American society has become ‘obesogenic,’ characterized by environments that promote increased food intake, nonhealthful foods, and physical inactivity. Policy and environmental change initiatives that make healthy choices in nutrition and physical activity available, affordable, and easy will likely prove most effective in combating obesity.
The Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) is working to reduce obesity and obesity-related conditions through state programs, technical assistance and training, leadership, surveillance and research, intervention development and evaluation, translation of practice-based evidence and research findings, and partnership development.
[i don’t see anything in there about gene therapy, thyroids, or other metabolism changes…]
also, the rate of obesity is climbing, as has been beat to death in MSM, i think (from CDC website):
the national health objectives for 2010 is to reduce the prevalence of obesity among adults to less than 15 percent. The NHANES 2005-2006 data for persons age 20 years and over suggest an increase, between the late 1980s and today, in obesity in the United States, with the estimated age-adjusted prevalence moving upward from a previous level of 23 percent in NHANES III (1988-94) to approximately 34 percent. The change between 2003-2004 and 2005-2006, however, was not statistically significant. Data Brief No 1 PDF 366 KB
that’s 11% higher obesity post real-estate bubble. maybe inflated real estate prices are to some extent making people heavier, in some way –like some sort of wealth-fat effect. we went from less than a quarter of the population obese to over a third in 15 years. if the trend continues, half the nation will be obese in less than 2 decades.
is this just genetically predestined?
seems like any real discussion of the nation’s health has to include moving that trend back down to under 25%, where obesity is not a regular condition, and not letting it just continue to climb and figure, well, we’ll all have health insurance and it’ll pan out. sure, have national health insurance, but I’d rather see a War on Obesity than a war on drugs, terrorism or so forth.
