Severely Obese are Fastest Growing Segment of Overweight Americans

The proportion of severely obese Americans -- those with a body mass index of 40 or more -- increased by 50 percent from 2000 to 2005, twice as fast as the increase in moderate obesity, a new study finds.

During that same period, the proportion of overweight people (BMI of 30 or more) increased by 24 percent, and the proportion of those with a BMI of 50 or more increased by 75 percent.
In the past 20 years, the largest percentage increases have occurred in the heaviest weight groups, the RAND Corporation study said.

"The proportion of people at the high end of the weight scale continues to increase at a brisk rate despite increased public attention on the risks of obesity and the increased use of drastic weight loss strategies, such as bariatric surgery," report author Roland Sturm, a RAND economist, said in a prepared statement.

The study concluded that three percent of Americans are severely obese.
Health costs for severely obese people are expected to be double that of normal weight people, while health costs for moderately obese people are expected to be 25 percent more.


SOURCE:
LiveScience.com

This is a very disturbing study, though in a strange way not very surprising.

While there are some cases where severe, or morbid obesity is the
result of a medical disorder, this studyt aso found that severe/morbid
case are not stricly the result of such conditions.

The real problem, how I see it, is that people are not getting exercise,
and are eating three full meals a day, which considering they get little
to no exercise, is not a healthy diet.


Comments, Opinions?

Check out the following sites:
www.commondreams.org... & www.shareguide.com... I think sugar is the culprit in most cases of obesity, including my own! I'm about a week into a low sugar diet (no more than 20 grams/day, but all the fruit I can eat), and feel much better and lighter than I have in a long time. Food for thought! Pls keep in mind sugar is put into many prepared foods you'd never suspect, like mayonnaise, Campbell's soup, breads, etc. Also consider sugar's addictive effect (I can't imagine why the manufacturers would want sugar in their products). Quite a profitable and lethal situation!

[edit on 28-4-2007 by Tgal9]

[edit on 28-4-2007 by Tgal9]

[edit on 28-4-2007 by Tgal9]

I honestly doubt sugar is the main cause in any case.

While to much sugar is definitely bad for you, as it can cause diabetes, rot your teeth and can definitely help make a person overweight, I think that overall the lifestyle many people have, mixed with eating a lot of food that is not good to eat in the first place, is really the reason here.


I actually consume stuff that is very sugary, but I do not do it everyday, or consume a lot of it at the same time, ad that I exercise regularly every day, and I'm pretty healthy really.

well with all the damn drive thrus around the usa these days it's no surprise! even freakin starbucks! I used to work at a starbucks which had a drive thru. and i came in contact with a lot of lazy fat asses! americans are lazier than ever. why because we are catering to the needs of these lazy people.. why get in a damn line with 8 cars ahead of you when there is NO ONE inside! NO LINE INSIDE!? ugh..then why come to drive just to get a gift card.
these adults order the most fattening beeverages too. venti caramel frappuccinos with extra carm and whip and adding java chips that has so much cals everyday the same people would come.and the majority were really fat ! i cant beleive someone can drink a venti frap i can barely handle a tall.. soo off topic haha sorry
anywya i think a big contribution is the drive thrus and vast array of fast food and the whole WORK WORK WORK mind set!
who has a time to prepare a full meal these days? well I MAKE THE TIME. fix stuff the night before. damn!
its just going to get worse. kids be drinking venti fraps..eating mcdonalds like no tomorrow ugh

You are what you eat.

I tend to think it's due to not only people's consumption but the crap that we are putting in our foods. All of these preservatives and "natural flavoring" and such cannot be good for people. I am not even going to touch upon all of the hormones that are being injected into our food.

Very true SoT.


Fat food though, I have to say has got to be the worst thing you can put
into your body.

I the last two weeks did an experiment.

I ate a taco-bell chalupa and a large soda on Monday, now I had checked
my weight before than, the next day I weighed myself, and I had gained
4lbs.

Now, I did'nt eat anything on Tuesday or Thursday, and small healthy
things on Wednesday and Friday of that week.

Now, by the beginning of the next week I had gotten rid of the 4lbs,
the next Monday I ate half a cheese sandwich (that is a small slice of
cheese between a piece of bread cut in two, a bowl of natural cereal
and a 1liter of cola.

I did not gain any considerable amount of weight.


So, as we can see, fast food is a quick route to obesity.

Originally posted by iori_komei

I ate a taco-bell chalupa and a large soda on Monday, now I had checked
my weight before than, the next day I weighed myself, and I had gained
4lbs.

I can't say that I have ever experienced that. I have the opposite problem. I can never gain weight.

Everyone's body seems to metabolize these things differently. I come by my high metabolic rate honestly. The largest my dad ever was in his life was 163 lbs, and he ate a lot.

I generally maintain a weight between 145 and 155 lbs and I must say that I am a "junk food" junkie. If there are cookies or anything like that around, they won't be for long if I am around.

I don't eat a lot of fast food, so I can't really relate too much to what you are referring to. I certainly don't think that a steady diet of fast food is good for anyone.

At one point in my life, I was up to 230 lbs.
I'm 5' 10". So, that was a bit heavy, even for my build.

I never saw that I was fat, in the mirror. Guess I saw what I wanted.

After a trip to Fla., and the beach I saw some pictures.
Wondered, "who is the fat guy" ?
It was me.

I never went on a diet. I changed how I ate. No more fried foods. Sweet-
N-Low, instead of sugar. Smaller portions, and never again ate everything
on my plate.

That was in '90.
I maintain a weight of 170-175, no problem.

Now, I eat what I want. And, I maintain my ideal weight. I also use a
BowFlex every few months, to maintain muscle definition.

Lex

We all know that a simple change on diet from sugary carbs and refined flour to more healthy fruits and vegetables with plenty of fiber will make a radical change on anybody health.

But we know also that the ones to be salivating at the growing and expanding American society is the pharma and medical industry.

[edit on 8-5-2007 by marg6043]

All the fat people are just being fatted up for the aliens to eat. Stay skinny. Live long.

Originally posted by Lexion
I never went on a diet. I changed how I ate. No more fried foods. Sweet-
N-Low, instead of sugar. Smaller portions, and never again ate everything
on my plate.

This would probably knock down a large percentage of the growing obesity rate.

I eat in restaurants on a very regular basis which is usually travel/business related…of course the other half likes to dine-out for dinner as well, anyway…

Once a client invited me out to dinner with his wife (who was borderline obese) and him while I was in town. I can still remember what she ordered and ate because I simply could not believe it at the time. For an appetizer she ordered the crab cakes for herself and ate them along with a dinner salad, 12oz filet entrée, asparagus with extra béarnaise, parmesan potatoes (which is meant to be split by two persons), two round loaves of sourdough bread and a piece of cheese cake for dessert. Not one morsel of food was left on her plate when she finished the courses.

Perhaps there was a psychological disorder or something else at work there; but hey….what does it really take put-down the fork!


mg

How much you eat is the real problem. just cut back by 10% over a long period and see the results. I'll be 50 in 8 months and having the time of my life.


mikell

Originally posted by mikellmikell
How much you eat is the real problem.

Well that is definitely one of the main factors in the problem, I agree.


It seems that so many people falsely believe they should be eating three full meals a day, when in reality people should only do that if they are doing the equivalent exercise/physical work as a farm labourer from pre 1950.

No pun intended, but this is a much bigger issue than just "obesity". Obesity is only one of many side effects caused by the dangerous food and pharmaceutical industries.

First, there are chemicals deliberately put into the foods we eat that not only make us fat, but actually stimulate the brain to eat more and not less.

When a person consumes the healthy diet they are supposed to (fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains), they naturally eat less because these food items supply the necessary nutrients to the body that it needs. If a person eats food with no nutritional value, they are going to eat more because the body is trying to get the nutrition it's lacking. And what is the food they're eating "more" of?... junk food that causes obesity and disease, with added chemicals to cause brain damage and make you eat more! How sick is that??

Source: The link between monosodium glutamate (MSG) and obesity

I'm sure you already know that tortilla and potato chips aren't health foods, right? They're made with fried fats, they almost always harbor hidden toxic chemicals (acrylamides), and if they're flavored, they usually contain monosodium glutamate (MSG). This is basically a recipe for obesity.

But how does MSG cause obesity? Like aspartame, MSG is an excitotoxin, a substance that overexcites neurons to the point of cell damage and, eventually, cell death. Humans lack a blood-brain barrier in the hypothalamus, which allows excitotoxins to enter the brain and cause damage, according to Dr. Russell L. Blaylock in his book Excitotoxins. According to animal studies, MSG creates a lesion in the hypothalamus that correlates with abnormal development, including obesity, short stature and sexual reproduction problems.

Do you see what the FDA and the Food Industry are doing to us? They are making us fat, stupid and sterile. Let's toss in the rest of the chemicals they are passing off to us in hidden form such as sodium nitrate (found in almost every packaged meat and causes cancer); fluoride, arsenic, industrial chemicals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals that are in the water supply; hormones and antibotics in the meat (and milk) from farm animals; this list goes on and on... and I've posted about these subjects previously here on ATS.

Plus, the FDA is trying to gain complete control over the food supply. This documentary will scare the you-know-what out of you and it should be mandatory viewing for everyone:

Review: The Future of Food, a must-see documentary that exposes the biotech threat to life on our planet

Direct link to the video on Google: video.google.com...

Go check out the Slippery Slope Index that shows exactly how they started the poisoning process in 1900 and how it started the migration of synthetic toxins to deterioriate the food quality and impact the health of the public over the last several decades. It will shock you.

www.hundredyearlie.com...


My comments are directed at all readers, not to the poster.

It is sickening and shocking to find out the corruption, greed and evil that is taking place right under our noses and we have been intentionally conditioned to look the other way. If we don't do something, our food supply will be gone and most people won't even know it because they're too busy consuming whatever sick, diseased-ridden crap the government wants us to eat until we keel over and die. It's the perfect population reducing machine because it's working and so far... no one can stop it.

Big Pharma owns the U.S. Senate
Americans betrayed by Democratic senators with surprise amendment that protects Big Pharma monopoly

If senators turn their backs on the public to protect the Big Pharma monopoly (no you're not seeing THAT on mainstream media), then why would you expect them to protect our food supply?

What are you doing to protect your health freedom? What CAN you do to protect your health freedom? One thing we can do is to pay attention to the information that the online health news organizations are giving us. We should be grateful to them because they are giving us information that our government not only suppresses, but are trying to suppress these websites as well!

These brave people are bringing us important information and giving us instructions on how to contact our government representatives to oppose the dangerous legislations being put into place that place all of us in danger. And I call them brave because they risk being attacked, raided, shutdown and jailed by the FDA (yes the FDA has done this and their power to do this is increasing).

I quote information from NewsTarget all of the time but that is only one of many excellent and reliable sources of information.

Get out there and start educating yourself. There's not much time left since the food we eat is making us dumber and more apathetic every day.


NewsTarget: www.newstarget.com...