A letter from health experts to President-elect Obama urges bold action to stem the obesity epidemic in America, warning that increased rates of obesity could lead to the first generation of Americans with shorter life spans than their parents.
[social_buttons]
“What is lacking is not well-conceived ideas for policies and programs, but a national commitment to wage a comprehensive campaign to prevent and reverse overweight and obesity, a war that should begin in the womb and infancy, extend to schools, then include workplaces, doctors’ offices, and the general community.”
49 prominent health and medical organizations and 44 prominent physicians and nutrition experts, led by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), signed the letter to Obama, stating that the obesity epidemic is harming Americans’ health just as global warming is harming the planet. The group goes on to say that “Addressing obesity could be one of the most powerful means of improving the health of the nation.”
Among the groups endorsing the message to Obama are the American Heart Association, American Public Health Association, Shape Up America!, The Obesity Society, and the Partnership for Prevention and Trust for America’s Health. Doctors from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Cooper Clinic University of Michigan Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health also signed the letter.
“The harms caused by obesity are well-known and considerable: hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and many others. Together those maladies contribute each year to as many as several hundred thousand deaths and tens of billions of dollars in medical and other costs. Obesity also causes serious psychosocial problems, including difficulty making friends, discrimination in the workplace, and depression.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over the last thirty years, the rates of obesity have doubled in adults and tripled in children, and almost two-thirds of US adults are either overweight or obese. The costs of obesity to families, businesses and government run to about $117 billion each year in health care and related costs.
Image: colros at Flickr under Creative Commons License
I would suggest to talk to members of The Amrican Society of Bariatric Physicians.. I think the approach of NIH, AOS and CDC to the issue has not worked and should not be the country policy.. I think education/ motivation to diet and exercise alone will not work.. I think the government policy/approach to obesity is the main reason for the epidemic of obesity.. I think the main problem is that obesity is not approached as a disease or a risk factor for a disease.. that is why is is not covered by insurance plans.. reasearch is not funded.. bariatric physicians are harrassed.. diet medications are cursed..
please .. we need change of tone.. and attitude.. toward obesity.. definition, prevention, treatment, research, medications etc..
I ran across many valuable a diet guidelines on this website named the celebeater it talks about celeb diet programs and also super star celebrity exercise programs. This assisted me personally thereforeI merely believed I would pass this on for everyone around fighting weight loss.