Obesity: Americans 4.6 billion lbs. over

by Kristina Sherry

There's good and bad news when it comes to American obesity, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today at an event to address the nation's increasingly costly and deadly weight problem.

The inaugural conference on obesity control and prevention - attended by health educators, policy analysts, epidemiologists, dieticians, etc., and sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - comes at a time when the average American carries an extra 23 pounds and the nation, collectively, is about 4.6 billion pounds overweight.

Sebelius, who oversees one of the largest federal agencies, with about 67,000 employees, acknowledged many of the startling trends that have echoed so far throughout the three-day conference held in Washington, D.C.:

- Two-thirds of adults and one f every five children in the U.S. are obese or overweight.

- Childhood obesity can lead to depression, anxiety, asthma and joint problems; and obesity is the single biggest predictor of diabetes.

- Healthcare providers, increasingly diagnosing the condition in children, have stopped calling Type-2 diabetes "adult-onset."

- Scientists estimate that due to complications related to childhood obesity, today's youngsters could be the first generation to live fewer years than their parents.

- The direct medical costs of obesity total about $147 billion annually - almost twice the amount since the CDC first considered costs in 1998, and more than $50 billion more than is spent fighting cancer each year - according to a study funded by the CDC Foundation and released Monday.

But there's a lot we can do to fight these trends, Sebelius said, citing another report released yesterday by the CDC on 24 "obesity strategies" and accompanying community measures by which to gauge their effectiveness.

Broadly, these strategies include increasingly the availability of healthy foods and beverages, such as increasing the number of grocery stores in underserved areas; promoting physical activity and limiting sedentary behavior, such as increasing schools' Physical Education offerings; creating site communities that support physical activity, and encouraging breastfeeding.

Sebelius said today that some of the $1 billion in stimulus funds appropriated for health prevention efforts would go toward these obesity strategies.

Sebelius also gave a nod to local efforts underway throughout the country, including the Southern California school district whose fresh, locally grown produce has encouraged kids to start eating from the salad bar; the Northern California district that provides busses for girls who wish to attend dance classes; and an effort by Google Inc., where the company cafeteria sells foods like cookies and cheeseburgers at much higher prices than fresh fruits and vegetables - reversing the paradox of the healthiest foods oftentimes being the least affordable.

Panels throughout the three-day conference (complete with built-in "physical activity breaks") have addressed school nutrition policies, transportation and achieving health equity among different racial groups.

Sebelius acknowledged the joint effort among agencies needed to promote physical activity and improve access to healthier foods on a national level, including Housing and Urban Development efforts to foster more walkable and bikable cities, and Department of Agriculture initiatives to combat so-called "food deserts" - areas where fresh, healthy foods are largely unavailable.

Sebelius also criticized schools' decisions to not only eliminate physical education programs, but also to scale back on recess - a move that research suggests could be detrimental to both physical wellbeing and intellectual performance.

"We've not only been fattening our children, but we've been dumbing them down by not giving them a physical regime" - and this is something Education Secretary Arne Duncan has also recognized, Sebelius said.