Among the United States population, poor diet and physical inactivity are major preventable causes of death, second only to tobacco use. These problems are linked to 300,000 deaths each year, making them nearly as lethal as HIV/AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, motor vehicle accidents, murders, suicides, and fires combined. The number of overweight or obese adolescents and children has more than doubled in the last 30 years. More than a quarter of the nation's health care costs are related to obesity and physical inactivity.

Direct health care costs of obesity are estimated to be more than $61 billion annually in the United States, while the health care costs associated with physical inactivity topped $76 billion in 2000.² If historical obesity trends were to continue through 2020 without other changes in behavior or medical technology, the proportion of individuals reporting fair or poor health would increase by about 12 percent for men and 14 percent for women, compared with 2000. Up to one-fifth of health care expenditures would be devoted to treating the consequences of obesity.¹ Such growth would have dramatic effects on Medicaid, which funds more than three-quarters of long-term care in the country.

Defining the Problem

Due to a lack of physical activity, obesity and overweight has reached epidemic proportions in America, and Florida mirrors that trend. Overweight and obesity and their associated health problems have a significant economic impact on the U.S. health care system (USDHHS, 2001).

Obesity is second only to tobacco use as a threat to public health. Its implications include serious health consequences such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoarthritis, sleep disturbance and breathing problems, and certain cancers.

With approximately 23 million children overweight or obese, this could be the first generation to lead sicker, shorter lives than their parents.¹

In the past two decades, adult obesity rates have climbed from 15 percent to 30 percent², and will likely continue to climb unless decisive action is taken to address this health epidemic.

A Snapshot of Florida's Health Epidemic

• 57% of Florida adults are overweight or obese (CDC, BRFSS, 2002)

• 26% of Florida high school students are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight (CDC, YRBSS, 2003)

• 17% of non-Hispanic white adults, 31% of non-Hispanic black adults, and 21% of Hispanic adults in Florida are obese (CDC, BRFSS, 2002)

• The obesity rate among Florida adults increased by 43% from 1990 to 2002 (CDC BRFSS, 1990, 2002)

Overweight is one of the most pervasive health risks affecting Americans today and is a multi-billion dollar drain on Florida's economy: According to the Agency for Health Care Administration, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes alone — diseases linked to overweight and obesity —

exceeded $38.6 billion in 2001.

This figure DOES NOT take into account indirect costs like lost productivity, restricted activity, absenteeism, presenteeism and bed days. While these costs are staggering, the reality is that overweight and obesity are preventable diseases.

¹ F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America; Trust for America's Health; page 5. August 2008
² http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus06.pdf