Obesity, An Epidemic in the United States
Obesity, an epidemic in the United StatesObesity, an epidemic in the United States According to surveys done by various organizations including the Center for Disease Control, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), obesity in the United States is a serious and growing epidemic. In the United States, approximately 300,000 deaths a year are attributed to obesity (Pr Newswire, 1999). In comparison, Ohio is ranked 31st (ranked best to worst) in 1999, among 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, for the number of adults who reported being overweight (as cited in the Ohio Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System report). The rapid increase in obesity suggests that there are a large number of changes in today's society that are contributing to weight gain. The clinical definition of obesity is usually expressed in terms of body mass index (BMI), which is derived by dividing one's weight by the square of one's height (Allison & Saunders, 2000). In 1997, the World Health Organization defined various classifications of overweight and obesity. Overweight is defined as a BMI greater than 25 and obesity i
American Journal of Public Health, 92, 246-248. Obesity is linked with dyslipidemia in several ways. According to research by Young & Nestle (2002) one cause is food consumed outside the home, which accounted for 34% of the food budget in 1970 but 47% by the late 1990's (as cited in US Department of Agriculture & Economic Research Service, 1995). It is composed of group meetings to educate participants in behavior modification techniques, incentive programs for meeting program goals, or competitions for incentive prizes based on program goals (Schmitz & Jeffery). The three largest racial and ethnic groups in the United States that have the highest rates of overweight and obesity are European-American, African-American and Mexican-American (Allison & Saunders). Excessive body weight is associated with high cholesterol. Obesity has an impact on social aspects of an individual. School-based program could be successful because the large amount of contact time with schoolchildren, the existing organizational, social and communication structures and the ability to reach a large percentage of children in the population at low cost (Schmitz & Jeffery).
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