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Preventing Obesity and Chronic Diseases Through Good Nutrition and
Physical Activity
The Reality
- Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity can contribute to or
aggravate many chronic diseases and conditions, including type 2
diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
- During the past 20 years, obesity rates among adults have risen
significantly in the United States. In 2005–2006, data from the National
Center for Health Statistics show that 34% of U.S. adults 20 years of
age and older—over 72 million people—are obese.
- In 2005, few adults met the Healthy People 2010 objectives for fruit
and vegetable consumption; only 33% consumed fruit two or more times per
day and even fewer (27%) consumed vegetables three or more times per
day.
- Despite the proven benefits of physical activity, less than half of
American adults in 2007 engaged in enough physical activity to provide
health benefits.
- More than a quarter of children born in 2004 were never breastfed.
- The percentage of young people who are obese has approximately
tripled since 1980. In 2003–2006, 16.3% of children and adolescents
aged 2–19 years had a body mass index greater than or equal to the 95th
percentile for age and sex on the CDC growth charts.
- Over one third (34%) of adolescents in grades 9–12 had a soft drink
(not diet) at least one time per day during the previous 7 days.
- In 2007, 65% of young people in grades 9–12 did not get the
recommended amount of physical activity; 35% watched television for 3 or
more hours on the average school day.
The Cost of Obesity and Chronic Diseases
- Among children and adolescents, annual hospital costs related to
obesity were $127 million during 1997–1999 up from $35 million
during 1979–1981.
- In 2000, the total cost of obesity in the United States was
estimated to be $117 billion—$61 billion for direct medical costs
and $56 billion for indirect costs.
- In 1996, $31 billion of treatment costs (in year 2000 dollars)
for cardiovascular disease among adults was related to overweight
and obesity.
(A text
version of this graphic is also available.) How Physical Activity and
Weight Loss Save Money
- In 2000, health care costs associated with physical inactivity
topped $76 billion.
- If 10% of adults began a regular walking program, $5.6 billion
in heart disease costs could be saved.
- A sustained 10% weight loss will reduce an overweight person’s
lifetime medical costs by $2,200–$5,300 by lowering costs associated
with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and high
cholesterol.
Promising Approaches for Preventing Obesity
- Breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of obesity in
children. Maternity care practices in hospitals and birthing
centers can affect breastfeeding rates.
- Regular physical activity is an important component of
weight control efforts. Proven community approaches to improve
physical activity include:
- Community wide campaigns.
- Point-of-decision prompts such as signs placed by elevators
and escalators that encourage people to use nearby stairs.
- Physical education in schools.
- Nonfamily social support interventions.
- Individually adapted health behavior change programs.
- Creating or improving access to places for physical activity
combined with informational outreach.
- Changing street-scale or community-scale urban design and
land use policy and practice.
- Reducing the time children spend watching television appears
to be effective for helping to control their weight.
- Replacing foods of high energy density (high amount of
calories per weight of food) with those of lower energy density
(such as fruits and vegetables) can be an important part of a
weight management strategy.
- Decreased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages appears
to be associated with lower body mass index or weight.
Hope for the Future
We can reduce obesity and other chronic diseases in this country by
improving eating habits and increasing physical activity. Increasing
opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity are just some of
the steps we can take to promote the health of our nation.
State Program in Action:
Washington: Building a Healthy, Active Community
Nearly 60% of adults in the state of Washington are overweight or
obese.† Improved eating habits and increased physical activity are keys
to reversing this trend, but numerous barriers exist in communities
throughout the state to making these healthful changes. Moses Lake is no
exception. This small, central Washington city needed additional
resources to make physical activity safe and accessible for all of its
residents.
A series of interventions known collectively as Healthy Communities
Moses Lake, encourages good nutrition and physical activity behaviors
through environmental and policy change. Moses Lake and the surrounding
Grant County adopted a Healthy Communities action plan. Specifically,
the city revised its master plan to replace a railroad that runs through
the downtown area with a path for biking and walking. The county put a
plan in place for creating walking and biking trails alongside
irrigation canals. New city and county zoning ordinances now require
wider sidewalks that will increase accessibility for pedestrians and
cyclists.
The community garden project has been incorporated into the city’s
parks and recreation department work plan and is building capacity
through integration with county nutrition activities and youth wellness
team projects. The garden project has forged links with local school
groups and chefs to make the garden both a food source and educational
tool for the community.
Educating the community is a priority as well for the Moses Lake
Breastfeeding Coalition, whose planned activities include discussions
with local business about breastfeeding policies in the workplace,
daycare-provider workshops and continuing educational forums, and
various community advertising and promotion efforts.
As a result of the positive steps Moses Lake is taking, the
neighboring city of Mount Vernon has adopted a Healthy Communities
action plan of its own to encourage habits of healthy eating and
physical activity.
† CDC. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2005. |
For more information and references supporting these facts, visit
www.cdc.gov/nccdphp. For
additional copies of this document, E-mail
cdcinfo@cdc.gov.
Department of
Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
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Page last reviewed: September 15, 2008
Page last modified: September 15, 2008
Content source: National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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