Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention: A Framework to Inform Decision Making.

摘要

In the United States, data from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate that nearly 34 percent of adults aged 20 years or older are obese and about 68 percent are overweight or obese. Among children and adolescents aged 2 to 19, nearly 17 percent are obese and close to 32 percent are overweight or obese. The epidemic reflected by these figures poses major challenges for policy makers, public health professionals, and other decision makers. Federal health authorities have called for decisive action to address this epidemic for more than a decade, and their appeals have increased in urgency in recent years. Their alarm is linked to the adverse health outcomes of obesity and overweight, including potential negative effects on quality of life and life expectancy. It is also triggered by the negative economic impact of these levels of obesity. A recent analysis calculated that the annual national medical burden of obesity is nearly 10 percent of all medical spending and could have risen to $147 billion per year by 2008.