As the nation looks toward controlling health care costs, no workable agenda can ignore the pressing issue of combating obesity in America. After smoking, which causes an estimated 400,000 deaths annually, weight-related conditions are the second leading cause of death in the U.S., resulting in about 300,000 preventable deaths each year. What's worse, dramatic new statistics show that unhealthy weight has increased at record levels over the past decade up from 25 percent of adults in 1980 to 34 percent today. As a result, an estimated 58 million adult Americans, or over a third of the adult population is overweight. This high incidence of obesity is particularly pronounced in minority populations, especially among women, and is rampant among low-income ethnic populations.
Obesity is also a serious health problem for the nation's children.
One out of five teenagers are now considered significantly overweight. What makes this jump in childhood obesity especially worrisome is that overweight in children is related to cardiovascular disease. Escalating rates of obesity are considered a major public health threat because they are directly linked to a number of disabling and life-threatening diseases. Further, about a third of all cases of hypertension are thought to be due to obesity, while 70 percent of gallstone cases are attributable to being overweight. What's more, unhealthy weight is associated with osteoarthritis and gout, along with a number of other disabling conditions.