Research you need to know

Obesity Facts

• 300,000 Americans die each year from health problems related directly to obesity.
• 27 states have a 15 to 19 percent obesity rate.
• 20 states have a 20 percent or greater obesity rate.
• The prevalence of overweight or obese U.S. adults increased by 61 percent from 1991 to 2000.
• The percentage of overweight children and adolescents has more than doubled since the early 1970s.
• Obese men are more likely than non-obese men to die from cancer of the colon, rectum, or prostate.
• Obese women are more likely than non-obese women to die from cancer of the breast, cervix, gallbladder, ovaries, or uterus.
• Emotional suffering may be one of the most painful aspects of obesity.
• The single most important predictor of developing diabetes is being overweight.
• Overweight individuals are more likely to be afflicted with asthma than lean individuals.
• The snack food and fast food revolution that has taken over America's supermarkets and cities over the last 10 to 20 years has played a major role in our obesity epidemic.
• In the 1960s the typical American diet was 40 percent fat: today it is 34 percent. How come Americans are 30 percent fatter? The answer is very simple-it's the calories! In the late 1970s we averaged 1,969 calories a day; in 1990, 2,200 calories a day; and today even higher. We are eating more "fat-free" foods but they are most definitely not "calorie-free."

Diabetes Facts

• In the last 10 years the incidence of diabetes has risen by 33 percent.
• Healthy lifestyle habits can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by more than 90 percent.
• Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which the body is unable to properly use or ultimately make insulin. It is the most common form of diabetes and accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all cases. Obesity is the major cause of this disease.
• Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions because of a much greater prevalence of obesity and sedentary lifestyles.
• Type 2 diabetes is three times more common today than in 1970.
• One out of every ten adult Americans has diabetes.
• Childhood and adolescent type II diabetes, previously almost unheard of, is now becoming a major health problem in America.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of vision impairment and blindness in the U.S.

Cardiovascular Disease Facts

• Cardiovascular disease is a collection of illnesses that include coronary artery disease (heart disease), high blood pressure, stroke and congestive heart failure.
• Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and has been since 1990.
• One third of all American men develop cardiovascular disease before they reach the age of 60.
• Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than the next seven leading causes of death-combined!
• Every day more than 2,600 Americans die of cardiovascular disease-one every 33 seconds.
• Heart disease (coronary artery disease) is caused by atherosclerosis-"hardening of the arteries," frequently caused by high cholesterol levels.