Looks like LGND's market continues to "grow":
Monday April 6 1:36 PM EDT
Poll Finds Highest Ever US Obesity Rate
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- More Americans are overweight than ever before, according to a Harris poll conducted last month.
The nationwide survey, conducted via telephone March 11-16,1998, surveyed 1,005 American adults about factors known to
have a major impact on health, such as weight, smoking, and seat belt use. The pollsters found that 76% of adults over age 25
were heavier than recommended for their height and body frame. This figure has been growing over the years -- in 1995, a poll
found that 71% of adult Americans were overweight, up from 64% in 1990, and 58% in 1983.
Defining obesity as weighing 20% or more over recommended weight, the survey results indicate that 28% of Americans are
obese.
"The proportion of adults who are over the recommended weight, for their height and body frame, has risen to its highest point
ever," commented Humphrey Taylor, chairman of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., in a statement. "Americans, who are surely
the most overweight people on Earth, continue to add yet more pounds."
In addition to their findings on weight, the authors of the poll report that despite recent state-by-state legislation restricting
tobacco use and government action against the tobacco companies, the number of adult smokers in America has remained
relatively unchanged (26%) during the past decade. And the number of adult smokers "is actually 29%," if you add cigar and
pipe smokers to the group.
One bright note: the poll indicates that since 1983, seat beat usage has risen by 58%. "Fully 77% of adults claim to wear seat
belts when then are in the front seat of a car," according to the Harris statement.
The pollsters also found a correlation between smoking, obesity, seat belt habits, and education. Respondents with
post-graduate degrees were less likely to smoke or to be overweight and more likely to use seat belts than those who had not
completed high school.
"While the continuing increase in seat belt usage is encouraging, the remarkable increase in those overweight or obese, and the
stubborn persistence of the smoking habit are very bed news for the health of Americans in the next century," said Taylor. |
