86% Overweight by 2030?

[Guest guest]

Hi folks:

"The majority of U.S. adults are projected to be overweight or obese by 2030, according to a study from s Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

"Recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that about 62 percent of adults are overweight. With that percentage expected to grow by 23 percent over the next two decades, obesity-related health costs are expected rise to about $956.9 billion, according to the study, which was published in the July 2008 online issue of Obesity.

"National survey data show that the prevalence of overweight and obese adults in the U.S. has increased steadily over the past three decades," said Dr. Youfa Wang, the lead author of the study and associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Center for Human Nutrition. "If these trends continue, more than 86 percent of adults will be overweight or obese by 2030 with approximately 96 percent of non-Hispanic black women and 91 percent of Mexican-American men affected.

"This would result in 1 of every 6 health care dollars spent in total direct health care costs paying for overweight and obesity-related costs," Wang said in a press release.

"The researchers conducted their analysis on data collected over the past three decades from nationally representative surveys.

"The health care costs attributable to obesity and overweight are expected to more than double every decade," Wang said. "This would account for 15 to 17 percent of total health care costs spent. Due to the assumptions we made and the limitations of the available data, these figures are likely an underestimation of the true financial impact."

"Researchers estimate that children and young adults may have a shorter life expectancy than their parents if the obesity epidemic is left unaddressed."

Click here for the study published in the journal Obesity.

Rodney.