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Americans
in Denial About Obesity Risks
NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - The number of overweight Americans has ballooned to
epidemic proportions, health experts agree, yet most adults do
not see their weight as a health problem, results of a recent
survey reveal.
Only 39% of
adults considered themselves overweight, according to interviews
with nearly 1,400 doctors and patients. This contrasts with a
recent government estimate that more than 60% of adults were overweight
or obese in 1999.
And among
those who said they were overweight, only about one-third expressed
concern about developing type 2 diabetes, a serious medical disorder
that is more common among heavier individuals, the survey found.
Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, kidney disorders,
blindness, amputations and death.
``The health
risks of obesity to many are way in the future or happen to other
people,'' Dr. Stephen B. Heymsfield, deputy director of the Obesity
Research Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City,
told Reuters Health.
In fact, 80%
of Americans said they had never discussed diabetes with their
doctors and 61% had never been screened for the disorder, the
survey found.
For their
part, 99% of doctors surveyed said the growing rate of obesity
in America is at least somewhat serious due to the increased risk
of diabetes, stroke and heart disease--the leading cause of death
in the US.
Nearly 30%
of patients diagnosed as overweight in the past year have been
35 years old or younger, doctors report.
This finding
is particularly alarming, since weight gain often portends the
onset of type 2 diabetes, Heymsfield said, citing recent data
from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing
a 33% rise in the number of Americans with diabetes during the
1990s.
``That's just
the beginning of a real tide of type 2 diabetes sweeping over
the country,'' Heymsfield warned.
He said weight
gain coupled with the aging of the US population is likely to
fuel rates of type 2 diabetes in the coming years.
Reference
Source 89
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