The good news is that smoking is no longer the biggest health threat to Americans. The not-so-good news is that, while fewer people are smoking, many more, including record numbers of children, have become obese.
The medical definition of obesity is a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30. For example, for a woman who is 5'5", any weight above 180 lbs is in the obese range. BMI for normal weight ranges from 18.5-24.9; the overweight range is from 25-29.9. To be in the normal range, a 5'5" woman would weigh between 112 and 150, a fairly generous spread.
While smoking rates in the US have declined in recent years, obesity has been on the rise. Between 1993 and 2008, obesity in the US increased by 85%.
The risks from smoking and obesity are different. Smoking increases risk of premature death whereas obesity increases risks of morbidity, or ill health. Both can result in fewer years of quality living, with obesity now edging out smoking as a robber of quality years.
If everyone in our country miraculously became a nonsmoker of normal weight, on average Americans would gain 5 quality years of life.
Obesity can limit normal activities through early arthritis, diabetes and heart disease. And these progressive conditions lead to less and less physical activity. Like smoking, the problem of obesity is best addressed by prevention. Once a woman has become obese, it is a difficult condition to change.
Physicians regularly encourage smokers to quit and discuss approaches to weight loss with our overweight and obese patients. In my practice, I see smokers quitting and overweight women getting back into a normal weight range far more often than I see obese women succeed in losing weight. Their lack of success seems in large part due to the obesity-related physical ills that do not allow them to be physically active.
Much has been written about the causes of obesity in the US. At or near the top of everyone's list is a sedentary life style that is so much more common now than even a few decades ago. In my next post, I'll discuss practical approaches to being more physically active.
Comments