Vast majority of Americans likely to become fat

< Prev | 1 | 2

Diet and fitness videos

Fruit juice loaded with sugar, calories?
Dec. 17: Is fruit juice loaded with too much sugar and calories to be considered healthy? Meredith Land reports.

Eat good foods, trigger positive moods

Man drinks glass of fat in NYC anti-soda video

Mom cuts out fast food, drops 110 pounds

Overweight and unemployed

Smart Fitness — By Jacqueline Stenson

Power Systems

6 gifts fit for the gym rat on your list
Searching for a gift for the exercise enthusiast on your list? Whatever the sport or activity, we have ideas that are fun, functional and in a range of prices to help keep you fiscally fit.

Can exercise help ward off the swine flu?

This holiday, take your diet advice and stuff it

Can working out wear you out?

Get fit, faster, with short-burst training

The study shows Americans live in an “environment in which it’s hard not to become overweight or obese. Unless people actively work against that, that’s what’s most likely to happen to them.”

Obesity raises the risk of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and arthritis, and being overweight raises blood pressure and cholesterol, which in turn can raise the risk of heart disease.

The number of deaths linked to obesity has been heavily debated. Earlier this year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said obesity caused only about 25,814 deaths annually in the United States — far fewer than the 365,000 deaths the agency had earlier reported. Other scientists have disagreed with the revised conclusion, while organizations representing the food and restaurant industry think weight-related ills have been overstated.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

As for the Framingham study, Mark Vander Weg, a Mayo Clinic psychologist who researches obesity but was not involved in the study, said it is one of a few to track a group of individuals over an extended period.

“What’s particularly concerning is that these results actually may underestimate the risk of becoming overweight or obese among the general population” because minorities, who are at increased risk for obesity, were not included in the study, Vander Weg said.

Recent trends also suggest that people currently coming into middle age may be even more likely to become overweight or obese than those who were studied, Vander Weg said.

While more studies that include more diverse populations are needed, he said, the results “add to a growing body of evidence that makes it increasingly apparent that more effective prevention and treatment strategies are urgently needed.”

< Prev | 1 | 2