WINSTON-SALEM, NC (March 12, 2007) It's important for obesity surgery patients to take their prescribed vitamin supplements and to be alert for symptoms such as vomiting, confusion, lack of coordination and visual changes – signs of a serious neurological condition that can develop after the surgery.

 

In 1990, among states participating in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 10 states had a prevalence of obesity less than 10 percent and no states had prevalence equal to or greater than 15 percent. By 1998, no state had prevalence less than 10 percent, seven states had a prevalence of obesity between 20-24 percent, and no state had prevalence equal to or greater than 25 percent. In 2006, only four states had a prevalence of obesity less than 20 percent. Twenty-two states had a prevalence equal or greater than 25 percent; two of these states (Mississippi and West Virginia) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30 percent.

 

 

Results from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), using measured heights and weights, indicate that an estimated 66 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to reduce the prevalence of obesity among adults to less than 15 percent. However, the NHANES 2003-2004 data for persons age 20 years and over suggest an increase in the proportion of obese adults in the United States, where the estimated age-adjusted prevalence moved upward from a previous level of 23 percent in NHANES III to a new level of approximately 32 percent.

 

In the past 30 years, the occurrence of overweight in children has doubled and it is now estimated that one in five children in the U.S. is overweight. Increases in the prevalence of overweight are also being seen in younger children, including preschoolers. Prevalence of overweight is especially higher among certain populations such as Hispanic, African American and Native Americans where some studies indicate prevalence of >85th percentile of 35-40 percent. Also, while more children are becoming overweight, the heaviest children are getting even heavier. As a result, childhood overweight is regarded as the most common prevalent nutritional disorder of U.S. children and adolescents, and one of the most common problems seen by pediatricians.

 

NAASO, The Obesity Society - The social consequences of being overweight and obese are serious and pervasive. Overweight and obese individuals are often targets of bias and stigma, and they are vulnerable to negative attitudes in multiple domains of living including places of employment, educational institutions, medical facilities, the mass media, and interpersonal relationships.

 

NAASO, The Obesity Society - Obesity is the excessive accumulation of adipose tissue to an extent that health is impaired. Obesity is usually determined using the body mass index or BMI. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Obesity Education Initiative Expert Panel developed guidelines for identification, assessment and treatment of obesity.

 

NAASO, The Obesity Society - Over seventeen million Americans (6.2 percent of the population) have diabetes. Almost six million Americans are unaware they have the disease. There are two main types of diabetes. Both types are caused by problems in how a hormone called insulin (that helps regulate blood sugar) works. Type 1 diabetes most often appears in childhood or adolescence and causes high blood sugar when your body can't make enough insulin. Over 90 percent of all diabetes cases are what we call type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed after age forty; however it is now being found in all ages including children and adolescents. Type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity and physical inactivity. In this form of diabetes your body makes insulin but can't use its insulin properly. At first, your body overproduces insulin to keep blood sugar normal, but over time this causes your body to lose its ability to produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels in the normal healthy range. The result is sugar rises in your blood to high levels. Over a long period of time, high blood sugar levels and diabetes can cause heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, leg and foot amputations, and pregnancy complications. Diabetes can be a deadly disease: over 200,000 people die each year of diabetes related complications.

 

During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. The slide set on this website illustrates this trend by mapping the increased prevalence of obesity across each of the states.

 

NAASO, The Obesity Society - Considerable evidence suggests that obesity and overweight play an important role in cancer. Obesity and overweight have been clearly associated with increased risks for kidney cancer in both men and women (two-fold increased relative risk), and in women, endometrial cancer (one and a half-fold relative risk) and postmenopausal breast cancer (two-fold relative risk). Building evidence suggests that obesity and overweight also are associated with an increase risk of colorectal cancer, gall bladder cancer, and perhaps more modestly, the risk of thyroid cancer in women. For colorectal cancer, the effect of obesity and overweight on risk may be due in part to low physical activity, as consistent evidence exists for a strong protective effect of physical activity against developing colorectal cancer. Recent studies suggest that obesity and overweight may also play a role in the increasing incidence of some types of esophageal cancer, possibly through obesity's association with gastric reflux. For prostate cancer risk, inconsistent findings from studies evaluating obesity may result from limitations in the measurement of obesity, as more consistent results have come from recent studies of biological factors that are more directly associated with specific aspects of body composition (e.g., total fat).