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2004/03/10, 05:33 PM
Inactivity, Obesity Are Killing Americans
More Deaths Expected From Sedentary Lifestyle and Obesity Than Smoking
By Jeanie Lerche Davis
Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson, MD
on Tuesday, March 09, 2004
WebMD Medical News
March 5, 2004 - Over the next decade, America's unhealthy lifestyle is expected to cause more premature deaths than smoking, a new report shows.
"We believe diet, inactivity, and obesity -- that constellation - will be the leading cause of death if things don't change," says study researcher James S. Marks, MD, MPH, a CDC epidemiologist.
The CDC report appears in this week's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Risky Lifestyle
In the report, researchers provide a complex analysis of studies on risk behaviors and deaths published from 1980 to 2002, blended with mortality data for 2000. From this, they have estimated the causes of preventable deaths during 2000.
"The numbers were striking and compelling," Marks tells WebMD. "The American people have to understand there's a lot they can do to prevent these premature deaths."
During 2000:
18% of deaths were due to smoking
17% were due to poor diet and physical activity.
4% were alcohol-related.
Other causes of preventable deaths: HIV, flu, and pneumonia; air pollution and other environmental toxins; car crashes; guns; sexual behavior; and illicit use of drugs.
A decade ago, when the last such report was released, tobacco was the leading cause of preventable death. "There was a pretty substantial gap between tobacco and poor diet and inactivity," says Marks. "We found that now the gap has narrowed substantially."
The numbers of smoking-related deaths have not increased -- but they also haven't dipped, says Marks. "We were disappointed not to see improvements. That tells us that the major energy has been put into getting kids not to start, but not enough attention to getting adults to quit."
Top 7 Causes of Death
The report also lists the top causes of death in 2000:
Heart disease (710,760 deaths)
Cancer (553,091)
Stroke (167,561)
Lung disease (122,009)
Injuries from accidents (97,900)
Diabetes (69,301)
Flu and pneumonia (65,313)
"With sedentary lifestyle and obesity, we see higher rates of hypertension and diabetes, which are risk factors for stroke or heart attack," says Joseph Miller, MD, a preventive cardiologist with Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
"It's why we encourage people to walk the dog, walk a little further in the parking lot, walk the concourses at the airport," Miller tells WebMD. "You don't have to be a Nike man or woman. You don't have to buy equipment, fancy shoes, or a gym membership."
The CDC report "doesn't surprise me," says Michael Crouch, MD, a family and community medicine specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "We're seeing kids with diabetes, overweight teenagers. I work with many people to help them lose weight. Obesity has become a huge problem."
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SOURCES: Mokdad, A. The Journal of the American Medical Association, March 10, 2004: vol 293; pp 1238-1245. Joseph Miller, MD, preventive cardiologist, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta. Michael Crouch, MD, family and community medicine specialist, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.
© 2004 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.
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2004/03/10, 05:43 PM
Really? Next people will be wanting to sue the fast food joints for making them obese. Go figure.
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2004/03/10, 05:59 PM
Or Nabisco for those lard-filled oreos
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2004/03/10, 06:04 PM
yeesh...maybe now there will be commercials just like truth.com trying to get people to stop eating junk by the bulk.
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Get your weight up, kid
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2004/03/10, 06:11 PM
Maybe I should sue my credit card company for making me go in debt. Them no good jerks!
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2004/03/10, 06:15 PM
I am going to sue the creators of video games for time lost due to being unable to stop playing halo.....
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2004/03/10, 07:18 PM
Oreo's?!
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2004/03/10, 07:56 PM
Watch out Taco Bell....you will pay for the grief you have caused me today!!!!:big_smile:
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2004/03/10, 09:40 PM
Maybe should sue the LazyBoy as the name itself promotes inactivity and they are too darn comfortable!
I hear you on the video games asimmer - gotta luv em :surprised::laugh:
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2004/03/11, 09:30 AM
The movement of lawsuits right now is fading from tobacco and onto the food industry. Laws have just been passed to protect the food industry, because the industry sensed the lawyers (the same group, essentially, that brought big tobacco down) sneaking up behind them.
It's about a payday for them. But if they win, hell, maybe we will be healthier. I simply have no problem imagining the future, since truth can be so much stranger than fiction. The day that I see the first Blackmarket Twinkie Ring I will know for sure (and what's worse, the cops will be the first busted).
:laugh:
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--There are no versions of the truth.--
Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic Park II
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2004/03/11, 10:09 AM
Assimer...thats all thats been on the news lately. Im frankly surprised!!! I do think theres a ton of reasones for why but like anything else I imagine the info is all mixed up about the eating/working out/ etc. Thank goodness for forums like this that help straighten some aspects of that. ^ 5 freetrainers and others like this.
AND FOR THE RECORD...MICKEY D'S AND OTHERS ARE JUMPING ON THE BAND WAGON OF PUTTING HEALTHIER CHOICES ON THEIR MENU.
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2004/03/11, 11:39 AM
Hurray fro grilled chicken salads!!!!
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2004/03/11, 01:30 PM
It's a sad state we are in. Going into law enforcement, I am always amazed at how many men and women in my age group that struggle with 5 push-ups, let alone passing an entire pt test with just the minimums. Most of these individuals are either overweight/undermuscled or underweight/undermuscled. The lack of knowledge in health and fitness today has really put a hurt to our society, and it is showing up in all aspects.
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