| LOS ANGELES (AP) - Obesity is a U.S. epidemic that has
surged in the past decade and now affects nearly one in five adults, killing some
300,000 a year, a collection of new studies suggest.
The studies, which will be published in Wednesday's Journal of the American
Medical Association, are the latest to spread the warning that Americans are
getting fatter - and that fat kills.
''Obesity is a major cause of mortality in the United States,'' concludes one of the
surveys.
One study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the
number of Americans considered obese - defined as being more than 30% over their ideal
body weight - soared from about one in eight in 1991 to nearly one in five last year.
In 1991, four out of 45 participating states had obesity rates of 15% or higher,
while the figure for 1998 was 37 states, according to the study.
That data, which was to be announced today at the AMA's annual Science Reporters
Convention, was based on telephone surveys of more than 100,000 participants each year
between 1991-98.
Younger adults, people with some college education and Hispanics showed the most
drastic increases, but ''a steady increase was observed in all states; in both sexes;
across age groups, races, educational levels; and occurred regardless of smoking
status,'' the study found.
Overall, the population of obese men and women increased from 12% in 1991 to 17.9%
last year, according to the CDC survey, which said that figure might be conservative.
Other recent research has found that more than 50% of Americans are overweight and
22% are obese, even though weight-loss products and services are a $33 billion-a-year
industry.
Being overweight has been strongly associated with greater risk of certain illnesses,
including heart disease, high cholesterol and blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and some
cancers.
A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine of more than 1 million
Americans concluded that obese people run a significant risk of dying early, even if
they don't smoke and are otherwise healthy.
Another study in this week's JAMA issue on obesity - all of the studies involved
Americans at least the age of 18 - attributed an estimated average of about 280,000
deaths a year to being overweight, but said the figure could be more than 374,000 when
the numbers are calculated differently.
The figures were adjusted for sex, age and whether the subjects smoked but did not
factor in chronic disease or family histories that might indicate a predisposition to an
illness.
An editorial accompanying the obesity issue of JAMA calls for developing a
comprehensive national strategy to prevent obesity.
Growth in the marketing of fast food and snack food, as well as lack of exercise, are
among the reasons Americans are taking in more calories than they burn, the editorial
concluded.
''Children watch more television daily, physical education has been markedly reduced
in our schools, many neighborhoods lack sidewalks for safe walking, the workplace has
become increasingly automated, household chores are assisted by labor-saving machinery,
and walking or bicycling has been replaced by automobile travel,'' the editorial said.
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