Norton Responds to High Obesity Rates in D.C. and U.S. with a LIFE Bill (9/7/07)

Washington, DC -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced the Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise (LIFE) Act as her response to the report that the Trust for America's Health released last month finding that overweight and obesity have reached crises proportions and are now found in every age, race, and major demographic group. The LIFE bill would provide $15 million in funding to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to lead a major initial effort to reverse increasingly sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets that are high in fat and sugar. Norton, who does race walking and weightlifting for exercise, said that she was particularly disturbed that the report found that the District spends an estimated $253 per person on obesity -related health costs.

The Trust for America's Health report found that federal efforts suffer from "a lack of leadership" and recommended that the CDC assume the lead role. The LIFE bill directs the CDC to combat obesity and sedentary lifestyles in three ways: conduct public education campaigns to teach the public about how to recognize and address overweight and obesity; train health professionals to recognize the signs of obesity early and to educate people concerning healthful alternatives, such as proper nutrition and regular exercise; and develop intervention strategies to be used in everyday life in worksites and community settings. The Congresswoman said that the LIFE bill is the minimum necessary to address this major health care crisis.

Currently, 64.5 percent of adults aged 20 years and older are overweight, and 32 percent of adults (more than 66 million) are obese. According to the National Women's Health Information Center, 50 percent of women aged 20 to 74 are overweight or obese. Young people are no better off-the percentage of children who are overweight has more than doubled, and among adolescents, the rates have tripled since 1980 increasing from 5 percent to 17 percent. CDC reports that Type 2 diabetes, once considered an adult disease, is now widespread in children. "Our kids are paying the price with consequences that will follow them throughout their lives," Norton said. Already, chronic diseases, many of which are caused or exacerbated by overweight or obesity, account for 70 percent of all deaths in the United States--1.7 million each year--and 60 percent of U. S. medical care expenses yearly. According to the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, the cost of obesity in the United States in 2000 was more than $117 billion.

Norton said that a focused national health initiative "has become indispensable because unhealthy lifestyles have become a normal part of everyday life." Participation in high school physical education classes has dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 33 percent in 2005, accounting for at least part of the reason that one-third of young people in grades 9-12 do not regularly engage in physical activities. National data shows an increase in unhealthy eating habits for adults and no change in physical activity.

Changes in nutrition are equally critical, according to Norton, citing "fast food as a major culprit." She said that 60 per cent of young people consume too much fat, a factor in the doubling in the percentage of overweight youth. The bill is important to "help mobilize the country now before entirely preventable health conditions that begin in childhood overwhelm the nation's health care system," the Congresswoman said.