A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO AMERICANS FROM DR. C.EVERETT KOOP...
We are experiencing an epidemic of obesity among adults and
children in this country. More than one-third of all women
and 31 percent of all men aged 20 and older are overweight
or obese, and one-quarter of children and adolescents ages 6
to 17 are also overweight or obese.
I find this very alarming, because obesity is directly
linked to many serious medical problems such as heart
disease, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke,
certain cancers, and osteoarthritis. These diseases are
disabling and can lead to serious illness and early death.
Obesity also causes a great deal of emotional pain and
suffering.
Fortunately, obese people who lose even small amounts of
weight are very likely to improve their health and reduce
the risk or severity of these medical problems, especially
if they can keep the weight off. Based on scientific
evidence, obesity is now viewed as a long-term, chronic
disease (like diabetes or high blood pressure). Therefore,
obese or overweight people need compassion and ongoing
support, just like people who have any other chronic
disease.
For these reasons, I invite all Americans and their doctors
to join me in a campaign to reverse this obesity epidemic. I
encourage:
- All healthy Americans to take steps to avoid further
weight gain.
- Doctors to talk with their adult obese patients about
the health risks that their obesity poses.
- Obese Americans to form a supportive, ongoing
partnership with their doctors that will help them lose
weight or prevent more weight gain. This will not only
improve health, but will also greatly enhance quality of
life.
Together, you and your doctor can determine the type of
treatment that will best meet your special needs. By forging
these individual doctor-patient partnerships throughout the
nation, we can collectively improve the health and quality
of life of millions of Americans, and we can sustain this
progress by keeping the weight off over the long-term.
