Facts About Obesity
in the United States*

Obesity rates are soaring in the U.S.

Between 1980 and 2000, obesity rates doubled among adults.
About 60 million adults, or 30% of the adult population, are now obese.
Similarly since 1980, overweight rates have doubled among children and tripled among adolescents – increasing the number of years they are exposed to the health risks of obesity.
In 2008 only one state (Colorado) had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%.
Thirty two states had prevalence equal to or greater than 25%.
Six of these states (Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30%.

Obesity is already having an adverse impact
on young people

Type 2 diabetes – once believed to affect only adults –
is now being diagnosed among young people.
Overweight children with this disease are at risk of suffering
the serious complications of diabetes as adults, such as
kidney disease, blindness, and amputations.

Most people still do not practice healthy behaviors
that can prevent obesity

The primary behaviors causing
the obesity epidemic are
well known and preventable:
physical inactivity and unhealthy diet.
Despite this knowledge:

• Only about 25% of U.S. adults eat the recommended
five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
• Less than 25% of adolescents eat the recommended
five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
• More than 50% of American adults do not get the recommended
amount of physical activity to provide health benefits.
• More than a third of young people in grades 9–12 do not
regularly engage in vigorous physical activity.

Obesity-related costs place a huge burden on the U.S. economy

Estimated medical costs of obesity are $147 billion per year! Normal individuals have annual medical expenditures that are 42% lower than expenditures for obese individuals. Increased prevalence of obesity is responsible for almost $40 billion of increased medical spending through 2006.

"Unless programs aimed at reducing the rise in obesity rates are successfully implemented, overweight and obesity attributable spending will continue to increase and government will continue to finance a sizable portion of the total. Moreover, given that such spending now rivals spending attributable to smoking, it may be increasingly difficult to justify the disparity between the many interventions that have been implemented to reduce smoking rates and the paucity of interventions aimed at reducing obesity rates."
Eric Finkelstein PhD author of the study National Medical Spending Attributable to Obesity: Payerñand Service-Specific Estimates, published July 27, 2009.

The Surgeon General says we must work together...

Change the perception of overweight and obesity at all ages
with the primary concern being one of the health, not appearance.
Provide culturally appropriate education in schools and communities about
healthy eating habits and regular physical activity.
Emphasize the consumer's role in making wise food and physical activity choices.

This is scary...we're here to help

The National Council for Certified Personal Trainers has initiated a program to fight the obesity epidemic in our country. Its called getUSfit.

The NCCPT is an educational company that certifies people to become personal trainers. What we offer is knowledge. The NCCPT will make our education available online for free in an attempt to empower people with knowledge so they stop getting duped by all the misinformation in the mass media. Below is access to resources to empower individuals.

If you're a person struggling to maintain a healthy weight or lose body fat, GetUSfit.org is here to help! You're not alone.
Click below on any of the different partners that have pooled their resources to help you. Contact us if you have any questions or suggestions.

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