Obesity spreading like an 'epidemic'
Anyone have any speculation about what's causing this??? We know that science will have to wait for the right 'proof' before pointing fingers, but we have the luxury in the alternative field to just point fingers at whatever makes sense right?
I'd speculate that Europe has at least as much pollution... so environmental stuff seems a stretch... boy, maybe they're not so illogical for protecting their food sources from U.S. "Hormone Beef" and that ilk after all??? This may stir up the thread....?
by The Dallas Morning News and Knight Ridder Newspapers
Obesity rates have soared in the 1990s, showing that no part of the country has escaped the epidemic, according to a new study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Numbers of the obese exploded from 12 percent of the total population in 1991 to 17.9 percent in 1998, says the study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
The data represent the first state-by-state look at body weight and the first survey of the nation's obesity rates since 1994.
"Rarely do chronic conditions such as obesity spread with the speed and dispersion characteristic of a communicable disease epidemic," the CDC researchers wrote.
Over the eight-year period, the problem grew dramatically for all ethnic and economic groups in every region of the country.
The share of the population that is obese mounted most dramatically in southern and south-Atlantic states, with more than 50 percent increases for many.
Surprisingly, obesity grew fastest among the young and most-educated segments of American society.
Moreover, the new estimates are low, the scientists say, because they are based on telephone surveys that asked people how much they weighed.
The report on the obesity epidemic appears with eight other studies in an issue of the journal devoted to obesity research.
Taken together, the new data represent "the most comprehensive look at the frequency and the complications of obesity," said Dr. William Dietz, head of the CDC's division of nutrition and physical activity.
In general, people are considered obese if they are 30 percent above ideal body weight, although the study used a more precise measure, known as body-mass index.
In the journal, researchers wrote: "This rapid increase in obesity in all segments of the population and regions of the country implies that there have been sweeping changes in U.S. society that are contributing to weight gain."
Americans are bombarded every day with warnings about lethargic exercise habits and the dangers of excessive eating, but most are failing to put together an effective weight-loss lifestyle.
An array of factors, large and small - from the strong economy to the convenience of supermarkets - contribute to the phenomenon of American obesity, said Dr. James Anderson, an obesity expert at the University of Kentucky.
The nation's reliance on the automobile, use of food in celebrations and aversion to exercise all help lead to bigger waistlines, Anderson said.
Obesity rates have increased so much that the complications of excess body weight probably account for about 300,000 deaths each year, another study in the journal says.
The authors of the CDC study estimated that 6.8 percent of the nation's $1 trillion health care bill is caused by illnesses related to obesity. As a person's weight increases, so do the chances of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The new work "just hammers the point again that obesity is an epidemic, and that it's increasing," said Dr. George Bray, a leading expert on the topic.
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