Excess weight conditions in the United States are at epidemic proportions, and the numbers are increasing daily. There are estimates that almost two-thirds (61%) of Americans are overweight and one out of four (27%) are obese (Centers lot Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2001). These statistics are even more disturbing when compared to the numbers Dora 20 years ago. In 1980, only 32 percent of the American population was considered over-weight and 15 percent were obese (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2001). All of these percentages are based on self-reported information from a large sample of United States citizens who replied to a government-sponsored survey called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which has been administered for several decades. Some of this information (i.e., height and weight) is then used to calculate a Body Mass Index (BMI) for each respondent. The BMI has its limitations when used individually to determine whether a person is overweight or obese, but it is a good indicator of weight status if it is used in large-scale studies such as the NHANES (Gallager el al., 1996). This alarming acceleration in obesity presages an unhealthy future for the United States.
The number of overweight children in the United Slates has been on the rise since the early 1960s. During the 1960s, the National Health Examination Survey (NHES), the precursor to the NHANES series, confirmed that the percentage of children between 6 and 11 years old who were overweight was 4 percent, while the percentage among adolescents (12-19 years old) was 5 percent. By 2000, the number of overweight American youths in both age groups had dangerously increased to 15.3 percent and 15.5 percent respectively (American Obesity Association [AOA], 2002; CDC, 1999). This exponential escalation of overweight children will continue to challenge society's healthcare system because they will most likely become overweight or obese adults with future health difficulties..........
