Obesity Articles

If kids keep eating treats such as deep-fried Twinkies, they very well may end up going where people usually don’t and shouldn’t go until they’re adults (if at all): the operating table.

Released by David Satcher, MD, PhD U.S. Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease OVERWEIGHT OBESITY + November-December 2002 IDEA HEALTH & FITNESS SOURCE five principles Overweight and obesity have reached nationwide epidemic proportions. Both the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity and their associated health problems are important public health goals. To achi...

Gender Differences Gender Differences in Fat Metabolism The incidence of obesity in the United States is on the rise. Approximately 20 percent (%) of U.S. adult females and 19% of U.S. adult males are currently obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2002). Why? Primarily because, for most individuals, energy intake constantly exceeds energy expenditure. According to Blair and Nichaman...

RESEARCH By Ralph La Forge, MS E x e rc i s e a s Medicine: Convincing Evidence Booth, F.W. et al. 2002. Waging war on physical inactivity: using modern molecular ammunition against an ancient enemy. Journal of Applied Physiology, 93, 3-30. Study. Exercise scientists from the University of Missouri at Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and East Carolina University in Gree...

RESEARCH By Ralph La Forge, MS Hormone Replacement T h e r a p y E ff i c a c y Revisited (HERS II) Health Science Education for Personal Fitness Tr a i n e r s Obesity Linked t o C o ro n a r y A t h e ro s c l e ro s i s i n Yo u n g M e n Hormone Replacement Therapy Efficacy Revisited (HERS II) Hulley, S., et al. 2002. Noncardiovascular disease outcomes during 6.8 years of hormone therapy: H...

Client Handout t is well documented that being overweight or obese is associated with numerous serious health risks. However, researchers have been finding that people can be healthy, fit and fat. Philip Walker, MS, managing partner of the Dallas-based Walker Wellness Clinic, a comprehensive eating disorder treatment center incorporating psychotherapy, medication management, nutrition therapy and...

Obesity and overweight statistics can vary widely from study to study, mainly because of the criteria each uses to classify persons as overweight or obese. Usually, a baseline number represented as body mass index (BMI) is used to differentiate one group from another. The following statistics were provided by the Weight-Control Information Network of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health (except where noted in superscript).

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently published its current Position Stand on “Appropriate Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Regain for Adults” (Jakicic, J.M., et al., 2001, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 33 [12], 2145-56). This evidence-based position paper updates existing guidelines, including those pertaining to the quality and quantity of exercise necessary for weight loss.

The number of people in the United States who are overweight or obese is steadily increasing and threatens to reverse many of the health gains reported in recent decades. According to government statistics, obesity rates among adults have doubled since 1980, with an estimated 61 percent considered overweight by 1999. The problem is not limited to adults; the number of overweight children and adolescents has tripled since 1980.