The Facts

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), about 2/3 of adults in the United States are overweight (BMI >25), and almost 1/3 are classified as obese (BMI >30).  

In the United States:

All adults:  133.6 million (66%) are overweight or obese

Women:  65 million (61%)

Men:  68.3 million (70.5%)

The US Department of Health also records that the national health care expenditures (excluding hospital and prescription spending) totaled $2 trillion in 2005.  That's more than 10% of US Health Expenditures!

What is the cost of overweight and obesity?

Total Cost:  $117 billion

Direct Cost:  $61 billion

Indirect Cost:  $56 billion

(Direct costs refer to preventative, diagnostic, and treatment services such as physician visits, medications, and hospital and nursing home care.  Indirect costs are the value of wages lost by people unable to work because of illness or disability, as well as the value of future earnings lost by premature death).  

Overweight and obesity are known risk factors for:

diabetes

coronary heart disease

high blood cholesterol

stroke

hypertension

gallbladder disease

osteoarthritis

sleep apnea and breathing problems

cancer

Studies show that individuals who are obese have a 10 - 50% increased risk of death from all causes compared with individuals of healthy weight.  Most of the increased risk is due to cardiovascular causes.  Obesity is associated with 112,000 excess deaths per year in the US population.   

"This is your life, are you who you want to be?"  - Switchfoot song

(information directly from www.win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics)