I
recently enjoyed a family vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. And what is a trip
to the Dells without a visit to a Waterpark? Amidst the standing in line for
rides, vying for a shaded location to “camp” for the day and shelling out
oodles of cash for overpriced water, I was astounded by what I saw. The amount of severely obese individuals –
both adults and children - was alarming. I was so dismayed by the scene, I
spent some time gathering information from the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention website regarding obesity in America.
Here
are a few distressing facts:
- More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese.
- No state has met the nation's Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%.
- The South has the highest prevalence of obesity (29.4%) followed by the Midwest (28.7%), Northeast (24.9%) and the West (24.1%).
- Approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese.
- Since 1980, obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled.
Is
that not frightening? In addition, Duke University and CDC researchers predict,
“by 2030, 42% of Americans will be obese and 11% of
Americans will be severely obese. Severe obesity now afflicts 1 in 20
Americans. By 2030, the study suggests, more than 1 in 10 Americans will be
severely obese. “
There
does, however, seem to be a thread of hope to this study. These researchers
allow for inaccuracy of their prediction based on changes in the environment. Awareness is the first step … pass it on!!
Sources:
- http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20120507/fat-future-42-percent-americans-may-be-obese-by-2030
- http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
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