Go Axokine, go!
Obesity Increases 6% in One Year
October 9, 2000
JAMA/MedscapeWire
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With the report of a 6% increase in obesity in the October 4 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, the American Obesity Association (AOA) urges politicians, parents, and educators to take immediate action to control this spiraling epidemic. The JAMA study showed the increase as occurring between 1998 and 1999 in the United States.
"Parents, politicians, and educators need to wake up and see what we are doing to our children," said Judith Stern, vice president of AOA. "Prevention is essential. Schools have thrown recess and physical education out the back door and have pulled in junk food in the front door. They are making our kids fatter every day. It is time to stop balancing school budgets on the hips of our children."
Two weeks ago, AOA released a survey of more than 1000 parents. Almost 80% of parents said they were opposed to reducing recess and physical education for more academics.
The JAMA report indicates that obesity has increased among all age groups, both sexes, all regions, and all income and educational levels. In 1991, no state reported obesity rates of 20% or more; in 1999, 16 states reported such levels.
"A jump of this magnitude in only 1 year is as unbelievable as it is scary," says Richard L. Atkinson, MD, president of the AOA. "Medicine has never seen an epidemic of this proportion."
Adds Morgan Downey, AOA's executive director, "The irony of these figures is that the 2 presidential candidates have focused their campaigns on children's education and children's health yet ignore an epidemic exploding all around them. No one candidate has spelled out how he will stem the tide of obesity in this country."
The authors of the JAMA report conclude, "This continuing trend in obesity is a critical public health threat in the United States.... Unfortunately, the prevalence of obesity is likely to continue increasing in the years ahead. The time has come to develop a national, comprehensive plan to prevent and treat the obesity epidemic."
Obesity affects more 20% of adults and 10% to 15% of children. Nearly 30% of adults and 10% to 14% of children are overweight and at risk for obesity. Obesity is responsible for nearly as many preventable deaths as smoking (300,000), and costs society about $100 billion a year, according to AOA. |
