OVERWEIGHT? Hurts your health - Take Charge
73.7% of Americans are overweight or obese.That is more than 2 in 3 adults. A startling statistic! I will refer to this statistical information as the “overweight syndrome” in this article.
This overweight syndrome is known to cause or promote:
• High blood pressure (Hypertension)
• High bad cholesterol, triglycerides, and low good cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Coronary heart disease
• Stroke
• Gallbladder disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Sleep apnea and breathing problems
• Cancers such as breast, colon, kidney, gallbladder, uterine and liver
• Mental illness: clinical depression, anxiety, and others
• Body pain and difficulty with physical functioning
Heart disease and stroke are the the first and third most common causes of death. Cancer is the second leading cause of death of Americans.
Diabetes contributes to these statistics, and about 80 percent with diabetes are overweight. (CDC - Centers for Disease Control data)
The medical costs are over $150 Billion per year. That’s Billion with a “B”
The annual nationwide productive losses of overweight absenteeism are about $10 billion ($200 per individual)
Many overweight Americans don't know they could change their lives if they attained a healthy weight.
Don’t be one of the Americans who don’t know. Come to the Health Fair on April 28th from 7 - 11 a.m. at the High School.