Obesity in the US: A Burgeoning Crisis

It makes for frightening reading, really.

In the past few years, obesity has been rising rapidly in the United States with the result that today it has reached epidemic proportions.

To make matters worse, a new damning report says that if the current trend continues then by 2030 more than half the population of the United States will be obese!

The report, aptly titled F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2012, says that the number of obese adults will increase dramatically in every state in the country over the next two decades – and along with it related disease rates and health care costs.

The report follows analyses of state-by-state data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention commissioned by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and conducted by the National Heart Forum.

Obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index above 30, while overweight means a Body Mass Index of between 25 and 29.9.

Calculate your body mass index.

Obesity increases the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, hypertension and other chronic illnesses.

Key findings of the study:

• If the obesity rise continues on its current path, 13 states could have adult obesity rates above 60 per cent, 39 states about 50 per cent, and all 50 states could have rates above 44 per cent by 2030.
• By 2030, Mississippi could become the fattest state in the United States with an obesity rate of 66 per cent with Colorado at the bottom of the ladder with 44.8 per cent – in 2011, the rates were 34.9 per cent and 20.7 per cent, respectively.
• There could be a 10-fold increase in new cases of Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension and arthritis between 2010 and 2020 – and double that by 2030.
• Obesity could contribute to more than 6 million case of Type 2 diabetes, 5 million cases of coronary heart disease and stroke, and more than 400,000 cases of cancer in the next two decades. Currently, more than 25 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes, 27 million have chronic heart disease, 69 million have hypertension and 50 million have arthritis. Besides, 795,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year and nearly a third of the cancer deaths are related to obesity, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity.
• Medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases are estimated to increase by $48 billion to $66 billion per year.
• Loss in economic productivity could be between $390 billion and $580 billion annually.
• Nine states could see their obesity-related health care costs shoot up by more than 20 per cent with New Jersey seeing the highest increase of 34.5 per cent.

A grim picture, no doubt. However, all is not lost.

The report suggests that the doomsday scenario can be avoided if only the states could reduce the average Body Mass Index of their residents by just 5 per cent by 2030.

“The study shows us two futures for America’s health,” says Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“At every level, we must pursue policies that prevent health, prevent disease and reduce health care costs.

“Nothing less is acceptable.”

Trust for America’s health executive director Jeff Levi says increasing physical activity times in schools and making fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable can help make healthier choices easier.

“Small changes can add up to a big difference,” he says.

“Policy changes can help make healthier choices easier for Americans in their daily lives.”

Not a tall order, surely. But there needs to be a national commitment and will.

What more do you think Americans should do to tackle the obesity crisis? Please, leave your comments below.

Cancer group seeks obesity study

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has really set the cat among the pigeons – by proposing, in May, to limit the sale of soft drinks to 16 fluid ounces in restaurants, movie theaters and other public venues!

The latest to jump on the anti-obesity bandwagon is the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, which has urged the Surgeon General of the United States for a sweeping study of the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on consumer health.

It has emphasized the scientific evidence linking a third of all cancer deaths to poor diet and lack of exercise – two behaviors also associated strongly with obesity.

Such a study “could have a major impact on the public’s consciousness and perhaps begin to change the direction of public behavior in their choices of food and drinks”, says the lobby group’s president Christopher W. Hansen in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

“We know there is a direct link between excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity, and the adverse health effect can be profound.”

Obesity has become a talking point in America after it was found that two-thirds of the people are overweight or obese and health costs are spiraling.

Obesity accounts for $190 billion in annual medical costs in the United States – or almost 21 per cent of the total, according to a study.

Sugary drinks have become the latest target in the fight against burgeoning obesity after the American Medical Association declared that 46 per cent of the nation’s intake of added sugars comes from these beverages.

Also supporting Bloomberg’s point of view was the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, which has called for more policies to reduce the over-consumption of sugary drinks.

The beverage industry is, as expected, not happy.

In response to the letter, Karen Hanretty, a spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, said: “We already have studies from the federal government and independent third parties that demonstrate soft drinks are not a unique or significant contributor to obesity.”

However, Dick Woodruff, vice-president of federal affairs of the Cancer Action Network, says the group is seeking an unbiased review of all available science.

"There is an obesity epidemic. One in three cancer deaths are due to nutrition and physical activities, including overweight and obesity," he tells Reuters.

But, as Hansen points out: “There seems to be a consensus about the problem and the cause, but what is lacking is an articulate, science-based and comprehensive national plan of action.”

He is hoping for a repeat of the landmark 1964 report by the Surgeon General first revealing to the American public the dangers of tobacco consumption and which led to a drastic reduction in smoking.

Scientists discover control mechanism for obesity

This from Channelnewsasia.com:

Scientists from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Singapore Bio-imaging Consortium today announced the path-breaking discovery of the mechanism that controls obesity, atherosclerosis and, potentially, cancer.

The findings were published in the journal, Cell Metabolism, and may help doctors in the treatment of obesity and atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease of the large arteries that can lead to many cardiovascular diseases and along with obesity is blamed for more than a third of deaths in the Western world.

Obesity and atherosclerosis are accompanied by the accumulation of lipid droplets in fat cells and foam cells, respectively.

Foam cells can rupture, damage blood vessels and worsen atherosclerosis.

The team of scientists found that mice deficient in a particular gene, even when fed a high-fat diet, were resistant to obesity and atherosclerosis by preventing the accumulation of lipid droplets.

Dr. Dmitry Bulavin, senior principal investigator at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and lead author of the paper, says: “We are building on this research to investigate if the same mechanism could also control tumor progression and hence potentially unlock new treatments in cancer.”