Nu-Living Weight Management Center

Recognized since 1985 as a chronic disease, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death, exceeded only by cigarette smoking. Obesity is now regarded as a chronic medical disease with serious health implications caused by a complex set of factors. Obesity has been established as a major risk factor for hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and some cancers in both men and women.

Approximately 1/3 of adults are estimated to be obese.

Obesity results from a complex interaction of genetic, behavioral and environmental factors causing an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. According to the National Institutes of Health, an increase in body weight of 20% or more above desirable weight is the point at which excess weight becomes an established health hazard. Lower levels of excess weight can also constitute a health risk, particularly in the presence of other disorders like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

Obesity affects 58 million people across the nation and its prevalence is increasing.

Is Childhood Obesity A Growing Problem?

Approximately one in three children in the US between the ages of 6 and 17 is overweight. The number of overweight children in the US has more than doubled in the past 30 years. The number of overweight children (age 6-17) has doubled within three decades (Pediatrics (Suppl) 1998;101(3): 497-504).

A new chronic disease has emerged over the past two decades, one that overshadows all others in frequency in the pediatric population - obesity. Changes in the Western lifestyle have led to significant reductions in energy expenditure of children and have encouraged "super-sizing" of calorie-dense, high-fat foods and snacks (Journal of Pediatrics (Editorial) 2000;136(6)).

Physical inactivity (a 1996 US Surgeon General's report on fitness says that nearly half of young people ages 12 to 21 are not vigorously active), "junk" food diets (including high calorie soft drinks and fruit beverages), increased television watching accompanied by snacking, increased time playing video and computer games all contribute to increased obesity among the young.

At Nu-Living Weight Management, we are working on ways to approach this problem with a unique perspective.

When we think of the major problems facing pediatrics in the next millennium, the disturbing trend toward obesity has to be among the most serious, with all the adverse health implications that obesity carries (Pediatric Alert, March 27, 1997).

Obesity Statistics

• The most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 65% of U.S. adults - or about 129.6 million people - are either overweight or obese.
• The U.S. Bureau of the Census estimates that approximately 58 million American adults (26 million men and 32 million women) are obese.
• In addition to decreasing quality of life and increasing the risk of premature death, obesity and overweight cost the Nation an estimated $117 billion in direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost wages due to illness.
• Other studies estimate approximately one-third (33.4%) of adults can be defined as obese.
• Adult men and women are nearly 8 pounds heavier than they were 15 years ago. Mean body mass index (BMI), a standard measure of obesity, has increased from 25.3 to 26.3 kg/m2.
• At any given time 33 to 40% of women and 20 to 24% of men are trying to lose weight.
• Maintaining weight loss over the long term is exceedingly difficult. Most people regain as much as two-thirds of weight lost within one year and regain all of it within five years.