Center for Health Statistics (NHANES), Prevalence of Overweight Among
Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/overwght99.htm
The
Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity, Overweight Children and Adolescents
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_adolescents.htm
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What is the difference between overweight and obese?
- An adult is considered "overweight" when he/she is are
above a healthy weight, which varies according to a person's height.
An individual is overweight when their BMI is between 25–29.9. The
standard used by researchers to define a person's weight according to
their height is "body mass index" (BMI).
- An adult with a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese. For example,
for a 5'4" woman, this means that she is 30 or more pounds over
her healthy weight.
To calculate your BMI and read more about the difference between
overweight and obesity, visit
CDC, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Obesity and
Overweight: Body Mass Index (BMI)
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/bmi.htm
CDC, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Obesity
and Overweight: Defining Overweight and Obesity
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/defining.htm
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Why are so many people overweight or obese today?
There are a number of factors that influence overweight or obesity,
including
- Behavior—eating too many calories while not getting enough
physical activity.
- Environment—home, work, school, or community can provide barriers
to or opportunities for an active lifestyle.
- Genetics—heredity plays a large role in determining how
susceptible people are to overweight and obesity. Genes also influence
how the body burns calories for energy or stores fat.
Behavioral and environmental factors are the main contributors to
overweight and obesity and provide the greatest opportunities for
prevention and treatment.
To read more about the reasons for overweight and obesity, visit
The
Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity, Overweight and Obesity at a Glance
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_glance.htm
The
Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity, Overweight Children and Adolescents
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_adolescents.htm
CDC,
Office of Genetics and Disease Prevention, Obesity and Genetics: A
Public Health Perspective
http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/info/perspectives/obesity.htm
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How does overweight and obesity affect your health?
If you are overweight, you are more likely to develop health problems;
such as,
- heart disease
- stroke
- diabetes
- cancer (such as colon cancer, endometrial cancer, and postmenopausal
breast cancer)
- gallbladder disease
- sleep apnea (interrupted breathing during sleep)
- osteoarthritis (wearing away of the joints)
The more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have health
problems. Weight loss and regular exercise can help improve the harmful
effects of being overweight. Studies show if you are overweight or obese,
losing 5–10% of your body weight can improve your health.
To read more about how overweight and obesity affect your health,
visit
National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), You
Know the Health Risk of Being Overweight
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/nutrit/pubs/health.htm
The
Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity, Overweight and Obesity:The Health Consequences
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_consequences.htm
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What can be done about this major public health problem?
The Surgeon General recently called for a broad approach to avoid and
reduce obesity. He challenged families, schools, work sites, health care
providers, communities, and the media to work together to prevent and
reduce obesity through
- Communication—by educating, motivating, and empowering decision
makers at all levels to create healthier communities.
- Action—by helping Americans balance healthy eating with regular
physical activity.
- Research and Evaluation—by improving the general public's
understanding of the causes, prevention, and treatment of overweight
and obesity.
To read more about what can be done, visit
The Guide
to Community Preventive Services*
http://www.thecommunityguide.org/pubrecs_f.html
CDC, PDF file of
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Oct. 26, 20001/Vol 50/No. RR-18,
Increasing Physical Activity: A Report on Recommendations of the Task
Force on Community Preventive Services**
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5018.pdf
**You will need Acrobat
Reader (a free application) to view and print this document.
The
Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity, Overweight and Obesity: What Can You Do?
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_whatcanyoudo.htm
The
Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity: A Vision for the Future
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_vision.htm
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What are the costs associated with overweight and obesity?
- In 2000, the cost of obesity in the United States was more than $117
billion.
- Poor nutrition and physical inactivity account for some 300,000
premature deaths in the United States each year.
To read more about the cost of overweight and obesity, visit
The
Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity: Economic Consequences
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/1_3.htm
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What is CDC doing to address the problem of overweight and obesity?
In October 2000, CDC's Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity
funded a number of state health departments to help them develop and carry
out targeted nutrition and physical activity interventions in an effort to
prevent chronic diseases, especially obesity.
CDC, Division of Nutrition and
Physical Actvity, CDC's State-based Nutrition and Physical Activity
Program to Prevent Chronic Diseases, Including Obesity
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/state_programs/index.htm
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What does CDC recommend to help people lose weight?
- The safest and most effective way to lose weight is to reduce
calories and increase physical activity. It is best to consult with
your personal physician or health care professional for advice to meet
your needs.
- Government research and recommendations can provide the facts based
on science so that people can make informed choices about appropriate
weight loss. The fact is the majority of people who are attempting
weight loss are not using the correct method to achieve or maintain
positive results.
For more information about recommendations, visit
USDA The Food
Guide Pyramid
http://www.nal.usda.gov:8001/py/pmap.htm
The
Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity: Health Weight Advice for Consumers
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_advice.htm
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