Updated: 3 days ago
We have become so obese and overweight as a nation that we are now plagued with an unprecedented level of chronic disease that is changing the very fabric of American society.
The video in this blog is from the documentary Obesity In America: National Crisis, produced by St-Jude Nutrition Medical Communications and distributed by Films for the Humanities and Sciences, web-link: https://www.films.com/id/24027
The prevalence of obesity began to be detected by epidemiologists at the CDC in the mid 1970s. It surprised everyone as the increases were taking place so rapidly. Initially, they thought they had erroneous cross-sectional data. But eventually as the graph above show, the data was real and the consequences not clearly understood at the time. By the late 1970s the growth of obesity was exponential. Something was going wrong.
50 years ago most people who were obese got diabetes in the 40s and 50s, however today children and adolescents in great numbers are becoming pre-diabetic or diabetic (Barry Poplin, (from documentary, Obesity in America: A National Crisis).
The Prevalence of Obesity in America --How Significant is it really?
Over a 5-year period, I interviewed leading obesity and type-2 diabetes experts throughout the US and Canada. I interviewed people struggling with weight loss and peered into the literature looking for the answers to the questions, how prevalent is obesity? Is it a problem? How do we assess it? and how do we treat it?
What became evident is that the diet restrictions did not seem to be effective (covered in another blog). The answer is that the obesity epidemic changes everything. Health care costs go through the roof because of the many secondary diseases that flow from obesity. The population becomes sick, affecting work capacity of the overweight and obese labor force because of heightened disability applications. A smaller and less skilled labor force remains that affects production and quality leading to less sales and revenue. This has incalculable consequences on the economy. Moreover, it affects the education systems. Obese children with type-2 diabetes are truly sick and do not perform as well in school. Many kids especially in the south like San Antonio suffer from sleep apnea caused by the obesity.