Obesity and Inactivity

        The Link Between Obesity and Inactivity

Research indicates that rates of obesity and overweight are increasing. Obesity is an enormous public health challenge for Americans of all ages, especially for children and minorities. Generally speaking, a child’s weight is classed as obese when their body weight is more than 25% fat in boys and 32% in girls.

The Reality
    * Obesity in the United States is truly epidemic. In the last 10 years, obesity rates have increased by more than 60% among adults. Approximately 59 million adults are obese.
    * Since 1980, obesity rates have doubled among children and tripled among adolescents. Of children and adolescents aged 6–19 years, 15%—about 9 million young people—are considered overweight.
    * More than 60% of young people eat too much fat, and less than 20% eat the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
    * More than a third of young people in grades 9–12 do not regularly engage in vigorous physical activity.
    * Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity play an important role in many chronic diseases and conditions, including, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, various cancers, gallbladder disease, arthritis, and type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, is increasingly observed in overweight children and adolescents.
   * Being overweight as a child can also cause psychological distress. Teasing about their appearance affects children’s confidence and self-esteem and can lead to isolation and depression.
   * In a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine researchers determined that overweight and obesity may account for 20% of all cancer deaths in US women and 14% in US men.
   * In 2000, the total cost of obesity in the United States was estimated to be $117 billion, of which $61 billion was for direct medical costs and $56 billion was for indirect costs.
   * 70% of children watch at least one hour of TV each day.  35% watch five hours or more.

Why are More Children Overweight?
Children who are overweight tend to grow up into adults who are overweight. They therefore have a higher risk of developing serious health problems in later life. The risk of health problems increases the more overweight a person becomes. Very few children become overweight because of an underlying medical problem. Children are more likely to be overweight if their parents are obese. But genetic factors are thought to be less significant than the fact that families tend to share eating and activity habits. In other words, most children put on excess weight because their lifestyles include an unhealthy diet and a lack of physical activity.

Hope for the Future
By improving eating habits and increasing physical activity, we can reduce obesity and other chronic diseases. Increasing opportunities for healthy eating, such as making fruits and vegetables more available, will enable people to eat better. Increasing opportunities for physical activity, including sidewalks, multiuse trails and other infrastructure improvements, and Walk+Bike to School Buses and other encouragement programs, will help more people be active.

Many educational programs targeted to individuals to affect changes in obesity and weight gain have not been successful. However, environmental changes that reinforce factors supporting healthy lifestyles and reduce barriers to healthy lifestyles may serve to diminish health disparities. And preliminary studies on weight loss in children have shown an improvement in overall school performance.

Promising Approaches for Preventing Obesity
    * Increased physical activity for overweight children reduces the risk of illnesses associated with obesity, helps maintain weight loss, and helps prevent weight gain.
    * Regular physical activity is a key part of any weight loss effort. Developing multiuse trails and other infrastructure improvements can directly affect the obesity epidemic by giving more people access to places for physical activity.
    * Reducing the time spent watching television appears to be effective for treating and preventing obesity.
    * Promoting physical activity, such as developing walking and biking to school programs, will help more chiildren become active.