Steps to Preventing Overweight and Obesity
July 7, 2003

• Obesity is the fastest growing epidemic in the United States, and one of the most serious chronic diseases of our time. From 1987 to 2000, obesity rates increased dramatically. Currently 64 percent of the adult population - or 59 million people - are either overweight or obese.

Today's Action

• During the month of July, Secretary Thompson is calling on all health leaders to combat the devastating health, economic and social consequences of overweight and obesity in America. Communities must use strategies that help address overweight and obesity, like requiring physical education at all school grades, providing more health food options on school campuses, and providing safe and accessible recreational facilities for residents of all ages.
  
  
• Why is preventing overweight and obesity so important?
  • Overweight and obesity is a chronic illness, just like diabetes and heart disease. We must take steps to help people understand that maintaining proper weight is a vital component to achieving a healthy lifestyle.
  • In America, 59 million adults either overweight or obese. The nation's children and adolescents are heavier than they've ever been in history. Overweight and obesity is a fast-growing epidemic, and we must marshal our resources to put an end to this chronic public health burden.
  • The President and Secretary Thompson, through the innovative HealthierUS Initiative, are helping policy makers and the public recognize that small changes over time yield big rewards.
    
    
• Overweight and Obesity: The Facts
  • People who are overweight or obese have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or other lipid disorders, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
  • Overweight and obesity may soon cause as much preventable disease and death as cigarette smoking.
  • Approximately 300,000 U.S. deaths a year are currently associated with obesity and overweight.
  • The total direct and indirect costs attributed to overweight and obesity amounted to $117 billion in the year 2000 -- $400 for every man, woman and child in this country.
  • Children today are twice as likely to be overweight than they were in 1980. For teenagers, the trend is even worse. Adolescents are three times as likely to be overweight today than they were in 1980.
    
    
• Prevention and Control: Strategies to fight Overweight and Obesity
  • Steps to a Healthier U.S. Secretary Thompson is building the administration's HealthierUS initiative through Steps to a HealthierUS, an HHS campaign to help Americans live longer, healthier lives. Two central pillars of Steps is to promote a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and encourage regular physical activity. In addition, the initiative will award $15 million in grants to support community-based chronic disease prevention and control programs to prevent asthma, diabetes and obesity. At the heart this Steps initiative and supporting community programs under Steps lies both personal responsibility for the choices Americans make and social responsibility to ensure that policy makers support the kinds of programs that foster healthy behaviors. Secretary Thompson is marshalling resources with HHS and is calling on other federal agencies and the private sector to take appropriate action to improve our nation's health.
  • VERB. HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention administer the VERB campaign, which encourages youth to be physically active and engaged in their communities. To date, the VERB campaign has touched the lives of more than 4 million children and parents.
  • National 5 A Day for Better Health Program. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) administers the National 5 A Day for Better Health Program, which promotes eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
  • 9 A Day Campaign. Aimed specifically at African-American men, NCI's 9 A Day campaign encourages black men to eat nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
  • President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports serves as a catalyst to promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages - particularly schoolchildren - to become physically active and participate in sports.
    
    
• Body Mass Index: A Simple Test for Overweight and Obesity
  • Body Mass Index, or BMI, is a tool for indicating weight status in adults. It is a measure of weight for height. The BMI ranges are based on the effect body weight has on disease and death. In children and teens, BMI is gender and age specific. To learn how to calculate your BMI, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm.

Thought of the Day: "Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence, and nothing too much." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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