Obesity In America - A Problem Growing Larger

Create Environments For Healthy Food And Beverage, Exercise Say Experts

Two-thirds of adults and almost one-third of children in the United States are overweight or obese, representing young and old, urban and rural, and majority and minority populations. 

According to a study by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, this epidemic of excess weight is associated with major causes of chronic disease, disability, and death, and obesity-related illness is estimated to carry an annual cost of $190.2 billion each year. 

The Institute's policy brief presents the findings from the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention. The committee evaluated hundreds of prior strategies for their promise in accelerating obesity prevention over the next decade and mapped how the most promising interacted with, reinforced, or slowed each other’s progress. 

The committee identified the following recommendations to strengthen efforts to prevent obesity: make physical activity an integral and routine part of life; create food and beverage environments that ensure that healthy food and beverage options are the routine, easy choice; transform messages about physical activity and nutrition; expand the roles of health care providers, insurers, and employers and; make schools a national focal point.

Complete Report