The Continuing Epidemic of Obesity in the United States Vol.
Obesity is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States.
Each year, an estimated 300,000 US adults die of causes attributable to obesity. 2 Obesity also substantially increases morbidity and impairs quality of life. Data collected from each state are pooled to produce nationally representative estimates. This continuing trend in obesity is a critical public health threat in the United States. Clearly, genes related to obesity are not responsible for the epidemic of obesity because the US gene pool did not change significantly between 1991 and 1999.