Letter From The Director
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Greetings!
The success or failure of our health care system affects each of us - from businesses large and small, to employees and retirees, to every branch and level of government. As a nation, we are facing mounting health care costs and the potential threats of either losing coverage or quality of life. To make the availability and costs of health care more predictable and manageable, the new Administration has focused on reducing the growth of spending while maintaining good quality.
For those who have been involved in this debate for decades, we understand the complexity of the challenge our new President and leaders in Congress face. But since the last debate, our nation's health status has changed considerably, and no one factor illustrates this more clearly than obesity.
The statistics are startling: Obesity costs the nation $76 billion in direct costs and $117 billion in indirect expenses annually. Overweight and obesity are intrinsically linked to our nation's skyrocketing rates of diabetes and heart disease, as well as other costly and debilitating chronic illnesses including certain types of cancer, asthma and depression.
In the face of so many competing health reform priorities, it would be easy to try to work around obesity. After all, any discussion where obesity is concerned usually begins and ends with the issue of personal responsibility. Traditionally, we have treated obesity as though it were a simple matter of self control.
But make no mistake - there can be no meaningful debate about our nation's health without a serious, actionable focus on reversing the impact that the obesity epidemic is having on our health, our finances, and our future.
The irony is that changing course on America's obesity epidemic and reforming our health care system both suffer from the same challenge. And that is, there is greater motivation to embrace the status quo and push responsibility to the individual rather than make systemic changes that will challenge stakeholders to change the way they think and act.
No one should believe that inaction will maintain the status quo in our health care system. The system evolves, costs continue to grow ...and sadly, so does the obesity epidemic.
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Sincerely,
Christine C. Ferguson, JD
Director, The STOP Obesity Alliance
Associate Research Professor, School of Public Health and Health Services, Department of Health Policy, The George Washington University |
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Alliance & Steering Committee Member News
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Members of Congress Join with NFL Players, AHA and NASPE to Highlight Importance of P.E. in SchoolsNFL players from the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and obesity expert Dr. Kenneth Cooper joined forces with Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), U.S. Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Zach Wamp (R-TN), and Jay Inslee (D-WA), and representatives from the American Heart Association and National Association for Sport and Physical Education for a press conference to call for passage of the Fitness Integrated with Teaching (FIT) Kids Act. The act aims to combat childhood obesity by strengthening physical education programs throughout the country. Sen. Harkin warned that today's youth could live shorter lives than their parents, while Reps. Kind, Wamp and Inslee stressed the importance of quality physical education in schools. With work on education reform expected this year, sponsors and supporters are hopeful the bill will move through Congress soon. Read more about the event here or visit www.fitkidsact.org.
Heads of PFCD and STOP Obesity Alliance Co-Author Article on the Cost Burdens of Chronic Disease The March 31 edition of The Hill newspaper carried a column written by Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease's Executive Director, Ken Thorpe, Ph.D. and STOP Obesity Alliance's Director, Christine Ferguson. The piece stresses the urgency to prevent and manage chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. These leaders, once on different sides of the health reform debate, discuss how health and health care is affecting both Americans and the U.S. economy. Click here to read the article.
ADA Heightens Awareness Through National Diabetes Alert Day This month, the American Diabetes Association held its 21st Annual Diabetes Alert Day which encouraged all Americans to take the Diabetes Risk Test and find out if they are in danger of developing type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Risk Test is free and is available by calling 1-(800)-DIABETES or by clicking here. Alliance Director Speaks at DMAA's Integrated Care SummitSTOP Obesity Alliance Director Christine Ferguson delivered a keynote speech about the effects of obesity on employee health and productivity at DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance's Integrated Care Summit this month in Austin, TX. The annual event, sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers, DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance and the Center for Health Value Innovation, featured more than 40 industry experts and outstanding programming on employee health and wellness strategies. To learn more about this year's Summit or to view a compendium of case studies from the 2008 summit, click here. NQF Endorses Preferred Practices and Performance Measures for Measuring and Reporting Care Coordination The National Quality Forum will endorse quality measures that address the aspects of care coordination that ensure that patients' needs and preferences for health services are met over time. This call for measures addresses national goals in care coordination that include chronic disease management and prevention. For more information, please click here. Alliance Blog: The Threat of Obesity: Our Nation's Health, Safety and Security at Risk
Throughout my time as U.S. Surgeon General, I fielded numerous questions on various health topics. Perhaps the most unexpected answer I delivered during that time was when I was fielding questions about health-related terror threats at an event in the weeks following 9/11.When asked what was one of the most important threats facing our nation, I said, "Obesity is the terror within. Unless we do something about it, the magnitude of the dilemma will dwarf 9/11 or any other terrorist attempt." Click here to read more of Dr. Carmona's post on the STOP Obesity Alliance's blog, "Weighing In". |
News Round-Up
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Forty-three Communities Receive Grants to Combat Obesity and Chronic Diseases
March 2, 2009
PR Web
Forty-three U.S. communities have been selected in 21 states to advance community leadership in the nation's efforts to prevent chronic diseases and related risk factors through a locally collaborative approach. Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and EnVironmental changE (ACHIEVE), brings together local leaders and stakeholders to build healthier communities by promoting policy, systems and environmental change strategies that focus on physical activity, nutrition, tobacco cessation, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The ACHIEVE approach aims to promote improvements such as increased access to and use of attractive and safe locations for engaging in physical activity.
Bias Against Obesity is Found Among Future Dietitians
March 4, 2009
Forbes
Just two percent of those training to be dietitians have positive or neutral attitudes toward people who are obese, and the rest are moderately biased against their prospective patients, a new study has found. Most of the almost 200 dietetic students who participated in the study had pejorative views about the attractiveness, self-control, overeating, insecurity and self-esteem of people who are obese. They also rated obese patients as being less likely than non-obese patients to comply with treatment recommendations. The findings were published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
After adjustment for a variety of other risk factors, obesity actually appeared to protect against dementia among people 65 and older in the prospective Cardiovascular Health Study, according to Annette L. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., of the University of Washington, and colleagues in the March issue of Archives of Neurology. But, writing in the same journal, researchers at the University of California San Francisco led by Alka M. Kanaya, M.D., reported that excess body fat significantly predicted worsening cognitive function over time in another prospective cohort -- though only in men.
100 Steps a Minute Qualifies As Moderate Exercise, Study
March 17, 2009
Medical News Today
Researchers in the U.S. investigating what is meant when studies suggest that moderate physical activity is beneficial to health and well-being concluded that moderate intensity means walking at a speed of at least 100 steps per minute on level ground; they came to this view after observing men and women completing a range of exercises. The study was the work of lead investigator Dr. Simon J. Marshall of the School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at San Diego State University and will appear in the May 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Enzyme to Tackle Obesity Discovered
March 17, 2009
MedGuru
New research has given scientists an impetus to study an enzyme that may tackle the epidemic of obesity threatening the human race. The enzyme in question is MGAT2, which, if rendered inoperative, could determine whether dietary fat generates energy or accumulates around the waist. The discovery could be significant in preventing obesity, diabetes and heart disease. |
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| The Strategies to Overcome & Prevent Obesity Alliance is sponsored by sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC. |
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