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Weight
Control: Should I or shouldn’t I?
 Weight
control and why it is so important to your happy, healthy life:
Weight control is an issue
of such fundamental importance to your health as to not even be debatable. The
importance of weight control in addition to feeling better, is to reduce your
risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease,
osteoarthritis and gallbladder disease. These diseases are second only to
tobacco-related disorders as a cause of preventable deaths. Recent studies have
concluded that individuals who are significantly overweight can decrease the
risk for these medical problems to a significant degree, by losing a modest
amount of weight, sometimes estimated to be as little as 5% - 15%. It has been
noted by experts that symptoms of obesity-related disorders can be improved,
slowed down or even reversed through proper weight control.
Interestingly enough, even
with all the publicity about the health risks of being overweight, as well as
the billions of dollars being spent annually on products and programs to make
people thinner, millions of Americans are still chronically overweight.
Fortunately over the past
several decades, many Americans have heeded the health warnings and have
significantly cut their intake of dietary fat. A study published in 1997
concluded that Americans have reduced their average consumption of total fat by
6% between 1987 and 1992, and are now averaging approximately 30% of their total
calories. However, the fat intake currently recommended by most experts is
about 30% or less to total calories.
Although progress has taken
place, much improvement still needs to occur in the area of weight control for
obese adults in the United States. The percentage of overweight and obese
adults in the United States has risen dramatically since the 1980’s. A study
conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) referred to as
the National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES), indicates that an
estimated 61% of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese, which is defined as
having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more. Between the years of 1980 to 1999
the percentage of individuals considered to be obese has nearly doubled, from
approximately 15% of the population to an estimated 27%.
Weight control is an issue
for all Americans, as obesity appears to be on the rise for all segments of the
American population, including children and adolescents, as well as people from
all ethnic backgrounds. Weight control is also becoming a global concern. It
has been noted, the obesity epidemic is not limited to Americans but has
increased throughout the world due to increased urbanization of the world's
population. Weight control is truly becoming a global concern.
Information
From The Johns Hopkins Medical Guide to Health After 50
Additional Information and
webpage
by
Paul Susic
MA
Licensed Psychologist Ph.D. Candidate
(Health and Geriatric Psychologist)
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