Posted on 10/13/2017 8:36:08 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Almost forty percent adults in the United States are now obese, continuing an ever-expanding epidemic of obesity that's expected to lead to sicker Americans and higher health care costs.
Almost four out of 10 adults and 18.5 percent of kids aged 2 to 19 now meet the clinical definition of obesity, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's up from 30.5 percent of adults and 13.9 percent of children in 1999-2000, the CDC report noted.
Public health experts are concerned that the continuing rise in obesity will lead to greater numbers of people suffering from diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses.
"We've made tremendous progress reducing deaths due to cardiovascular disease and stroke in our country. Part of that is due to treatment. Part of that is due to the tremendous reduction in tobacco use," said Dr.
Eduardo Sanchez, chief medical officer for the American Heart Association. "But we've worried if obesity trends stayed or worsened that some of those gains might be reduced."
Obesity is defined as a body mass index of 30 or more. A 6-foot-tall man weighing 221 pounds is considered obese, as is a 5-foot-9 woman weighing 203 pounds.
The increase in youth obesity is of particular concern because these children are at greater risk for lifelong health problems, said Dr. Seema Kumar, a childhood obesity specialist with the Mayo Clinic.
Kumar said she regularly sees children with diseases that used to be considered adult-only, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and fatty liver disease.
"Because rates of obesity are so high, despite all the advances we're seeing, our children may live less healthy and shorter lives than their parents," Kumar said. "We're going to have a much higher number of adults with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease down the line."
Some trends within the overall increase in obesity also have health experts worried.
For example, Sanchez noted, obesity appears to be more prevalent in ethnic groups that are growing rapidly in the United States.
About 47 percent of Hispanic and black adults are obese, compared with 38 percent of whites and 13 percent of Asians, the researchers found.
"The demographic profile of our country is shifting in such a way that the burden of obesity will continue to grow unless we address these disparities," Sanchez said. "We're still going to be heading in a challenging direction."
Diana Thomas, a fellow with The Obesity Society, pointed out that the rise in youth obesity also is likely to continue because obese adults tend to mate, reproduce more often, and produce children that also struggle with excess weight.
"That next generation that's coming in with a high prevalence of obesity will probably continue to affect us in the future," said Thomas, who is a professor of mathematical sciences at West Point.
Rates of obesity increase with age, the investigators found. Close to 43 percent of middle-aged adults are obese, compared with about 36 percent of younger adults, nearly 21 percent of teenagers and 14 percent of children aged 2 to 5.
Stemming the obesity epidemic will involve action at both the personal and the community level, Sanchez and Kumar said.
Family-based programs are available that teach young parents how to cook healthy meals, Kumar said. These programs teach healthy eating habits that kids will model once they see their parents setting an example. "If we can teach our families to eat healthy, that would probably be the most important thing we could do," Kumar said.
Communities also play a crucial role. They can help by adopting policies that encourage a healthy diet and more physical activity, Sanchez suggested. These might include: Healthier food and drinks in vending machines in schools and businesses.
Improving accessibility to healthy foods by promoting farmers' markets.
Designing neighborhoods to be more walkable and bike-friendly.
Promoting physical activity for kids both in and outside of school.
"It's not just about giving people information," Sanchez said. "It's about helping individuals and their families adopt different behaviors, and make it easier for them to do so."
The report, by Dr. Craig Hales and colleagues at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), was published in the October issue of the CDC's NCHS Data Brief.
More information: Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., MPH, chief medical officer, American Heart Association; Seema Kumar, M.D., childhood obesity specialist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; Diana Thomas, Ph.D., fellow, Obesity Society and professor, mathematical sciences, West Point, N.Y.; Oct. 13, 2017, NCHS Data Brief For more on obesity, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Diana Thomas, a fellow with The Obesity Society, pointed out that the rise in youth obesity also is likely to continue because obese adults tend to mate, reproduce more often, and produce children that also struggle with excess weight.
Hell - I’m 65, 5’11”, 185 lbs, 45” chest, 17” neck, 16.5” arms and 34” waist - and I’m “obese”...
I am doing my part. Need to lose 100 lbs.
Do you find yourself brachiating through the trees?
We use bacon grease for making fried cabbage. It’s really steamed cabbage with some fat for flavor. A smallish head of cabbage, coarsely chopped, as much bacon grease as you can dig out of the jar on a tablespoon, plenty of black pepper, and a few tbsp of sugar. Take a big skillet with a tight-fitting lid, melt the bacon grease, add the cabbage, pepper, and sugar along with a cup of water. Cover and cook, stirring a few times, until the cabbage is wilted to how you like it.
Use bacon grease to cure cast iron pans. Use it to coat stainless steel pans before you cook in oil. Nothing will stick. I do it all the time.
The corn lobby is also why we have mandates for ethanol in gasoline, which has been a great destroyer of engine components.
Four out of 10 seems low to me.
Having spent most of my life overweight, I feel more sadness for them than judgment.
I took off most of my weight by being careful about the ingredients in the food I was consuming, not through dieting.
When I look at what most people are putting in their Walmart carts, it truly saddens me.
If you cut all grains(even whole grains) from your diet you will lose a massive amount of weight. I mean ALL.
You can’t go by their ‘obesity’ numbers, lots of factors are left out. Medical/Medicine induced obesity, body builders, workers who do heavy lifting have larger muscle mass, large bones and muscle mass that is heredity.
According to their charts at 5’ and 128 I’m OBESE. Yet if I weighed the 110 they think I should, I’d have more health issues with no reserve weight to fight them. I can drop up to 10 lbs with a Gastropresis or Meniere’s attack in a few days of puking/diarrhea. Same goes for some drug reactions.
I eat twice a day, with a small snack.
Return daily PT to schools too.
I have the same issue, hubby a fairly healthy 77 yr old is not changing his eating habits, I did change the way the meat/potatoes are processed. But that Candy, cookies, cereal, chips, bread is not going to be removed from his diet, he does ration his portions of the junk food. But so addicted he takes a set # of jelly beans...and M & M’s to set on his night stand. But he keeps his weight about 180 which for 5’ 11” is not to bad. But he has NO ENERGY from that diet.
We gave up even diet soda 2 yrs ago, have less stomach issues.
I’m between 40-50 years old. 5’10”, 212 lbs. Have a bit of a gut, but blood veins pop out of my arms. Work an office job but burn wood so I get exercise.
I’m a bit overweight, but the BMI says I am obese. Pure crap. No skinny kid out there can keep up with me working.
Right now, diagnosis of “pre-diabetes” is very fashionable among doctors.
But there truly is a “miracle herb” for this, that slams down and keeps down blood sugar; as well as increase insulin production and sensitivity.
It is called “Gymnema Sylvestre”, or “Gymnema” for short. It originates in India, where it has long been used to treat diabetes. Nicknamed “sugar destroyer”.
There are now a lot of US manufacturers, so it is easy to get.
“Gymnema contains substances that decrease the absorption of sugar from the intestine. Gymnema may also increase the amount of insulin in the body and increase the growth of cells in the pancreas.”
The book does encourage exercise, just not the jogging kind.
As far as bacon grease, I use it to fry my eggs in. Use enough so that the eggs float on the grease and they won’t stick, and taste like bacon!
That's nothing, I saw a kid the other day that looked like HE was pregnant!
I think it's the high carb/sugar diets. Fat in the diet is not the problem contrary to conventional wisdom. My diet is heavy with eggs, meats, cheese, nuts and veggies soaked in butter or olive oil. I hardly ever touch sweets and never have soda pop. To my doctor's chagrin, my cholesterol has been well under 200 for years and my heart is working perfectly.
“1955
Coca-Cola expands its packaging offering from the standard 6.5-ounce contour bottle to include 10-, 12- and 26-ounce contour bottles in the U.S., marking an important step in giving consumers packaging options to meet their needs.”
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/chronology#
12 oz cans began in 1960. Prior to 1955, if you bought a bottle of Coke, it was 6.5 ounces.
I don’t have any stats on the sex lives of the obese, but the poorest people are now the most likely to be obese. The poor tend to have more kids than the rich, so maybe that is it. Or not.
FReegards
Not for quite a few years - work our regularly but age does make the joints a little achy - makes playing Tarzan a bit uncomfortable. Do stand over my wife and beat my chest as part of the mating ritual though....
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