Uh oh- Obesity!

In the news today:  Within the next 18 years, obesity rates will continue to rise steadily.  Currently, 36% of Americans are obese.  That alone is a staggering number.   But the numbers will continue to rise and experts predict that by 2030, 42% of Americans will be obese.  

It is universally understood that obesity is a disease where multiple systems in the body degrade and function declines.   In other words, there's no positive "spin" to obesity.  The science has clearly shown that obesity is incompatible with good health.  We're not talking about someone who carries an extra 15 pounds but can still crank out a 10K run.  This is obesity with all its debilitating consequences.  

I've written in the past about the crushing health care costs of obesity and its accompanying disorders.  Obesity related disorders burden the health care system and threaten to destroy it.  As we all know from the lively debates surrounding Obamacare, if health care melts down, the entire economy melts down.  The "new" cases of obesity are projected to cost an additional $550 billion over the next 20 years.

The good news is that obesity is entirely a preventable disease.  Some diseases happen and we don't know why.  There is no cure, only management (and even that is sometimes poor).  But in the case of obesity, we know the cause and we know the cure.  I don't mean to oversimplify it.  Once obesity happens, the physiology changes entirely and the "rules" of weight loss/gain change.  Appetite regulation is altered, sense of satiety is compromised, overall metabolic rate changes, hormones are disrupted, inflammation confuses the whole issue.  There is no doubt that fixing obesity is not an easy task.  But still, we know how to do it.  It may be incredibly difficult, but it can be done.  

Have you seen the movie Wall-E? It is an animated film where all humans are obese and out of shape.  There is humor to it.  It offended some.  But it was a typical Pixar movie; entertaining and brilliant.  It looks like we are moving closer and closer to that reality.  Remember that 42% are obesity rates.  At least another 35% of Americans are not obese; just overweight.