Americans are still not getting the message that being overweight is extremely detrimental to health, so a recent report issued by Surgeon General Dr David Satcher suggests. According to the report, a phenomenal 61% of US adults are overweight or obese and just one third of the population are exercising for the recommended minimum of 30-minutes five times a week. Furthermore, an estimated 300,000 citizens each year are dying from causes associated with poor nutrition or lack of exercise, a figure which experts believe could soon match the 400,000 deaths each year attributed to tobacco smoking. Recent studies have found that losing just 15lb can reduce a person’s risk of developing type II diabetes by as much as 60%. Such a reduction would save the health system $58-billion annually, according to the Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G Thompson.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: reported by www.reuterhshealth.com on the 13th December 2001
