The obesity epidemic, June 2016

It should not be a surprise to anyone that there is an obesity epidemic in the U.S. Visiting a shopping mall, movie theater or airport, makes it very apparent that too many Americans are overweight. Statistics estimate that about two-thirds of adults in the U.S. are overweight and about one-half of these individuals are clinically obese (BMI >30.0 kg/m2). Obesity rates among children are also very disturbing. More than one-third of children are overweight and about one-half of these children are clinically obese (BMI > 95th percentile for age and gender).

Most disturbing, however, are several recent medical reports indicating that childhood obesity is often accompanied by cardiovascular disease risk factors including high blood pressure, insulin resistance (the cause of diabetes mellitus) and hyperlipidemia occurring from the first decade of life. Today’s overweight child will likely become tomorrow’s adult cardiac patient.

What is so unfortunate is that many people are in denial and attribute their unhealthy body weight to a lack of sufficient exercise. While it is certainly true that exercise is important to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight, the real culprit is over-consumption. It is estimated that 90% of the obesity epidemic is caused by over-consumption and only 10% from a lack of exercise. Frankly, Americans in general consume about one-third to one-half more calories per day than they should.

There is no magic here; weight is simply a function of caloric intake vs caloric expenditure. The average American adult male consumes about 3200 calories per day and the average female about 2600 calories per day. That is just too much food and drink. Most males should be consuming about 2000 calories/day, and females about 1500 calories/day. It is also important to limit the number of calories consumed per meal. Physiologically, our bodies are not equipped to consume more than about 800 calories at one setting. Yet the average number of calories in a dinner meal at a typical restaurant is in excess of 1200 calories. The excess caloric intake abnormally alters the levels of hormones involved in digestion and metabolism, leading to fat storage.

Kidding yourself that you’re overweight because you don’t exercise enough, will get you nowhere. Fad diets simply don’t work. Face it; if you want to reduce your body weight, eat less. It really doesn’t matter that much what you eat, rather it’s the amount you eat. You will lose weight if you consume 1200-1500 calories/day even if those calories come from McDonald’s.

Contributed by: James Maciejko, PhD, FACC is the director of the Pediatric Weight Management Program at St. John Providence Children’s Hospital in Detroit. James is a lipidologist who provides care for both adult and pediatric patients who have any issues with abnormal high or low cholesterol and/or triglyceride.

This blog is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Please consult your doctor for more information or if you have a medical concern.