A Growing Trend Research conducted by the RAND Corporation revealed that obesity in the US population has been steadily on the rise over the past two decades, with severe obesity growing at a much higher pace. Considering the array of health problems mentioned previously, obese individuals incur more health care costs than the average individual. During their research they compared people of healthy weight to those to be considered obese and found that the obese spend more on health care services and medications. Furthermore, those that maintain an unhealthy weight have more health problems than even smokers and problem drinkers. Who would have thought this to be so? |
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Here are some more disturbing facts found in this study: Between 1987 and 2005 the amount of people that were one hundred pounds overweight increased by five hundred percent and those in excess of one hundred pounds over weight increased by almost one thousand percent.
These facts have to make us wonder – what is going on and what if this trend continues? It is our hope to slow and even reverse this trend – we would like to nip it in the bud so to speak, which is why we are so interested in educating teens and their parents on safe and effective weight management methods.Hopefully the increase in obesity rates will subside, but if they do not what are we facing as a society?
Studies show that if these historical trends are to continue we will see more individuals with poor health, increasing disability rates, and a ten to twenty-five percent increase in nursing home residents. Also there would be dramatic effects on Medicaid and our healthcare system. The exponential growth in the proportion of Americans with clinically severe obesity has massive implications for our nation’s health care system. Severely obese people are over two times as likely as normal weight individuals to be classified as having fair or poor health and have about twice the amount of chronic medical conditions. More medical problems = higher health costs!
What is considered obese?
Being obese is defined as carrying around weight that is harmful to one’s health. The fat that one stores is much higher in proportion to lean body mass and muscle. Below is a chart that provides basic guidelines to determine your ideal weight and whether or not you are currently at an unhealthy weight. Here are examples of healthy and unhealthy weight according to your height:
5’6’: Normal – 115-154, Overweight – 155-185, Obese - 186 or more 5’9”: Normal – 125-168, Overweight – 169-202, Obese – 203 or more 6’: Normal – 137-183, Overweight – 184-220, Obese – 221 or more |
