Although there is significant publicity about the multitude of health
risks associated with being overweight and the spending of billions of
dollars on products to make people thinner, many Americans are
significantly overweight or obese. Some individuals have been more
attentive to all the warnings and have significantly cut back on their
level of dietary fat. Even studies as far back as 1997 had found that
many Americans had reduced their consumption of total fat by
approximately 6%, between 1987 and 1992. While this had resulted in
achieving an average intake of approximately 36% of the total calories
in fat, the amount recommended by most experts is about 30% or less of
total calories consumed.
Although there has been some progress, way too many Americans continue
to be either overweight or obese. Unfortunately, these statistics have
continued to rise significantly since the 1980’s. A much more recent
and ongoing study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has found that an
estimated 61% of US adults are either overweight or obese. Their
obesity or overweight status was defined as having a body mass index
(BMI) of 25 or more. The large proportion of Americans who are
actually defined as obese is even more concerning in that between 1980
and 1999, the percentage of obese individuals has almost doubled from
about 15% of the population to approximately 27%. Obesity is defined
as having a BMI greater than or equal to 30.
Another huge concern is that obesity seems to be rising among all
segments of the American population in addition to the elderly,
including individuals from all ethnic backgrounds and especially among
children and adolescents. Also, another very unsettling fact is that
the obesity epidemic is not limited only to Americans but is
increasing worldwide with the increased urbanization of the world's
population. Weight control for seniors and individuals from all age
groups as well as ethnicities has now become a global problem.
Weight control for seniors focuses on the various complications
related to obesity or excessive weight that frequently impact upon
your health. The frequent focus of weight control for seniors is on
the your general health as well as various medical conditions such as
coronary heart disease, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure and gall
bladder disease. These disease conditions are second only to smoking
as a cause of preventable death among the elderly. Various studies
have concluded that even a reduction of between 5% and 15% of body
weight may significantly decrease the risk of these medical problems
if you're either overweight or obese. Some experts actually believe
that weight loss may not only reduce the incidence and severity of
these diseases but may actually result in reversing the disease
progression, which should be an added incentive for weight control for
seniors.