- "...the CDC is projecting that one in three Americans
born in the year 2000 will go on to develop [diabetes]."
-
- WASHINGTON -- Obesity in
the United States has long been a source of sniggering humour for foreign
observers. But for US doctors and government leaders, America's ever-expanding
waistline has become an acknowledged health emergency.
-
- The crisis is already acute: according to US government
statistics, 65 per cent of Americans are either overweight or obese. But
it is the future that has the country's leaders worried, as those extra
pounds trigger a wave of disease and illness that threatens to bankrupt
the healthcare system.
-
- Ironically, the obesity crisis comes as Americans enjoy
better overall health than ever.
-
- This week, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), the federal agency on the frontline of fighting US epidemics, released
data showing that life expectancy in the US had reached an all-time high.
However, those extra years are likely to be marred by painful, expensive,
and avoidable health problems, many of them linked to obesity.
-
- In particular, the CDC gave warning that adult-onset
diabetes - a disease often linked to obesity - is soaring to unthinkable
levels. A decade ago, fewer than one in 20 American adults suffered from
diabetes. Now, the CDC is projecting that one in three Americans born in
the year 2000 will go on to develop the disease.
-
- The young are a particular concern. In the six- to 19-year-old
age range, an estimated 15 per cent are now overweight or obese.
-
- The public and private sectors are moving to act. President
George W Bush regularly nags Americans to take more exercise. Within the
White House, even the most slovenly aides have been seen heading to the
gym, rather than offend their boss with signs of flab.
-
- The same lawyers who successfully sued big tobacco companies
over smoking deaths now have "Big Fat" in their sights.
-
- The first lawsuits have triggered derision, as fat plaintiffs
sued hamburger chains or popcorn makers for making them plump. But the
effect on food manufacturers has been dramatic.
-
- Already, McDonald's has changed its cooking oil, and
raced to slash fat levels in Chicken McNuggets. Other food giants are quietly
altering their most popular products, in anticipation of lawsuits to come.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/
2003/10/09/nfat109.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/09/ixhome.html
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