Obesity In America: Diagnosing A Growing Epidemic

Nationwide, the progression of obesity in America has reached epidemic levels and is a documented reality -- established by both BMI trends and measures of absolute bodyweight.

The overwhelming statistical evidence has prompted a call to action by the Surgeon General who proclaimed that the United States is indeed facing an epidemic, declaring that obesity is responsible for 300,000 deaths every year.

According to actual measurements of bodyweight taken from approximately 4,000 adult Americans across the U.S. during 1999 - 2000 by the National Center for Health Statistics, the average adult female registered a bodyweight of 163 pounds -- up from a mean of 152 recorded a decade earlier, using the same methodology.

Unhealthy lifestyles, lack of exercise, genetics, fast food, and a person’s social class - -among others - - all have been suspect when trying to determine the root causes for the rising obesity in America. Without education and prevention, adverse effects from obesity may include diabetes, shorter life expectancy, heart disease and declining health.

Independent validation of obesity trends and a full-scale obesity epidemic is provided by a national survey conducted in January 2004 by American Sports Data, Inc. In this study, a sample of 12,094 adult women reported a mean bodyweight of 163; for men, the average bodyweight was 196. Ample evidence of an epidemic in relation to obesity is found in the firm's IHRSA/ASD Obesity/Weight Control Trend Report.

The frequently publicized CDC testimony to a national fat epidemic is well known:

• The percentage of adult Americans with a Body Mass Index (BMI) surpassing 25.0is 63% and are therefore overweight
• 31% have a BMI in excess of 30.0 and are declared obese
• Adolescent and childhood obesity has tripled over the past 20 years

Indeed, the National Center for Health statistics has tracked the epidemic of obesity in America for over four decades. Incontrovertible evidence of the U.S. obesity epidemic is epitomized by an alarming trend in percentage of obese Americans:

• 1960-62 (13%)
• 1971-74 (15%)
• 1976-80 (15%)
• 1988-94 (23%)
• 1999-2000 (31%)