Americans have been battling the bathroom scale for decades, and the scale is winning.
The prevalence of both overweight and obesity has become epidemic in the United States.
As people take in more calories than they burn, usually due to more sedentary lifestyles, they create a recipe for poor health.
Over 65 percent of American adults are overweight and of those, 34 percent are considered obese. Whereas the latest statistics indicate that the epidemic of obesity may be slowing, rates are still too high, and reducing them is a top health care priority.
Unfortunately, the rate of excessive weight gain is increasing for younger Americans. Currently, over 10 percent of children aged 2 to 5 years and approximately 17 percent of those aged 6 to 19 are considered obese.
Along with the weight gain have come higher rates of type 2 diabetes, particularly among children, and increased rates of heart disease, cancer, and stroke.
Ironically, being overweight doesn’t necessarily mean being well fed. In fact, many of the poorest Americans are obese and malnourished.
