Rate of Obesity in Youths Quadruples Over the Last 30 Years
June 29, 2009
Fully one-third of children in the U.S. are overweight and over the past 30 years, the rate of obesity among youths ages 12 to 19 has quadrupled, according to data cited by Health Affairs Editor-in Chief Susan Dentzer in her keynote at IPRO's June 2 Annual Meeting.
Dentzer noted that researchers now project that if current trends continue, an estimated 86 percent of Americans will be overweight or obese by 2030. By that time, obesity-related health care spending will have reached an estimated $956.9 billion annually, according to Dentzer. Generally, she argues that chronic and often preventable illnesses are the single largest cause of death and disability in the US. At the other end of the spectrum, in terms of the elderly, there is "an inexplicably wide range in care and cost" during the last stages of life. Slides of Dentzer's presentation are available at www.ipro.org.