Bite Size Movie, a documentary focused on ending childhood obesity by Corbin Billings and The Bite Size Movie team. To learn more visit: www.BiteSizeMovie.com

End Childhood Obesity: Obesity Facts and Resources

 


According to The Campaign to End Obesity here are some starling facts about the dangers of being obese:

AMERICA’S OBESITY EPIDEMIC
*Today, two thirds of adults and nearly one in three children struggle with overweight and obesity.
* Twenty years ago, no state had an obesity rate above 15 percent. Today, more than two out of three states, 38 total, have obesity rates over 25 percent, according to Trust for America’s Health.
* The rate of childhood obesity more than doubled from 1980 to 2000; 30 states have child obesity rates of 30 percent or more.

OBESITY’S IMPACT ON AMERICA’S HEALTH
* Obesity is linked to more than 60 chronic diseases.
* According to the American Cancer Society, obese adults are at increased risk for all cancers.
* Obesity contributes to two-thirds of all heart disease, according to the CDC.
* 66 percent of American adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis are overweight or obese.
* Over 75 percent of hypertension cases are directly related to obesity.
* More than 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF OBESITY
* In 2010, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that nearly 20 percent of the increase in U.S. health care spending (from 1987‐2007) was caused by obesity.
* The annual health costs related to obesity in the U.S. are as high as $168 billion, and nearly 17 percent of U.S. medical costs can be attributed on obesity, according to research released by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

OBESITY’S IMPACT ON THE WORKFORCE
*  Full-time workers in the U.S. who are overweight or obese and have other chronic health conditions miss an estimated 450 million additional days of work each year compared with healthy workers — resulting in an estimated cost of more than $153 billion in lost productivity annually, according to a 2011 Gallup Poll.
*Medical expenses for obese employees are 42 percent higher than for a person with a healthy weight, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

OBESITY’S IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES OF NEED
* Blacks, Hispanics and Native people are much more likely to be obese than whites, according to CDC data.
* Low-income neighborhoods are more affected by obesity than affluent areas, reflecting a range of policy and cultural influences.

OBESITY AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
*Approximately 50 percent of children walked or bicycled to school in 1969; today, fewer than 15 percent of schoolchildren walk or bike to school, according to the Safe Routes to School Partnership.
*Only 3.8 percent of U.S. elementary schools, 7.9 percent of U.S. middle schools and 2.1 percent of U.S. high schools provide daily physical education for students, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
*52 percent of adults do not meet minimum physical activity recommendations.

OBESITY AND NUTRITION
* Only 12 percent of adults and two percent of children eat a healthy diet consistent with federal nutrition recommendations.
* According to the USDA, healthier diets could prevent at least $71 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity and lost lives.

RESOURCES

• CDC: “The Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education, and Academic Performance“
• CDC: “Physical Activity and the Health of Young People”
  
• Duke Global Health Institute: “Obese Workers Cost Workplace More Than Medical Expenses, Absenteeism”
• Gallup: “The Cost of Obesity to U.S. Cities
• McKinseyQuarterly: “The real cost of obesity“
• National Bureau of Economic Research: “The Medical Care Costs of Obesity: An Instrumental Variables Approach”
• Thomson Reuters: “Obesity in the Workforce: Health Effects and Healthcare Costs”
• Gallup: Unhealthy U.S. Workers’ Absenteeism Costs $153 Billion