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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. Since 1980 there has been a
42% increase in childhood obesity rates. 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. Medical researchers
calculate that 88 to 97 percent of all cases of Type II (non-insulin dependent) diabetes, 57 to
70 percent of coronary heart disease cases, 11 percent of breast cancers, and 10 percent of
colon cancers that are diagnosed in overweight Americans are attributable to obesity. 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.
For this reason, overweight is one of the most pervasive health risks affecting Americans today
and is also a multibillion dollar drain on the U.S. economy. Medical researchers, using
prospective studies and national health statistics, put the cost of obesity at more than $100
billion annually. This includes $45.8 billion in direct costs, such as hospital care and
physician services-or 6.8 percent of all health care costs. Further, obesity costs the economy $18.9 billion a year for
such indirect costs as lost output caused by death and disability from weight-related diseases.
The number of work days lost to illness attributable to obesity amounts to 53.6 million days per
year. This lost productivity costs employers an additional $4.06 billion annually.
These costs, while staggering, can clearly be reduced over time if the country puts it
resources behind a national mobilization to promote healthy weight and increased physical
activity. Central to this effort is the need to change public perceptions of obesity from an
appearance problem to a disease that can be prevented, treated and successfully managed.
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