America declares war on fat

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Surgeon General called Thursday for sweeping changes in schools, restaurants, workplaces and communities to help combat the nation’s growing epidemic of Americans who are overweight and obese.

In outlining the first national plan of action for overweight and obesity, Surgeon General David Satcher recommended schools make their lunch programs less fattening, restrict students’ access to popular vending machines that sell calorie-dense foods and soft drinks, and resume daily physical exercise classes for all children and adolescents as well as recess for elementary students.

So both adults and children could eat better, restaurants and fast food establishments, where Americans now spend about 40 percent of their food budget, should offer more nutrition information, the report recommends. For their part, employers should include weight management and physical activity counseling in their health insurance coverage and allow employees time to exercise. And obesity should officially be classified as a disease to encourage insurance companies to reimburse for weight-control expenses, the report concludes.

"This is not about aesthetics and it’s not about appearances," Satcher said. "We’re talking about health."

Communities should create safe playgrounds, sidewalks or walking trails, particularly in inner cities, to encourage more physical activity, the report recommends.

Since the surgeon general controls no funding, implementing most of the recommendations would fall to the federal, state and local governments. But surgeon general reports historically have played an important role in focusing attention on health problems and influencing social change.

Obesity is considered by many public health experts as one of the nation’s most important problems because it is a major risk factor of a host of diseases, including heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. Nearly two out of every three adults in the United States are overweight or obese and the number has been increasing.

An estimated 1,200 people die daily from weight-related illnesses. That adds up to 300,000 deaths a year — more than the number killed annually by pneumonia, motor vehicle accidents and airline crashes combined — and nearly as many as the 430,000 who die yearly from tobacco-related conditions.

Health care costs for overweight and obesity total an estimated $117 billion annually.

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