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CDC: Obesity approaching

tobacco as top preventable Excess weight is an independent risk factor for
cause of death coronary disease, in addition to its
contribution to the incidence of diabetes,
hyperlipidemia, & hypertension.

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Monday, 5 April 2004 05:30 PM GMT

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In a recent government study, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
estimated that obesity is fast approaching
tobacco as the top underlying preventable
cause of death in the USA.

Thirty-four percent of U.S. adults are considered overweight, and an

additional 31 percent are obese.
Related
Anyone with a body mass index (a ratio between your height and
weight) of 25 or above -- thats someone, for example, who is 5-foot-
4 and 145 pounds -- is considered overweight, according to the
National Institutes of Health. Anyone with a body mass index of 30 or Weight Reduction Techniques
above -- such as someone who is 5-foot-6 and 186 pounds -- is Common diets (Atkins, Ornish.. etc)
considered obese. Check your body mass index here! CDC: Obesity and risk of death
Caloric assessment calculators
The results of the new study appear in the Journal of the American
Medical Association.

In 2000, poor diet including obesity and physical inactivity caused 400,000 U.S. deaths -- more than 16 percent of all
deaths and the No. 2 killer. That compares with 435,000 for tobacco, or 18 percent, as the top underlying killer.

According to the study the gap between the two is substantially narrower than in 1990, when poor diet and inactivity
caused 300,000 deaths, 14 percent, compared with 400,000 for tobacco, or 19 percent, says a report from the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Like tobacco, obesity and inactivity increase the risks for the top three killers: heart disease, cancer and cerebrovascular
ailments including strokes. Obesity and inactivity also strongly increase the risk of diabetes, the sixth leading cause of
death.

The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435 000 deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical
inactivity (400 000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85 000 deaths; 3.5%). Other actual causes of death were
microbial agents (75 000), toxic agents (55 000), motor vehicle crashes (43 000), incidents involving firearms (29 000),
sexual behaviors (20 000), and illicit use of drugs (17 000).