Obesity Statistics
A 2003 Food and Drug Administration hearing on obesity had the Center for Consumer Freedom discussing how the three most commonly used statistics associated with the overweight and obesity epidemic are all seriously flawed. The three statistics are: 1) Obesity causes 300,000 deaths a year; 2) 61 percent of Americans are overweight or suffering from obesity; and 3) the economic cost of obesity is $117 billion a year.
A New England Journal of Medicine article in 1998 found that “although some claim that every year 300,000 deaths in the United States are caused by obesity, that figure is by no means well established… [and] is derived from weak [and] incomplete data.” Likewise, the assertion that 61 percent of Americans are overweight or suffering from obesity completely ignores the 1998 redefinition that took the counter-intuitive step of judging men and women by the same standard, thereby creating 30 million new Americans became overweight over night, this included the very fit president at the time.
As for the $117 billion a year on overweight and obesity-related complications figure, it was often said to have come from the Surgeon General himself, but as CCF’s testimony revealed, it was actually an excerpt from a study published in the journal Obesity Research. It admitted that, “We are still uncertain about the actual amount of health utilization associated with overweight and obesity,” they also added, “Height and weight are not included in many of the primary data sources…”
To nail the coffin on this figure, the authors also admitted that their flawed methodology in calculating the cost of overweight would inflate the cost estimate, resulting in a double or triple counting of the costs of overweight and obesity. It assumed conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and a host of others were occurring independently when there is irrefutable evidence of the interdependence among these diseases.
It’s authors also incorrectly defined obesity, citing a BMI greater than or equal to 29, when the actual definition is greater than or equal to 30, thus incorrectly including an additional 10 million Americans to their obesity statistic.
The bottom line is being a few pounds overweight doesn’t mean you can’t be fit.
Consider the benefits of being overweight (and active), compared to normal-weight and inactive, as you get older:
1) One German study found that overall mortality is unchanged by overweight, but increased by 20% for obesity, and extreme obesity raises it by up to 200%. As people grow older, it becomes less of a factor.
2) The same study found that a larger BMI lowers the risk of bone and hip fracture.
3) A revised CDC report in 2005 found that contrary to the previous year’s report of 400,000 deaths associated with obesity, the actual number was at about 25,814 as a result of overweight and obesity.
4) Compared to a normal-weight couch potato, someone who is overweight and walks for 150 minutes a week has a 50% lower risk of death
5) A 12 year study of 11,000 Canadians found that people who were overweight lived the longest, especially if they were over the ago of 60.