Obesity Ruining Health Gains

December 14, 2001

Health problems from overweight and obesity could reverse many of the health gains achieved in the United States in recent decades, according to a Surgeon General's "call to action" issued Thursday. 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."

The Grocery Manufacturers of America said the report "properly recognizes the complexity of America's weight problem" and called on the Bush administration and Congress to take concrete steps to address the issue. "This new report shows that Secretary Thompson and the Surgeon General have examined the obesity issue and recognized that this is a complex issue and there are no simple solutions," said GMA Director of Scientific and Nutrition Policy, Lisa Katic.

Approximately 300,000 U.S. 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% of U.S. adults were overweight, along with 13% of children and adolescents. Obesity among adults has doubled since 1980, while overweight among adolescents has tripled. Only 3% of all Americans meet at least four of the five federal food 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% 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.

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."

The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity is available at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity.

GMA's Katic, a registered dietitian, said, "It is also clear that while individual activities are influenced by a wide range of factors, solutions that fixate on removing choice through narrow restrictions on products will not change lifestyles."

The administration and Congress could take steps such as "reinvigorating" the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, providing federal funding for research into ways to better motivate people to engage in regular physical activity, and the creation of funding incentives for cities and states to provide more opportunities for nutrition education and physical activity in grades K-12.

"The food industry is a committed partner in the effort to combat obesity. Our industry spends tens of millions of dollars a year to promote programs such as nutrition education and physical activity at the state and local levels. Food and beverage companies also place a high priority on researching and developing new ways to make people's favorite foods even healthier, without sacrificing taste," said Katic.