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Brief Description:

The NIDDK, through its Weight-control Information Network, has launched a program called "Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better."

Transcript:

SCHMALFELDT: Nearly 134 million Americans, or 66 percent of the population: that's how many adults, age 20 and over, are overweight or obese, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It's a huge problem. Even more so for non-Hispanic African American women, according to Dr. Griffin Rodgers, Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. That's the reason the NIDDK, through its Weight-control Information Network, has launched a program called "Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better." It targets that segment of the population most at risk from the effects of being overweight or obese.

RODGERS: Among African American women age 20 or greater, it's a staggering figure of 79.6 percent. So that really is the rationale and basis for this special program targeted at this population, particularly because we know of the health consequences associated with being overweight and obese. If one is overweight or obese, one increases their risk of diabetes, coronary heart disease, having high cholesterol, stroke, other cardiovascular complications, hypertension, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis, cancer. There are complications associated with pregnancy if you're overweight or obese. There are complications associated with menstrual irregularities, stress incontinence.

SCHMALFELDT: The program consists of four age and culturally-appropriate brochures: "Celebrate the Beauty of Youth," "Energize Yourself and Your Family," Fit and Fabulous as You Mature," and "Walking: A Step in the Right Direction." These brochures encourage African-American women to maintain a healthy weight by being more physically active and eating healthier foods. For more information about the "Sisters Together" program, log on to www.win.niddk.nih.gov, or call toll-free 877-946-4627. From the National Institutes of Health, I'm Bill Schmalfeldt in Bethesda, Maryland.