OVERWEIGHTNESS AND OBESITY

Created by Ben Arnold

Defining Overweightness and Obesity

Overweightness is classified as having a body mass index between 25 and 29.9

Obesity is classified as having a body mass index of 30 or greater.

*For Adults

Overweightness is classified as having a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentile

Obesity is classified as having a BMI above the 95th percentile

*For Children and Teenagers

1985 Obesity Percentages per state

2010 Obesity Percentages per state

U.S. State rates for 2010

No states obesity rates were lower than 20%

36 states had rates of 25% or higher

12 states had rates of 30% or higher

In America, approximately… 35.7% of U.S. Adults are obese

17% of Children ages 2-19 are obese

Causes of Obesity

Large amounts of calories being consumed daily

Lack of physical activity

Decisions regarding environment, ex.

(someone drives a car rather than walking to work due to a small amount of sidewalks in town)

Food and Beverage Choices

• Schools allow unhealthy• foods and drinks. More • than half of U.S. schools• offer snacks and/or • soda pops through • vending machines. • Students can also • purchase these items at

sporting and/or party events.

Television and Media

Children ages 8-18 spend

an average of 7.5 hours per day using

computers, cell phones, TV,

video games, and movies.

This leads to the consumption of unhealthy foods due to the exposure of exposure of advertisements.

There are several programs to decrease obesity in all ages.

The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) funds twenty-five states to teach citizens about the problems with obesity.

The Robert Wood Johnson

Foundation wants to “help

society transform itself for the

better.”

… Continued

The National Lung and Blood Institute created We Can!, a national obesity prevention program that encourages you to “eat right”, “get active”, and “reduce screen time” to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

If you would like to donate to any of these programs, the next slide includes the programs’ websites.

Citations

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/

http://www.rwjf.org/about/