magilicuti Posted March 5 Report Share Posted March 5 Poll: Most Americans older than 25 are overweightMarch 5, 2002 Posted: 4:28 PM EST (2128 GMT)NEW YORK (CNN) -- A majority of Americans older than 25 are overweight, and the number is climbing, according to a Harris Poll released Tuesday. On a healthier note, however, surveyors found that fewer adults are smoking and many more are routinely using seat belts. Poll results show that 80 percent of people older than 25 are overweight based on the body mass index (BMI), a national guideline computed through a combination of weight and height. That figure has risen from 71 percent in 1995, 64 percent in 1990 and 58 percent in 1983. Thirty-three percent of adults are 20 percent overweight -- more than double the number in 1983 -- when the figure was 15 percent. Results showed that 16 percent of U.S. adults in 1990 were 20 percent overweight and 22 percent in 1995 were 20 percent overweight. Surveyors interviewed 1,011 Americans 18 and older between January 16 and 21. Obesity risk factors:Type 2 diabetesHypertensionHigh blood cholesterolHeart diseaseStrokeCancerGallbladder diseasesAsthmaOsteoarthritisDepressionComplications in pregnancySleep apnea RESOURCES Body Mass Index calculator from the CDC Weight: (pounds) Height:(feet) Height:(inches) BMI: A BMI of under 25 is considered normal, which 25 to 29.9 is deemed overweight and 30 and more is obese. For example, a 5-foot-7 person weighing 140 pounds would have a BMI of about 22, while one weighing 180 pounds would have a BMI of more than 28. The BMI is most easily found using a chart or computer program. The poll echoes a recent report issued by U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, who said obesity is reaching "epidemic proportions" in the nation and could soon cause as much preventable disease and death as cigarette smoking. According to Satcher, the conditions of being overweight or obese cause as many as 300,000 premature deaths each year. Sixty percent of the people surveyed in the Harris Poll said they would like to lose weight, including 72 percent of those who are overweight. Fifty-eight percent of adults said they have made a serious attempt to lose weight. Among those are 65 percent who are overweight. More than half of those surveyed -- 57 percent -- who said they have successfully lost weight also said they had managed to stay at more or less the same weight. "If Americans were to make the effort to manage their weight using a variety of options, including better nutrition, more exercise, approved medications or even surgical approaches, we would be rewarded with significantly better health," said a statement issued by Dr. Louis Aronne, an authority on obesity at Cornell University's Weill Medical College in New York. The survey also found that the proportion of Americans who smoke is down to 23 percent -- a modest decline of 7 percentage points since 1983 and 3 percentage points since 1990. Eighty-one percent of adults surveyed said they use seat belts in the front seat of a vehicle, a large increase over those who said so in 1983 -- 19 percent. In the 1980s, states passed laws mandating seat belt use. The use rose to 65 percent in 1990 and 73 percent in 1995. According to the Harris Poll, the survey results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult U.S. population had been polled. http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/03/05/obesity.poll/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romy20 Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 Yeah and these are the same dumb people who order a diet coke with their big mac meal:rolleyes: I mean, I know some people have problems with losing weight and are born like that, and that it is not their fault. But those people who CAN do something about it, how do ur let urself get like that??? I think sometimes the problem is when they are children, maybe it was the parents fault.Sometimes on tv they have a show about parents who feed their kids whatever they want. I mean most of these parents are overweight most of the time too. And they keep saying "big is beautiful" yeah well "big is unhealthy and leads to heart disease too" which leads to death for most over weight people.But then again, in this country with all the processed foods and the fast food restaurants, and with the kinds of busy lives people have. Most americans dont have the time to actually cook a healthy meal from scratch. They just take everything on the go, which means food that is not as healthy. Buy ok back to the subject....yeah even still, I think over weight people can do something to change their eating habits.ok thats all I have to say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magilicuti Posted March 6 Author Report Share Posted March 6 preach on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluidnyc Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 America is the fattest country... What the hell they putting in our food. Either that, or people cant close there mouths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowgrlnyc Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 Originally posted by fluidnyc What the hell they putting in our food. Either that, or people cant close there mouths. ..hehehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berniec Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 People in this country are just to dam lazy! They need to get their ass off the couch and stop watching cnn all day, stop playing games on the computer all day, and do out and hit the gym, play ball, whatever!This is a topic that really bothers me, cause there is really no reason that any normal health individual (not including those with gland probs, etc) should be fat!!!Bern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romy20 Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 Originally posted by berniec People in this country are just to dam lazy! They need to get their ass off the couch and stop watching cnn all day, stop playing games on the computer all day, and do out and hit the gym, play ball, whatever!This is a topic that really bothers me, cause there is really no reason that any normal health individual (not including those with gland probs, etc) should be fat!!!Bern omg I totally agree with you, over weight people, as you said, (except the ones with problems), HAVE NO EXCUSE!! :mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totallytrance Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 Well Im not American, not 25, nor am I overweight.... but I will be soon if I keep eating like I am.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehacker Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 Originally posted by magilicuti Obesity risk factors:...Depression...ya don't say!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluidnyc Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 Originally posted by totallytrance Well Im not American, not 25, nor am I overweight.... but I will be soon if I keep eating like I am.... Easy to gain, Hard to loose.YOUR TOO CUTE. (purple is ya color) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totallytrance Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 PURPLE iS my color !!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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