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Obesity is presently one of the most serious and challenging health problems
facing the developed world. According to the World Health Organization, 55
percent of U.S. adults are overweight with minority women being the most
affected. The prevalence of overweight in U.S. children, estimated between 22
and 30 percent, has doubled since 1980.1, 2-4 The alarmingly high
rate of obesity and its rapid rise are present here in Indiana. In the year
2000, 21 percent of adults in Indiana were considered obese and 35 percent were
considered overweight.5 These figures rank Indiana as the twelfth
fattest state in the nation.
What is causing the dramatic and threatening rise in obesity among the
population? One researcher concisely captured the causes of obesity in a
metaphor: "Genes load the gun, the environment pulls the trigger." 6
Genetic factors are important, but it is highly improbable that changes in
genetic factors explain the rapid increases in obesity prevalence over the past
two decades.7 Rather, there is increasing evidence that the
obesity epidemic is rooted in environmental factors that promote excessive
caloric intake and sedentary lifestyle.8-10 There also is evidence
that these environmental factors are worsening, so that the already high rate
of obesity is expected to climb.11
Children's lifestyles are becoming strikingly sedentary as well. Studies
have found that the amount of television viewing is directly related to the
likelihood of obesity. Children watch an average of 28 hours of television per
week.9 In 1977, children aged 5 to 15 years walked or biked for
15.8 percent of all their trips; by 1995, children made only 9.9 percent of
their trips by foot or bicycle.12
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