The number of obese persons is rising constantly through the past decades. Obesity rates have doubled among adults in the last twenty years and tripled among children in a single generation. The most recent statistics is reporting that 66% of American adults are overweight or obese, with 1 in 3 adults meeting the criteria for obesity.
Obesity has been linked with numerous common conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, worsening of arthritis. There is no single cause for obesity. Genetic predisposition, Medical conditions, medications and treatments can also result in weight gain and obesity. Frequency of obesity is found to be more common among those of lower socioeconomic status, and among some minority populations.
Treatment of obesity is very challenging. Most diet plans are not effective and lack long-term success. Countless weight loss drugs have been removed from the market because of their substantial adverse effects.
Weight loss surgery has shown some degree of success in managing obesity in the past years, and the number of individuals undergoing this type of surgery has increased by almost 50% from 2000 to 2005.
According to research studies, obesity associated health expenditures were estimated to be $147 billion in 2008.
In middle-age men, treatment of common obesity-linked conditions stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high blood cholesterol levels resulted in roughly $9,000 to $17,000 higher costs compared to normal-weight adults.
Children who are overweight or obese have markedly higher odds of staying overweight or obese into adulthood.
Worldwide, almost 43 million children under age 5 were overweight or obese in 2010, a 60 percent increase since 1990.
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