Harvard Scientists: Obesity Rate Will Reach 42 Percent

I don’t really know how to parse this news, so I’m just going to post the article.  This is so frightening.  And sad.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2010) — Researchers at Harvard University say America’s obesity epidemic won’t plateau until at least 42 percent of adults are obese, an estimate derived by applying mathematical modeling to 40 years of Framingham Heart Study data.

Their work, published this week in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, runs counter to recent assertions by some experts that the obesity rate, which has been at 34 percent for the past five years, may have peaked. An additional 34 percent of American adults are overweight but not obese, according to the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Harvard scientists say that their modeling shows that the proliferation of obesity among American adults in recent decades owes in large part to its accelerating spread via social networks.

“Our analysis suggests that while people have gotten better at gaining weight since 1971, they haven’t gotten any better at losing weight,” says lead author Alison L. Hill, a graduate student in Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Biophysics Program, and at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. “Specifically, the rate of weight gain due to social transmission has grown quite rapidly.”

Double It.

Study shows obesity care costs twice what we previously thought

A new study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals that Obesity accounts for nearly 17% of all U.S. medical costs. (Previous estimates had pegged it at 9 percent).   The new study also suggests that obesity adds over $2,800 to an individual’s annual medical costs.

Sad news but just more evidence that it’s time to get very serious about prevention.

Study: Obesity care costs twice previous estimates [AP via WaPo]

Poverty and the Hierarchy of Food Needs

Can’t Touch This?

I recently read this post about the treatment of the overweight poor by (previously unknown to me) blogger Michelle Allison, who writes as The Fat Nutritionist.  The piece reads as a wrist slap to nutrition and healthy eating advocates who chastise the poor eating habits of people in low socioeconomic classes.

As a self-described member of the “fatosphere” and activist for fat acceptance, Allison is not an impartial source on this issue, (as is evident in this post as well as elsewhere in her blog), nevertheless I think she begs an interesting question which is worth considering:  Should we be judging the eating habits of those who can barely get enough to eat?

We should examine this question in the context of the strong correlation between socioeconomic status and obesity/ overweight. The poor are the most likely to suffer from overweight and related diseases, but are our efforts to change their poor dietary habits insensitive and counterproductive?

Cheap Food is Expensive

It’s not our fruits and vegetables that get the major subsidies

I strongly suggest checking out Tom Laskawy’s post today over at Mark Bittman’s blog, where he points out the way simplistic economic portrayals of our food costs conceal the high price we pay for cheap food.

He especially takes issue (and I agree with him) with the following quote from an NPR interview with Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack:

“I would say consumers do benefit from the way in which we structured our farm programs, at least as of today, because of the fact that our food is less expensive than it is any place else in the world. Folks in America have a great deal more discretion of what to do with their paycheck.”

While it’s true that food is “less expensive” in the U.S. — Americans spend less of their income on food than any other country — it conceals the truth of why and what kind of food is so much less expensive.  Namely, it’s the highly processed (mostly corn- and soy-based) packaged foods, which are also the least healthy.  And why are they cheap?  Because our government pours huge subsidies into these crops, encouraging industrial farms to overproduce, which artificially depresses the price.

In the Middle East, Little Qatar is Getting Huge

Qataris Love Fast Food (Photo by Shawn Baldwin for the New York Times)

Small country, big problems. Qatar has managed to couple it’s huge economic growth with a huge growth in waistlines. From the New York Times: According to Qatari newspaper Al Watan “local health experts predicted that within five years, 73 percent of Qatari women and 69 percent of the men would qualify as obese.”  Among countries of the world, Quatar ranks sixth for obesity and fifth for prevalence of diabetes.

The prevailing sources of these problems? Things unacceptable in Qatar: Walking, turning down food, marrying outside of the family.

Ouch.

Privilege Pulls Qatar toward Unhealthy Choices [New York Times]

Mapping Obesity and How We Eat Across the U.S.

The Daily Yonder has an interesting article featuring neat maps which describe the geographical distribution of obesity, fast food consumption, and physical activity across the United States.

It’s pretty fascinating to see a visual representation of the differences in health and food consumption based on where people live.  And should give us a good idea of where we need to focus our attention and resources in order to fight the problem.