Most Americans Want Public Policies to Prevent Obesity
December 29, 2006
A large majority of Americans say they support
changes in public policy to stem the rising tide of obesity
among adults.
There is a lot of support for employer and health policies
aimed at preventing obesity," said lead researcher Bernard
Fuemmeler, an assistant professor in the department of community
and family medicine at Duke University Medical Center, in
Durham, N.C.
This study provides tangible evidence that
people support wide-scale policy changes that can affect obesity
in the U.S.," Fuemmeler added.
The findings appear in the January issue
of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine Approximately
60 million American adults are obese, according to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1998, Americans
spent about 9 percent of all medical expenses on problems
linked to being overweight or obese.
In addition, 73 percent said they'd support
government incentives for companies that reduced the cost
of health insurance for employees who had healthy lifestyles
and shed extra pounds. Seventy-two percent said they would
support government policies requiring insurance companies
to cover obesity treatment and prevention programs.
There is growing public advocacy for these
kinds of policy changes," Fuemmeler said. "There is also advocacy
in the research community for large-scale policy changes.
With some push, we might be able to get some changes that
would help us better address the obesity epidemic in the country.
One problem is misinformation about weight
loss. "Most individuals that present for nutrition counseling
have significant amounts of misinformation about food and
beverages that prevent them from being successful in weight
loss or weight management," Kolasa said.
Also, people continue to say that it costs
more money to eat healthy, when it has been demonstrated time
and again you can eat healthy at no greater cost," Kolasa
added .
Source from:
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