Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates that one-third of American adults are overweight. Another third are obese. It’s an epidemic that’s causing concern at the highest levels of government. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius calls the data “alarming.”

This is not the first time the federal government has sounded this alarm. Dr. David Satcher was one of the first to say there was an obesity epidemic in America, nearly a decade ago, when he was Surgeon General. “We have addicted ourselves, and we are now addicting our children, to sedentary lifestyles, diets that are high in fats, salts and sweets,” he said.

“Obesity increases the risk of diabetes, dramatically. It increases the risk of heart disease, of stroke, of hypertension, increases the risk of many forms of cancer. And you think about the costs of health care and the role that chronic diseases play, obesity is a major factor in all of those chronic diseases I have just listed.” It’s imperative to lose weight.

“About $147 billion a year are spent directly related to obesity and the underlying health conditions related to that,” said Sebelius. “That compares with all the cancers that people have across America, which cost a little under $100 billion a year. So one-and-a-half times as much money is spent.” It’s imperative to lose weight.

Obesity is determined by your body mass index, a rough calculation of body fat based on your height and weight:

8.5 – 24.9 is considered normal
25 – 29.9 is considered overweight
30 and above is obese – need to lose weight

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