Adult obesity rate inceases!

Weight is largely determined by how you balance your intake of calories from food with the energy you use in everyday activities. If you consume more calories than you use, you gain weight. Your body stores calories that you do not need for energy as fat.

Obesity involves having an abnormally high proportion of body fat. Doctors define obesity as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher and overweight as having a BMI of 25 or higher.

Fat is important for storing energy and insulating your body, among other functions. The human body can handle carrying some extra fat, but beyond a certain point, body fat can begin to interfere with your health.

Eating too many calories and not getting enough physical activity are the main causes of obesity, especially in combination. But many factors can contribute to obesity.
According to official figures, the adult obesity rate rose from 15 percent in 1980 to 32 percent in 2004. Combine that with the number of Americans who are overweight but not obese, and the figure stands at 64 percent. And the childhood obesity rate more than tripled between 1980 and 2004, from 5 percent to 17 percent.

Being either overweight or obese increases the risk for a variety of serious health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

Americans have sipped and slurped their way to fatness! !

The next time when you are thinking of reaching for a can of soda, think again!

An extra can of soda a day can add 15 pounds to your weight in a single year, according to researchers. A report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition clearly justifies public health efforts to limit sugar-sweetened beverages.
As far as the American diet is concerned, about one-third of all carbohydrate calories come from added sweeteners, the new report says.

The main sweetener in beverages — high-fructose corn syrup — contains slightly more fructose than ordinary table sugar. Pure fructose fails to stimulate the production of insulin, which is needed to metabolize sugar.

According to a Harvard review, a single 12-ounce can of soda provides the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of table sugar. World Health Organization advises that added sugars should provide no more than 10 percent of total calories.

Overweight Teens at Higher Risk of Premature Death?

Another piece of bad news!

Harvard School of Public Health researchers have just found a link between teen obesity and a significant risk of premature death from a variety of preventable causes. This was based on data from more than 100,000 patients over a period of 12 years. Teenagers who were overweight at the beginning of the research period were found to be about 65% more likely to die prematurely over the course of the next 10 years as a result of heart disease, cancer and suicide.