Obesity in the United States
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Obesity in the United States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. While many industrialized countries have experienced similar increases, American obesity rates are the highest in the world with 64% of adults being overweight or obese, and almost a quarter being obese.[1] Estimates of the number of obese American adults have been rising steadily, from 19.4% in 1997, 24.5% in 2004[2] to 26.6% in 2007.[3]
The economic cost attributable to obesity in the United States has been estimated to be as high as $99.2 billion in 1995, with $51.64 billion attributable to direct medical costs.[4] Researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and RTI International estimate that in 2003, obesity-attributable medical expenditures reached $75 billion.[5]
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[edit] In the military
An estimated 16% of active duty U.S. military personnel were obese in 2004, with the cost of remedial bariatric surgery for the military reaching $15 million in 2002. Obesity is currently the largest single cause for the discharge of soldiers.[6]
[edit] Incidence by state
The following figures were averaged from 2004-2006 adult data compiled by the CDC BRFSS program[8] and 2003 child data from the National Survey of Children's Health.[9][10]
| State | Overweight adults (%) | Obese adults (%) | Overweight children (%) | Obesity rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 64.7 | 29.4 | 16.7 | 3 |
| Alaska | 63.7 | 25.8 | 11.1 | 16 |
| Arizona | 57.3 | 21.7 | 12.2 | 43 |
| Arkansas | 63.7 | 27.0 | 16.4 | 8 |
| California | 59.9 | 22.7 | 13.2 | 36 |
| Colorado | 54.2 | 17.6 | 9.9 | 51 |
| Connecticut | 57.7 | 20.1 | 12.3 | 47 |
| Delaware | 62.2 | 23.6 | 14.8 | 29 |
| D.C. | 55.0 | 22.2 | 22.8 | 40 |
| Florida | 60.0 | 22.9 | 14.4 | 34 |
| Georgia | 61.4 | 26.1 | 16.4 | 14 |
| Hawaii | 54.5 | 20.1 | 13.3 | 47 |
| Idaho | 59.8 | 23.2 | 10.1 | 31 |
| Illinois | 60.7 | 24.4 | 15.8 | 25 |
| Indiana | 62.5 | 26.8 | 15.6 | 9 |
| Iowa | 62.1 | 24.9 | 12.5 | 20 |
| Kansas | 61.3 | 24.3 | 14.0 | 27 |
| Kentucky | 64.9 | 27.5 | 20.6 | 7 |
| Louisiana | 63.4 | 28.2 | 17.2 | 4 |
| Maine | 60.1 | 23.0 | 12.7 | 33 |
| Maryland | 60.1 | 24.4 | 13.3 | 25 |
| Massachusetts | 55.3 | 19.8 | 13.6 | 50 |
| Michigan | 62.7 | 26.8 | 14.5 | 9 |
| Minnesota | 61.3 | 23.7 | 10.1 | 28 |
| Mississippi | 66.5 | 30.6 | 17.8 | 1 |
| Missouri | 62.8 | 26.3 | 15.6 | 12 |
| Montana | 58.0 | 20.7 | 11.1 | 45 |
| Nebraska | 63.0 | 25.4 | 11.9 | 18 |
| Nevada | 60.8 | 22.5 | 12.4 | 37 |
| New Hampshire | 59.5 | 22.4 | 12.9 | 38 |
| New Jersey | 59.6 | 22.2 | 13.7 | 40 |
| New Mexico | 59.3 | 22.0 | 16.8 | 42 |
| New York | 58.6 | 22.4 | 15.3 | 38 |
| North Carolina | 62.3 | 25.6 | 19.3 | 17 |
| North Dakota | 63.8 | 25.1 | 12.1 | 19 |
| Ohio | 62.5 | 26.0 | 14.2 | 15 |
| Oklahoma | 62.9 | 26.8 | 15.4 | 9 |
| Oregon | 59.8 | 23.3 | 14.1 | 30 |
| Pennsylvania | 61.4 | 24.5 | 13.3 | 23 |
| Rhode Island | 58.8 | 20.5 | 11.9 | 46 |
| South Carolina | 63.7 | 27.8 | 18.9 | 5 |
| South Dakota | 62.9 | 24.9 | 12.1 | 20 |
| Tennessee | 63.9 | 27.8 | 20.0 | 5 |
| Texas | 63.1 | 26.3 | 19.1 | 12 |
| Utah | 55.8 | 21.1 | 8.5 | 44 |
| Vermont | 55.4 | 20.0 | 11.3 | 49 |
| Virginia | 61.0 | 24.5 | 13.8 | 23 |
| Washington | 59.5 | 23.2 | 10.8 | 31 |
| West Virginia | 65.5 | 29.8 | 20.9 | 2 |
| Wisconsin | 61.8 | 24.8 | 13.5 | 22 |
| Wyoming | 60.2 | 22.8 | 8.7 | 35 |
[edit] Anti-obesity efforts
Due to pressure from parents and anti-obesity advocates, many school districts have removed sodas, junk foods, and candy from snack and vending machines and cafeterias.[11] State legislators in California, for example, passed laws banning the sale of machine-dispensed snacks and drinks in elementary schools in 2003, despite objections by the California-Nevada Soft Drink Association. The state followed more recently with legislation to prohibit their soda sales in high schools by 2009, with the shortfall in school revenue to be compensated by an increase in funding for school lunch programs.[12] In mid-2006, the American Beverage Association (including Cadbury Schweppes, Coca Cola and PepsiCo) agreed to a voluntary ban on the sale of all high-calorie drinks and all beverages in containers larger than 8, 10 and 12 ounces in elementary, middle and high schools, respectively.[13][14]
[edit] References
- ^ Obesity Statistics: U.S. Obesity Trends. North American Association for the Study of Obesity (2006). Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data From the 2004 National Health Interview Survey, CDC NCHS, 2005-06-21, <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/200506_06.pdf>. Retrieved on 15 March 2008
- ^ Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data From the January-June 2007 National Health Interview Survey (12/2007), CDC NCHS, 2007-11-19, <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/200712_06.pdf>. Retrieved on 15 March 2008
- ^ Wolf, A. M. & Colditz, G. A. (1998), “Current estimates of the economic cost of obesity in the United States”, Obesity Research 6 (2): 97-106, <http://www.obesityresearch.org/cgi/content/abstract/6/2/97>
- ^ CDC (2004-01-21). "Obesity Costs States Billions in Medical Expenses" (in English). Press release. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ Basu, Sandra (2004-03-25). Military Not Immune From Obesity Epidemic. U.S. Medicine. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Obesity and Overweight: Trends: U.S. Obesity Trends 1985–2006. CDC (2007-07-27). Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Levi, Jeffrey; Gadola, Emily & Segal, Laura (August 2007), F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America, 2007, Trust For America's Health, pp. 6-8, <http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2007/Obesity2007Report.pdf>. Note: Defines "overweight" as BMI ≥25, "obese" as BMI ≥30
- ^ Overweight and Physical Activity Among Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2005, HRSA, 2005, <ftp://ftp.hrsa.gov/mchb/overweight/overweight.pdf>. Retrieved on 15 March 2008. Note: defines "overweight" as BMI ≥95th percentile
- ^ Blumberg, S J; Olson, L; Frankel, MR; Osborn, L; Srinath, K P & Giambo, P (2005), “Design and operation of the National Survey of Children’s Health”, Vital Health Statistics 1 (43), <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_01/sr01_043.pdf>
- ^ Soda Ban Means Change at Schools. Washington Post (2006-05-04). Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Finz, Stacy (2006-05-22). State high school soda ban expected on books by 2009. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Mayer, Caroline (2006-05-03). Sugary Drinks To Be Pulled From Schools: Industry Agrees to Further Limit Availability to Children. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
- ^ Bottlers Agree to a School Ban on Sweet Drinks. New York Times (2006-05-04). Retrieved on 2008-03-08.
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