Health problems resulting from overweight
and obesity (1) could reverse many
of the health gains achieved in the US in recent decades,
according to a Surgeon General's "call to action" issued
today.
The report, entitled "The Surgeon General's
Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and
Obesity," outlined strategies that communities can use
in helping to address the problems. Those options included
requiring physical education at all school grades, providing
more healthy food options on school campuses, and providing
safe and accessible recreational facilities for residents
of all ages.
"Overweight and obesity are among the
most pressing new health challenges we face today,"
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "Our modern environment
has allowed these conditions to increase at alarming
rates and become a growing health problem for our nation.
By confronting these conditions, we have tremendous
opportunities to prevent the unnecessary disease and
disability they portend for our future."
"Overweight and obesity may soon cause
as much preventable disease and death as cigarette smoking,"
Surgeon General David Satcher said. "People tend to
think of overweight and obesity as strictly a personal
matter, but there is much that communities can and should
do to address these problems."
Approximately 300,000 US deaths a year
currently are associated with obesity and overweight
(compared to more than 400,000 deaths a year associated
with cigarette smoking). The total direct and indirect
costs attributed to overweight and obesity amounted
to $117 billion in the year 2000.
In 1999, an estimated 61 percent of US
adults were overweight, along with 13 percent of children
and adolescents. Obesity among adults has doubled since
1980, while overweight among adolescents has tripled.
Only 3 percent of all Americans meet at least four of
the five federal Food Guide
Pyramid recommendations for the intake of grains,
fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and meats. And less
than one-third of Americans meet the federal recommendations
to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical
activity at least five days a week, while 40 percent
of adults engage in no leisure-time physical activity
at all.
While the prevalence of overweight and
obesity has increased for both genders and across all
races, ethnic and age groups, disparities exist. In
women, overweight and obesity are higher among members
of racial and ethnic minority populations than in non-Hispanic
white women. In men, Mexican-Americans have a higher
prevalence of overweight and obesity than non-Hispanic
men, while non-Hispanic white men have a greater prevalence
than non-Hispanic black men.
Members of lower-income families generally
experience a greater prevalence than those from higher-income
families.
Already, these trends are associated
with dramatic increases in conditions such as asthma,
and in Type 2 diabetes among children. Satcher said
failure to address overweight and obesity "could wipe
out some of the gains we've made in areas such as heart
disease, several forms of cancer, and other chronic
health problems."
In preparation of the report, Satcher
convened a listening session in December 2000 and held
a public comment period to gather ideas from clinicians,
researchers, consumers and advocates. These sessions
generated a number of community-based strategies that
were subsequently reviewed for their proven scientific
effectiveness. The strategies were organized under the
categories of communication, action, research and evaluation
(CARE).
Those strategies include:
- Ensure daily, quality physical education
for all school grades. Currently, only one state in
the country -- Illinois -- requires physical education
for grades K-12, while only about one in four teenagers
nationwide take part in some form of physical education.
- Ensure that more food options that
are low in fat and calories, as well as fruits, vegetables,
whole grains, and low-fat or non-fat dairy products,
are available on school campuses and at school events.
A modest step toward achieving this would be to enforce
existing U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations
that prohibit serving foods of minimal nutritional
value during mealtimes in school food service areas,
including in vending machines.
- Make community facilities available
for physical activity for all people, including on
the weekends.
- Create more opportunities for physical
activity at work sites. [More
info on this topic]
- Reduce time spent watching television
and in other sedentary behaviors. In 1999, 43 percent
of high-school students reported watching two hours
of TV or more a day.
- Educate all expectant parents about
the benefits of breast-feeding. Studies indicate breast-fed
infants may be less likely to become overweight as
they grow older.
- Change the perception of obesity so
that health becomes the chief concern, not personal
appearance.
- Increase research on the behavioral
and biological causes of overweight and obesity. Direct
research toward prevention and treatment, and toward
ethnic/racial health disparities.
- Educate health care providers and
health profession students on the prevention and treatment
of overweight and obesity across the lifespan.
"Communities can help when it comes to
health promotion and disease prevention," Satcher said.
"When there are no safe places for children to play,
or for adults to walk, jog, or ride a bike, that's a
community responsibility. When school lunchrooms or
workplace cafeterias don't offer healthy and appealing
food choices, that is a community responsibility. When
new or expectant parents are not educated about the
benefits of breast-feeding, that's a community responsibility.
And when we don't require daily physical education in
our schools, that is also a community responsibility."
The Surgeon General's Call to Action
to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity is available
at www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/
###
NOTE: The National Institutes of Health
define obesity and overweight using a Body Mass Index
(BMI), which is a calculation of a person's weight
in kilograms divided by the square of their height in
meters. An overweight adult is defined as one with a
BMI between 25 and 29.9, while an obese adult has a
BMI of 30 or higher. In children and adolescents, overweight
is defined as a sex-and-age specific BMI at or above
the 95th percentile, based on revised growth charts
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There
is no generally accepted definition for obesity for
children and adolescents.
The risk of death, although modest until
a BMI of 30 is reached, increases with an increasing
BMI. Obese adults have a 50 to 100 percent increased
risk of premature death compared to adults with a BMI
of 20 to 25. But even moderate weight excess (10 to
20 pounds for a person of average height) increases
the risk of death, particularly among adults aged 30
to 64 years.
Information about this press release:
Date: December 13, 2001
For Release: Immediately
Contact: Damon Thompson (301) 443-4000
Note: All HHS press releases, fact
sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news.
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