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WASHINGTON
- July 31 - Many experts agree that obesity is one of the most pressing health problems facing the
country. Over the last twenty years, obesity rates have doubled in adults and children
and tripled in teens. Two-thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese.
Yet some food industry groups question whether obesity rates are increasing and
instead, claim that the rising rates are due to a change in the definition for obesity (Body
Mass Index). For anyone else who is skeptical, here are some other signs that obesity
rates are going up.
1• Because of safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration has instructed
airlines to add ten pounds to approved passenger weights.
2• When administering vaccines and drawing blood, doctors now need longer
needles to penetrate thicker layers of fat on Americans’ bodies
3• Almost 25% of women in their 50's are too large to have their body fat measured
with a traditional skinfold caliper, an instrument developed in the 1950’s
.4• Liposuction is the most commonly performed cosmetic surgical procedure in the
U.S., increasing 118% between 1997 and 2001.
5• Over the last decade, diabetes rates rose 60% in the U.S.5 (Over half of diabetes
cases are due to overweight, poor diet and physical inactivity.
6• Today’s size 10 was sold as a women’s size 14 in the 1940's
.7• The Gap, Limited Too and Target are selling plus-sized clothes for youth
.8• Plus-size boutique Lane Bryant is expected to increase its number of stores from
650 to 1,000 over five years. Catherine's Plus Sizes is projected to increase from
470 to 700 stores. The plus-size clothing market generates $23 billion in sales a
year, accounting for a quarter of women’s clothing sales
9• Nike changed the size scale for its women’s fitness apparel. A small sports bra
use to fit a woman with a 33-inch to 35-inch bust. Now it fits a 35- to 37-inch
bust.
10• One of the reasons that the Boston Red Sox decided to rebuild the legendary
Fenway Park was that the seats were too narrow for today’s baseball fans. The
seats in the new ballpark are four inches wider
11• More benches and bigger seats have been installed in Seattle’s Puget Sound
ferries to accommodate wider riders.
12•
Despite the rising obesity rates and the tremendous impactthey are having on
Americans’ health and health-care costs, federal and state governments still are
doing little to address the problem. To reduce obesity, federal, state and local
governments need to mount campaigns to promote healthy eating and physical
activity, require calorie labeling in fast food and other chain restaurants, decrease
the availability of junk food in schools, make walking and biking safer and more
convenient by building bike lanes, sidewalks and trails, increase physical education
in schools, restrict junk-food advertising and marketing aimed at children, and put
into place other policies and programs that help to make it easier for Americans to
eat better and be more physically active.
For more information on what local, state and federal governments can do to promote
healthy eating and physical activity, visit www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy.
Sources
1 Phillips D. “Airlines Told to Adjust for Heavier Passengers: FAA Raises Weight
Estimates for Safety.” Washington Post, May 13, 2003, p. A4.
2. Nagourney E. “Bigger Needles for Better Vaccinations.” New York Times, November
28, 2000, p. F9.
3. Grady D. “The State of Weight: Many Are Too Fat for the Calipers.” New York
Times, January 9, 2001, p. D7.
4. American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Accessed at<surgery.org/stats_html_pages/quickfacts_2001.html> on July 1, 2002.
5. Mokdad AH, et al. “Prevalence of Obesity, Diabetes, and Obesity-Related Health
Risk Factors, 2001.” Journal of the American Medical Association, 2003, vol. 289,
pp. 76-79.
6. McGinnis JM, Foege WH. “Actual Causes of Death in the United States.” Journal of
the American Medical Association, 1993, vol. 270, pp. 2207-2212. Hu F, et al. “Diet,
Lifestyle, and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Women.” The New England
Journal of Medicine, 2001, vol. 345, pp. 790-797.
7. Nifong C. “The Incredible Shrinking Woman.” The News and Observer (Raleigh,
NC), January 5, 1999, p. E1.
8. Boccella K. “Plus Sizes for Kids Make Way into Stores.” Providence Journal, March
24, 2002.
9.Van Allen P. “Chains to Grow with Plus-Sizes.” Philadelphia Business Journal,
September 27, 2002.
10. Givhan R. “As Its Market Expands, Nike Elects to Super-Size.” Washington Post,May 3, 2002, p. C2.
11. Patton P. “America's Ever-Bigger Bottoms Bedeviling Seating Planners.” Miami
Herald, September 23, 1999.
12. Sanchez R. “A Fitting Problem for Prosperous Century’s End.” Washington Post,
April 15, 1999, p. A1.
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