OBESITY CRISIS

OBESITY  CRISIS;

                          Obesity is one of our nation's foremost health problems and is directly link to numerous other diseases, including heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. In December 2001, the U.S. Surgeon General sounded the alarm, releasing a "Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity." The Call to Action included some frightening obesity statistics:

• Nearly 40 million American adults are obese
• The national obesity average jumped from 12% in 1991 to 19.8% in 2000
• Some 300,000 Americans die from obesity-related diseases every year -- making obesity second only to smoking as a leading cause of premature death in the U.S.

The following statistics are from The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney

Diseases, a branch of the National Institutes of Health:

• Total number of overweight adults (20-74 years old): Approximately 58 million Americans, or about one-third
• Obese adult females (20-74 years old): 32 million, as of 1990
• Obese adult males (20-74 years old): 26 million, as of 1990
• Percentage of adult American women trying to lose weight at any given time:
• 35-40 percent
• Percentage of adult American men trying to lose weight at any given time: 20-24
• percent
• Percentage of cardiovascular disease cases related to obesity: Nearly 70 percent
• Effect of obesity on high blood pressure: More than doubles one's chances of developing high blood pressure