The problem of obesity is one that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The
proportion of overweight and obese people in the United States and other heavily industrialized
nations is increasing at an alarming rate. In December 2001, The Surgeon General declared
it a top national priority in his report “A Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease
Overweight and Obesity” (
Carmona 2003
). Obesity is directly related to an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes,
musculoskeletal disorders, and even premature death. The increasing number of overweight
people in the United States, therefore, represents a veritable public health threat
to the entire population. Fortunately, obesity is preventable in most of its cases.
The current culture with its prevalence of fast food, the dearth of healthy eating
options, and the sedentary lifestyles of most Americans is not conducive to preventing
obesity. New policy must strive to counteract the current cultural effects in order
to create effective preventative measures against obesity.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- Position Paper. Need to Amend the IMPACT Act. The Council on Size and Weight Discrimination website. 2003 (Available at: http://www.cswd.org/activimpact.html, accessed June 1, 2003)
- The Surgeon General’s Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. The Surgeon General website. 2003 (Available at: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_consequences.htm, accessed June 2, 2003)
- Nutrition and Physical Activity. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion website. 2003 (Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/index.htm, accessed June 2, 2003)
- Archives of Internal Medicine. 2001; 161: 1581-1586
- General practice workload implications of the National Service framework for coronary heart disease.BMJ. 2001; 7307: 269-270
- Press Release. The Office of Representative Timothy Johnson (IL-15) website. 2003 (Available at: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/il15_johnson/250902impact.html, accessed May 31, 2003)
- The impact of health care advice given in primary care on cardiovascular risk. CELL Study Group.BMJ. 1995; 310: 1105-1109
- Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity. 2000 (NIH Publication No. 96-4158 Available at: http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/nutrit/pubs/statobes.htm#cost, accessed June 15, 2003)
- Effect of health lifestyle pattern on dietary change.Am J Health Promot. 2001; 16: 27-33
- Obesity and the risk for cardiovascular disease.Prev Cardiology. 2003; 6: 42-47
- 2003 (The SGMA International website: http://www.sgma.com/legislation/action.html, accessed June 1, 2003)
- The impact of behavioral counseling on stage of change in fat intake, physical activity, and cigarette smoking in adults at increased risk of coronary heart disease.Am J Public Health. 2001; 91: 265-269
- The effects of obesity, smoking, and drinking on medical problems and costs.Health Affairs. 2002; 21: 245-253
The Right Start Act of 2003. Available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
- Randomised controlled trial evaluating cardiovascular screening and intervention in general practice.BMJ. 1994; 308: 313-320
Further reading
CDC Youth Campaign. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign, accessed June 25, 2003.
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© 2003 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
