Healthy America: Wellness Where We Live, Work And Learn. Call To Action: An Agenda For America's Governors
Healthy America:
Wellness Where We Live,
Work and Learn
Call to Action:
An Agenda for
America's Governors
Healthy America:WellnessWhere We Live,Work and Learn
Call to Action: An Agenda for America's Governors
Across the nation, the health of Americans is at serious risk due to unhealthy lifestyles, physical inactivity, and poor
nutrition.We live in a culture where people are not physically active on a regular basis and increasingly spend time
sitting in front of a TV or computer screen.i,ii Obesity is one of the nation's fastest-rising health problemsincreasing
74 percent between 1991 and 2001, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).iii About 129 million adults in the United States are overweight; of these more than 60 million are obese and
9 million are severely obese.The number of overweight children between the ages of 6 and 19 has tripled since 1980,
and 9 million kids over the age of 6 are currently obese.iv,v
This problem is a threat to every age group, every ethnic group, and every stateand some groups are disproportionately
affected. One of the nation's health goals for 2010 is to reduce the prevalence of obesity among adults to
less than 15 percent, but current data suggests that the situation is worsening rather than improving.vi
If left unaddressed, this crisis threatens to overwhelm a health care system in which Americans already pay more than
people in other Western nations.vii It jeopardizes not only our health, but also our ability as a nation to be economically
competitive with other countries.
Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, CDC.
1991 1996
Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults
BRFSS, 1991, 1996, 2004
(*BMI ≥30, or about 30 lbs overweight for 5ʼ4 " person)
No Data 10% 10% 14% 15% 19% 20% 24%...
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