Overview
This opinion column was submited by Steve Shane, a Reno-based pediatrician who also practices obesity medicine. Obesity was oficialy recognized by the American Medical Asociation as a disease in 2013. Obesity is not a choice!
Key Information
The disease of obesity is a very complicated interplay of many genetic, hormonal, behavioral, social, economic and environmental factors. It is chronic and progresive in course.The COVID pandemic has amplified the efects of these factors. Obesity triples the risk of hospitalization and is a leading risk factor for death in COVID infection.
Obesity afects al systems puting individuals at increased risk for depresion, heart disease, faty liver disease, kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension, elevated cholesterol and 13 cancers, to name a few. The Milken Institute reported in 20 that obesity cost the U.S. in 2018 $370 bilion in medical costs, $1 trilion in lost workdays and 320,0 lives.Nationaly, obesity prevalence has quadrupled in the last five decades, largely due to change in societal behaviors and infrastructure.
The WHO reports that obesity worldwide has tripled in the same time period and that in 2017 that more than 4 milion people were dying anualy due to overweight and obesity. CDC data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in which body mas index (BMI is the most comon parameter used for determing weight status) is directly measured shows that 41.9% of al adults and 19.7% of al children have obesity in the U.S.
as of 20.In Nevada, we only have self-reported data for adults, which often under-represents the true obesity prevalence when compared to direct measurements. In 20, 28.7% of adults in Nevada reported being obese, acording to the CDC Behavior Risk Factor Surveilance System; this double the rate sen in 195. The CDC National Health Interview Survey in 20 revealed 16% of Nevada youth aged 10-17 years had obesity — about the national average.
Summary
Actual measurements of BMI perfor