Healthnotes Newswire (October 5, 2000)—It’s not just a cosmetic issue. Fat kills. The United States is in the midst of the worst epidemic of obesity in its history. In the last nine years, rates of obesity have increased about 63%, according to a research paper published in yesterday’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.¹

Previous research showed that one in three Americans is overweight;² the current study found that one in five not only exceeds ideal weight, but also meets the clinical criteria for obesity (as determined by the Body Mass Index, or BMI). The average U.S. man now weighs 187 pounds, and the average U.S. woman weighs 151 pounds, according to the study, which analyzed data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In the last year alone, there has been a 5.6% increase in obesity rates. “The continuing trend in obesity is a critical public health threat in the United States,” write Ali H. Mokdad, PhD, and colleagues from the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia. “We have recently reported a 33% increase in diagnosed diabetes from 1990 to 1998.”³ This increase was directly related to obesity.

Three hundred thousand U.S. adults die of obesity-related causes each year.⁴ The best-documented risks associated with obesity include cardiovascular diseases (e.g., coronary heart disease, hypertension)⁵ and type 2 diabetes.^{6 7} However, obesity appears to increase the risk of many other conditions as well, including prostate enlargement (called benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH),⁸ gallstones,⁹ certain cancers (e.g., breast cancer in postmenopausal women, and cancers of the uterus, colon, and kidney),¹⁰ female infertility,¹¹ uterine fibroids,¹² work disability,¹³ and overall mortality.¹⁴ The risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, or other diseases increases in overweight men and women in all age groups.¹⁵

A low-fat diet and exercise remain the best defense against obesity. A four-year study of over 40,000 women found that weight loss in overweight women was associated with improved physical function and vitality as well as decreased bodily pain.¹⁶ Mokdad and colleagues urge the development of a national comprehensive plan to treat this epidemic. Included among their suggestions are interventions to promote improved nutrition and increased physical activity.