'Overweight threat' for most of US

Herald Sun ^ | 4 October 2005

[Aussie Dasher]

THE US obesity problem might be more serious than previously believed and most adults in the United States were at risk of becoming overweight or obese, US researchers said today.

In a government study that followed 4000 participants over 30 years, researchers found that 90 per cent of men and 70 per cent of women were overweight or later became overweight.

"National surveys and other studies have told us that the United States has a major weight problem, but this study suggests that we could have an even more serious degree of overweight and obesity (cases) over the next few decades," Elizabeth Nabel, director of the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, said.

Excess weight and obesity increase the risk of poor health and can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, breathing problems and some cancers, Ms Nabel said.

"We hope these results will serve as a wake-up call to Americans of all ages."

The study's results, which were published in this week's issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, were based on assessments of body mass index, a standard measure of weight relative to height.

The volunteers for the study were white, from the town of Framingham in the northeastern state of Massachusetts.

Researchers said their study might underestimate the problem among Hispanic and African-American communities, which tend to have higher rates of excess weight.

According to the government's National Centre for Health Statistics, an estimated 65 per cent of US adults over the age of 20 are either overweight or obese, with 30 per cent of adults considered obese.

The study found that making it to middle age at a healthy weight was no guarantee for staying at that weight.

About one in five women and one in four men in the study deteriorated during four years, gaining excess weight or becoming obese.

"Taking simple steps to make sure that the overall number of calories you consume do not exceed the amount you burn can play a major role in lowering your risk for many chronic conditions," Ms Nabel said.

[agere_contra]

When they defined the BFI index they forgot to account for bone density

[fatnotlazy]

FWIW, I don't know any lean people with Type II diabetes.

***

I do. A co-worker of mine has it -- she is fit and trim. She works out with me in the firm's gym. She has, however, a family history of the disease. But by keeping her weight under control and being fit, she is fighting off the disease rather well.

However, you are right...those who are obese are at a much higher risk for Type II. It's just that obesity is not the only risk factor. My co-worker can't do anything about heredity, but she is doing what she can with the other risk factors.

[metmom]

'I regularly walk 10 miles at a time, without getting tired or becoming out of breath. I'm in great shape.

But according to the federal government's BMI index, I am "overweight." I am male, 5'6", and I weigh 160 pounds.

The government greatly exaggerates the number of people who are "overweight."'


I heard somewhere that "overweight" people are often in better physical condition than people of "normal" weight because people who weigh more tend to be aware of it and the need to exercise and eat right. "Normal" weight people tend to take it more for granted. I'm definitely in the overwieght category and I eat well and walk an average of 6 nights/week, not counting what I do for errands, laundry (hanging it out) and gardening. I keep trying to lose the weight and it keeps finding me. BTW my BP, sugar and cholesterol are all fine. Sure I'd like to be slimmer but it just ain't happening.

[Marie]

FWIW, I don't know any lean people with Type II diabetes.

I do. I know three people who are underweight and T-2. Vegetarians, all of them.