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Surgeon General Calls America to Action Against Obesity
The Surgeon General has called for major steps by communities, schools and industry to battle the bulge.
By Cindy Corson
Some 300,000 Americans a year die from illnesses caused or worsened by obesity, a toll that may soon overtake tobacco as the chief cause of preventable deaths. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in this country, making the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity our most important public health goals.
A whopping 60 percent of adults are currently considered overweight or obese, as are nearly 13 percent of children. This percentage has been on the rise for a decade and threatens to wipe out progress fighting cancer, heart disease and other ailments.
It’s no mystery why this is happening. We simply take in more calories than we can ever hope to burn off. And, too often Americans are shunning fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods for super-sized junk foods. So, this overload of calories combined with inactivity has led to an alarming trend of obesity.
Surgeon General David Satcher’s recent Call to Action calls for major steps by communities, schools, and industry to battle the bulge, and is committed to five core principles:
- Promote the recognition of overweight and obesity as major public health problems
- Assist Americans in balancing healthful eating with regular physical activity to achieve and maintain a healthy or healthier body weight
- Identify effective and culturally appropriate interventions to prevent and treat overweight and obesity
- Encourage environmental changes that help prevent overweight and obesity
- Develop and enhance public-private partnerships to help implement this vision
“We’re not talking about quick-fix diets,” Satcher said. “We’re talking about lifestyles.”
“It’s time to get children, ladies and gentleman off of the couch and onto the playground,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who pledged to try to shed 15 pounds himself. “The drive must come from communities, from mothers, from fathers, from employers.”
The first steps: daily physical education for all students, more healthful school foods, “reasonable” portions at fast-food restaurants, and safe places for all Americans to exercise.
Satcher recommends reinstating daily physical education for all students, something that has been on the decline for years, and now is required for just 6 percent of high school seniors. He also encourages schools to provide more healthful food options, and to better enforce federal rules restricting students’ access to junk food in vending machines.
Within communities, he suggests the creation of safe playgrounds, sidewalks and walking trails, particularly in inner cities. Satcher also hopes to motivate employers to provide time during the workday for employees to fit in some physical activity. After all, healthier workers mean fewer health insurance claims and less absenteeism.
He also hopes industry will do their part by promoting more healthful food choices and “reasonable portions”, along with taking a closer look at current fast-food marketing strategies. The poor have a tendency to be the fattest in some part due to easy access to fast food which crowds out healthier, and often more expensive choices. “Sometimes the most fattening foods are the cheapest,” Satcher lamented. He compares the situation with the tobacco industry’s targeting of inner-city minority communities in the 1990s.
Overweight Americans should not become discouraged if a diet fails to cause the weight loss that was expected, Satcher said. Even a modest weight loss of 10 pounds can reduce significantly the risk of diabetes and heart disease. “Every pound counts”.
Some things to think about:
- Even being 10 to 20 pounds overweight increases the risk of premature death. The risk rises rapidly when people become obese – as measured by Body Mass Index (BMI).
- Excess pounds increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, asthma and other illnesses. How much? Women who gain more than 20 pounds after age 18 double the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Every 2-pound increase in weight increases the risk of arthritis by at least 9 percent.
- Losing weight means both eating less and exercising more. Forgoing one 12-ounce soft drink or adding 30 minutes of brisk walking most days can, over a year, help you lose about 10 pounds.
Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity. {Rockville, MD}; U.S.
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