Obesity, an epidemic in the United States
             Obesity, 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 is a BMI greater than 30 (Allison & Saunders). This classification was adopted by the National Institutes of Health and is now a worldwide standard (Allison & Saunders). Although multiple factors can account for weight gain, the basic cause is an excess in energy intake over expenditure (Young & Nestle, 2002). 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). Another possibility is the size of food portions. Since the food industry has grown larger, and people are eating out more; marketing has become more concentrated, and ...