[Kabouter]

Hey, that's an improvement!

The ranks of obese Americans are expected to swell even further in the coming years, rising from 36% of the adult population today to 42% by 2030, experts said Monday. Kicking off a government-led conference on the public health ramifications of all those expanding waistlines, the authors of a new report estimated that the cost of treating those additional obese people for diabetes, heart disease and other medical conditions would add up to nearly $550 billion over the next two decades. The sobering projections also contained some good news, the researchers said: Obesity's growth has slowed from the record pace of most of the last 30 years. If those trends were to continue, 51% of American adults would qualify as obese in 2030. Study leader Eric Finkelstein, a health economist at Duke University in Durham, N.C., said it was unclear whether growth had slowed thanks to public policy initiatives aimed at preventing childhood obesity, greater societal awareness of obesity's health risks, or because Americans have hit the maximum level of fatness a population can sustain.

The findings are based on data collected from 1990 through 2008 as part of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a survey by the CDC and health departments in the states. Measures of obesity were based on body mass index, which is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. A BMI of 18 to 24.99 is considered healthy; those in the 25-29.99 range are considered overweight; people above 30 are classified as obese, and those above 40 are severely obese. In January, two CDC studies suggested that obesity rates were stabilizing at 17% for children and 35% for adults. That was based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Public health experts have concluded that the best way to attack the obesity crisis is to prevent people from becoming obese in the first place. They place a particular emphasis on children, based on a statistic that emerged from the landmark Bogalusa Heart Study: 77% of obese children become obese adults, while only 7% of non-obese children do. For weight gain to be averted — let alone reversed — policymakers would have to move beyond politically palatable initiatives such as removing sugary sodas from schools and planting community gardens in urban food deserts, said Robert Jeffery, an epidemiologist and weight-loss researcher at the University of Minnesota. Very likely, junk food would have to be taxed to discourage consumption, and advertising for those products would have to be prohibited, he said.

More here:
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-...,4332050.story

[Orpheus]

Diabeetus for everyone!

Seriously, though, this isn't a surprise. I just hope that eating healthy continues gaining popularity so that my generation might be saved.

[Cyan]

The ranks of obese Americans are expected to swell even further in the coming years

Tee hee.

[KittenMaster]

Hey, that's an improvement!

I knew I wasn't the only one that thought, "only 42%?"

[Cheesemeister]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mU6USTBRE

[BigDug13]

Honestly, WALL-E's view of the future of technology and convenience compared to our ever growing bodies sitting in a chair with a world of entertainment at our fingertips is pretty accurate at a basic level.

Socialization accomplished in an online environment to replace direct human interaction also seems inevitable. (with the movie already written and nearly completed before Facebook became open to the public outside of Universities. )

It's chilling.

[filler]

Army of Largeness

[Zeppelin]

You guys should probably eat less.

[big_z]

[Dreams-Visions]

why only 42%?

gubbament gonna implement restrictions on shit foods?

[EnderWiggles]

Good, more fatties means less competition

[DanteFox]

Fattest nation on earth baybee.

:(

Though it seems that other nations are increasing in obesity as well, so it's probably as we thought it's just due to a proliferation of unhealthy food combined with increasingly sedentary lifestyles. So maybe we're just blazing a trail once again. ;)

=[

[Ryaaan14]

Better chance of getting laid for scrawny kids!

[Kabouter]

Fattest nation on earth baybee.

Qatar baby. Half of all adults already obese there.

[DanteFox]

Better chance of getting laid for scrawny kids!

Hope you like thick women. ;D

[Gintoki]

America wants to claim it's title back? And thats one crazy percentage.

[Ryaaan14]

Hope you like thick women. ;D

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUU

[Ra\/en]

Yay for increased risk of fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, pregnancy complications, joint pain and pretty much every other condition out there.


We have to change the way we do food and the built environment! Could take generations.

[AShep]

Not eating enough cheese and peanut butter.

[speculawyer]

I doubt it will happen. I think the rising obesity rate will slow down

[Surface of Me]

As someone who has already left obesity, this worries me greatly. Holy shit mang, I'm raising my kids right from the start. Eat healthy, be active, live free.

[Kabouter]

I doubt it will happen. I think the rising obesity rate will slow down

That's what it says, yes, which is why it's 'just' 42%.

[AShep]

As someone who has already left obesity, this worries me greatly. Holy shit mang, I'm raising my kids right from the start. Eat healthy, be active, live free.

Uh didn't you get the memo? Our bodies are not designed to be fit and healthy. We're supposed to carry excess fat reserves so that we can outlast the skinny man.

[Mr Swine]

So is this why the American military/Lockhead Martin are making those super exoskeleton for all those fat Americans at 2030? :P

[Foxy Fox 39]

I'm part of the 58%

[lsslave]

This is just... what is this?

Seriously, I've quit smoking now, but these people are way more of a burden than smokers (who are nice enough to just die off!) are and we are supposed to feel bad for them? Listen to their support groups?

We should feel bad for comedies that mock them.

Might sound crass but I come from a hugely obese family and managed to drop from 340, I stopped listening to excuses and now I see it as a form of child abuse to buy your kids off with candy

[Plywood]

[DanteFox]

lol remember when he got on the wii balance board for the wii fit demo and it said he was overweight? His defense? "It's all muscle!" lol.

[Monocle]

You guys should probably eat less.

[diddles]

gifs like this initially trigger disgust and anger in me, but then i look at her smile and i feel terrible. obesity is an awful burden, self inflicted or not. i sort of feel like richard simmons i suppose. getting that fat is tragic.

[Plywood]

lol remember when he got on the wii balance board for the wii fit demo and it said he was overweight? His defense? "It's all muscle!" lol.

Had to look it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...PH_0Cck#t=113s

lol

[lsslave]

gifs like this initially trigger disgust and anger in me, but then i look at her smile and i feel terrible. obesity is an awful burden, self inflicted or not. i sort of feel like richard simmons i suppose. getting that fat is tragic.

See and now I feel bad for my rant and all "Richard Simmons-ey". Shiny one pieces and afro time?

[Sword Familiar]

I'm part of the 58%

So you're only "fat", then?

[Enco]

42%?

You guys can do better. Push it to 60%!

Pretty sad.

[GraveRobberX]

No one did the Conan chant yet =/

U S A! U S A! U S A!

[zoukka]

I feel so good for not having touched convenience food in years. Same goes for fast food.

[GrotesqueBeauty]

If we set up vast liposuction facilities perhaps we can render fat into fuel, creating a new home grown alternative energy industry.

[big_z]

If we set up vast liposuction facilities perhaps we can render fat into fuel, creating a new home grown alternative energy industry.

i've been saying we should melt fat people down to fuel our suvs for years. would be easy to implement by adding a new check box on the organ donor card. you could even hand out fat-gas applications at mcdonalds. sign up for processing and get free super sizing of your meal.

[Lord Ghirahim]

lol remember when he got on the wii balance board for the wii fit demo and it said he was overweight? His defense? "It's all muscle!" lol.

Well, BMI makes eyeballing seem scientific by comparison.

[jorma]

Well, BMI makes eyeballing seem scientific by comparison.

Not really. If your BMI tells you to lose weight and you don't know if that's really true - you should lose weight. If your BMI tells a different story than reality you will already know that it does, and you will know why.

[Dariee]

Had to look it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...PH_0Cck#t=113s lol

Hadn't seen that before.

Seems like I finally catched up with a classic, woohoo!

[SolidusDave]

So, imagine a random group of men taller than 180 cm / 5'11".
Almost half of them will weight AT LEAST 98 kg / 216 lbs.

[Vastag]

Is there any study comparing the health cost of obesity against smokers? The cost of all the conditions linked to obesity must be crazy.

[RevDM]

Is the pic clear? On my phone.

[Bollocks]

lol someday americans will be too fat to defend themselves

[catfish]

accelerating towards the morlocks/eloy style society faster than expected.

[Trent Strong]

lol someday americans will be too fat to defend themselves

We've got drones.

[BertramCooper]

We've just gotta cut out all of those fatty foods. We need to listen to the USDA and eat lots and lots of grains.

Right? RIGHT?

[Steelrain]

I feel so good for not having touched convenience food in years. Same goes for fast food.

I feel sad for you :(

[GCX]

I feel sad for you :(

Umm may I ask why?