Facts About Obesity & Overweight
Obesity Rising
Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United
States, after smoking, resulting in 300,000 excess deaths each year. Sixty-one
percent of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight, and 27 percent
are obese, nearly twice the percentage of adults who were obese in 1980.
Obesity, Overweight & Adolescents
Among younger Americans, about 13 percent of children and adolescents
are overweight. This is more than double the number of children and adolescents
who were overweight in the early 1970s. Although the prevalence of obesity
rose across all age groups during the 1990s, the largest increases were
seen in 18-29 year-olds (7.1 percent to 12.1 percent), the college educated
(10.6 percent to 17.8 percent) and Hispanics (11.6 percent to 20.8 percent).
What is Obesity?
Obesity in adults is defined as a body mass index (weight in kilograms
divided by the square of height in meters) equal to or greater than 30.
A waist circumference greater than 40 inches for men, or 35 inches for
women also puts a person in the obese category.
Obesity - Medical Cost
The direct costs of obesity and physical inactivity account for approximately
9.4 percent of U.S. health care expenditures. Figures for 1997 estimate
total cost at $98 billion. Fewer than half (42.8 percent) of obese people
who had routine checkups last year were advised by their health care professionals
to lose weight.
Weight Gain Control
Thirty-seven percent of Americans believe that weight gain is out of their
control, due to such factors as depression, genetics and metabolism. Nineteen
percent of doctors cite motivation as the main obstacle for overweight
and obese people.
Source: Center for the Advancement of Health
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