U.S. Obesity a “Disaster”

Two thirds of American adults are obese or overweight, said the Trust for America’s Health report “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2007.” Perhaps more disturbing is the finding that the percentage of overweight children ranges from a low of 8.5 percent in Utah to a high of 22.8 percent in Washington, d.c.

The problem is multiplying. Adult obesity rates have risen in 31 states since last year. (No state experienced a decrease.) All this despite weight-loss products and services being a $35 million annual industry.

“We find this report to be a devastating indictment” said Dr. James Marks, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the project. “We’re in the middle of a public health crisis that is still deteriorating rapidly, and we’re treating it like a mere inconvenience rather than the emergency it is” (HealthDay News, August 27). Citing the discovery that the number of states whose obese residents make up over a quarter of the population has more than doubled in just two years, Dr. Marks said, “That’s not sending a wake-up call. We’re ringing the disaster alarm.”

The solution to America’s obesity problem is healthful foods and physical exercise. Visit theTrumpet.com to read our August 2005 article “The Clean Life” to learn more.