Obesity in America

It's little wonder that we have an obesity epidemic. Food is everywhere - beaming from roadsides, screaming in bright colors from grocery store shelves, glowing in vending machines down the hall from your cubicle.

That, coupled with a life of sitting - in cars, at desks, on couches - has set us on the road to an obesity epidemic.

Obesity doesn't just make people feel uncomfortable about their appearance. It increases the risk of chronic and deadly conditions such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

Obesity may soon overtake tobacco as the number one factor in people's deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts obesity will soon be the number one killer. In 2000, tobacco was linked to 435,000 deaths, or 18 percent, and obesity was behind at 400,000, or 17 percent.

Two out of three adult Americans, or 60 percent, are overweight or obese.

"Basically, the numbers are pretty bad and getting worse," says Barbara J. Moore, Ph.D., president and CEO of Shape Up America, a nonprofit to encourage people to be more active and promote healthy weight.

"I am worried that by the year 2020, half of all children will be overweight. What this means is that people are going to be getting sick as children. These children will remain obese into adulthood. Heart attacks and diabetes will happen when they are 30 instead of when they are 60."

Wired for action

"We have a mismatch between our genes and environment. Our genetic profile is to eat a lot and be very physically active," says James Hill, Ph.D., director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center in Denver. He is a co-founder of America on the Move and author of The Step Diet. America on the Move is a nonprofit organization dedicated to getting people to exercise.

"We are in an environment that encourages us to be inactive. While technology is good, it has made us more sedentary. We have even built our cars to hold our food," he says.

Losing weight and keeping it off is difficult even if you reduce calories. Of the 3,000 people in the National Weight Control Registry - who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for more than a year, only 9 percent lost weight without exercising, Hill notes.

What does a person do?

The best strategy is to keep people's weight stable by eating a healthy diet, watching calories and fat, and making exercise a part of daily life. Americans are good at losing weight, but not so good with keeping it off, Hill says.

"It seems to be difficult for people to reduce their calorie intake. So when they get used to eating a certain level, it is hard to permanently reduce it," Hill says.

Here are ways to control your weight.

Get at least 30 minutes of activity on most days. To prevent weight gain, 60 minutes a day may be necessary.
Check food labels for the number of calories and for serving size.
Wear a pedometer. Try to gradually increase the number of steps you take in a day. The average American does about 5,000 steps a day. Try for at least 10,000.
Write down what you eat each day, and look up the number of calories. This can help you decide what you can cut.
Find excuses for moving more, such as parking farther away or walking to a co-worker's cubicle instead of e-mailing.