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If Life Expectancy Starts to Drop, Blame Obesity in
Children
March 17, 2005 If the age of life expectancy
stops its traditional climb, dont blame older people for not taking
care of themselves. The finger of blame will primarily be pointing at
obesity in children, although, two-thirds of adults are also too fat.
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An Obesity Index |
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Courtesy: David Ludwig, MD, PhD
1. Proportion of American adults that are
overweight: 2/3
2. Proportion that are obese: 1/3
3. Proportion of American children with
excessive body weight: 25% to 30%
4. Increase in childhood obesity in the
past 25 years: 2.3 to 3.3 fold
5. Estimated increase, in the past 20
years, in the prevalence of childhood diabetes: 10-fold
6. Americans' average daily fat intake, as
a percentage of total calories, in 1960: 42%
7. The same percentage in 2000: 33
8. Increase in per capita consumption of
soft drinks, 1950s to today: 500%
9. Amount that one additional soft drink
per day increases a child's risk for obesity: 60%
10. Percentage of school districts that
have contracts with soft-drink companies, allowing them to sell
soft drinks on school premises: 50%
11. Proportion of a child's calories that
originate from fast food, 1970s: 2%
12. The same proportion today: 10%
13. Percentage of children eating fast food
on a given day, according to a national survey: 30%
14. Ratio of the total daily calorie needs
of the average 10-year-old to the number of calories in a single
"supersize" fast food meal: 1:1
15. Number of food ads viewed by the
average child each year: 10,000
16. Percentage of these that advertise fast
food, soft drinks, candy, or sugared cereals: 95%
17. Estimated annual amount spent on food
advertising aimed at U.S. children: $10 billion
18. Budget for the "Five a Day" program, a
federal educational program to increase fruit and vegetable
consumption: $1.1 million
19. The entire federal budget for nutrition
education, compared with the advertising costs for Altoids
mints: 1/5
20. Increase in risk for childhood obesity
per hour of daily television viewing: 12%
21. Decrease in risk for childhood obesity
per hour of exercise: 10%
22. Average insurance reimbursement rate
for childhood obesity treatment: 10%
23. Average charge for coronary-bypass
surgery: $60,853
24. Estimated average cost of three
one-hour sessions with a dietician at an obesity clinic: $180
25. Annual direct costs of obesity to the
American economy in 1995: $100 billion |
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It's been assumed that U.S. life expectancy would
rise indefinitely, but a new data analysis, published as a special
report in today's New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that this
trend is about to reverse itself -- due to the rapid rise in obesity,
especially among children.
A review by obesity researcher David Ludwig of
Children's Hospital Boston, epidemiologist S. Jay Olshansky of the
University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues concludes that obesity
now reduces average life expectancy by about 4 to 9 months, a
conservative estimate.
More ominously, the researchers further conclude
that if the current epidemic of child and adolescent obesity continues
unabated, life expectancy could be shortened by two to five years in the
coming decades.
The researchers based their predictions on data on
the prevalence of obesity from the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey and previously published estimates of years-of-life
lost from obesity. A reduced life expectancy could have implications for
such programs as Social Security and Medicare, they suggest.
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Related Story |
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Life Expectancy
Hits Record High 77.6 Years
Men catching up with women in longevity
March 1, 2005 - Life expectancy
for Americans has reached an all-time high, according to the latest U.S.
mortality statistics released yesterday by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC). The report, Deaths: Preliminary
Data for 2003, prepared by CDCs National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS), shows life expectancy at 77.6 years in 2003, up from 77.3 in
2002. Read more...
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Current trends indicate that the prevalence of
obesity will continue to rise and affect ever-younger age groups,
especially among children, the researchers note. Minority groups are
expected to be hardest hit because of their reduced access to health
care and especially sharp increases in childhood and adult obesity.
The long-term consequences of the child obesity
epidemic have yet to be seen, says Ludwig, who directs the Optimal
Weight for Life (OWL) program at Children's Hospital Boston. Obesity is
known to increase risk for heart disease and cancer, and the surge in
childhood obesity has already triggered an unprecedented rise in type 2
("adult") diabetes in children.
"The tsunami of childhood obesity has not yet hit
the shore -- it takes many years for complications to develop," Ludwig
says. "If the clock starts ticking at age 12 or 14, the consequences to
public health are potentially disastrous -- imagine heart attack or
kidney failure becoming a relatively common condition of young
adulthood."
Two thirds of American adults today are obese or
overweight, and the proportion of people with extreme obesity has risen
especially rapidly, the investigators note. Thus far, medical treatment
has had little success in offsetting this trend.
Ludwig attributes much of the obesity epidemic to
environmental factors. "If we were to reverse environmental factors back
to those of the 1960s, most of the obesity epidemic would disappear," he
asserts.
In the past 40 years, fast food, junk food, and
soft drinks have become a prominent part of the landscape. Food
advertising directed at children has exploded, and portion sizes have
ballooned (see attached fact sheet). Schools have become purveyors of
fast food and soft drinks through contracts with the food and beverage
industry that help fund school programs -- even as they cut physical
education classes from their curricula to save money. At the same time,
children are becoming more sedentary, spending more time watching TV and
using computers.
Moreover, many insurance companies don't cover
obesity treatment, or offer only limited coverage. Nationally,
reimbursement is as little as 10 percent, Ludwig notes.
"To tackle obesity we will need unambiguous
political leadership at all levels of government, to make clear that
public health has to come before private profit," he says. "This means a
fundamental shift in the social environment that will support healthful
eating and an active lifestyle. While the campaign must be led by
government, it will require the active participation of primary care
physicians, nutritionists, schools, and parents."
Founded in 1869 as a 20-bed hospital for
children, Children's Hospital Boston today is the nation's leading
pediatric medical center, the largest provider of health care to
Massachusetts children, and the primary pediatric teaching hospital of
Harvard Medical School. In addition to 325 pediatric and adolescent
inpatient beds and comprehensive outpatient programs, Children's houses
the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical
center, where its discoveries benefit both children and adults. More
than 500 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of
Sciences, nine members of the Institute of Medicine and 10 members of
the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research
community. For more information about the hospital visit:
http://www.childrenshospital.org.
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