Dr. Mercola July 20 2007 13,821 views
A research team at John Hopkins University has examined 20 different published studies and national surveys about weight and eating behavior. Their conclusion is far from encouraging. Americans across all age groups, genders and races are getting fatter, and if the trend continues, 75 percent of U.S. adults will be overweight by the year 2015. Obesity is definitely becoming the norm.They also found that an astounding 80 percent of african american women over the age of 40 are currently overweight, with 50 percent falling in the obese category, putting them at great risk for heart disease, diabetes and various cancers.
Yahoo News July 18, 2007
This may actually be optimistic. At least one study predicted that 90 percent of men and 70 percent of women will eventually become overweight. I find it very difficult to agree with that, but it is definitely true that, as a result of the obesity epidemic, the average American lifespan is falling like a rock and could drop even more in coming decades. In fact, by the middle of this century, the increased risk of obesity-caused diabetes, heart disease and cancer could lower the average life expectancy of 77.6 years by as much as five years.
That's certainly a far cry from the 2002 Social Security Administration forecast that projected the maximum human life span to reach 100 in roughly six decades. If this epidemic is not reversed we will, for the first time in history, see children living shorter lives than their parents.
And their quality of life may be worse as well. In addition to the diseases they will suffer, they may also need to spend more of their money on their illnesses; medical expenditures for morbidly obese adults in the year 2000 were 81 percent more than for normal-weight adults. The high price tag for health care costs for morbidly obese adults is also weighing heavily on U.S. health care system. In that same year, the U.S. health care budget that needed to treat those with excess body weight shot up to over $11 billion.
I have dedicated a large portion of my life to reversing this deadly trend, by providing you with the tools you need to fight obesity in your own home. Simple lifestyle changes can help re-balance your body to its unique ideal weight, and drastically improve your overall health:
Debrah,
Good for you, you are a good grandmother/mother. I hope they are all listening to you. I have trid to enlighten my daughters, with my 3yr. old grandson's health at risk, but they just roll their eyes and talk behind my back, I am sure. They think I am some kind of kook!! My daughter is expecting my 2nd grandchild in a few weeks, Thank God she breastfeeds. I am so conerned about their soy intake, especially my grandson. She thinks it is a health food and she's doing something good!
Keep up the good work.
Paulette
Go to your local grocery store you'd be surpised how many Big people there are.