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CNN Live At Daybreak
Americans Tipping Scales, Getting Fatter
Aired July 28, 2003 - 05:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The next story is just as much about health as it is about money. Studies show Americans are getting fatter and fatter to the point that obesity is now considered an epidemic. And, as CNN's Allan Chernoff reports, fighting the disease is costing big bucks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me a meatball on hero.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All the talk about exercise and eating healthy appears to be just that -- talk. Instead of getting fit, Americans are getting fat.
TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: When you take a look, you know, obesity is just the fastest-growing disease in America. It's an epidemic for our population. It's an epidemic on our medical delivery system.
CHERNOFF: The percentage of overweight Americans is ballooning. The latest national weigh-in, completed in 2000, revealed nearly two of every three adults was overweight, compared to just under half of the population in 1980. And the number who were obese doubled, nearly one of three -- that's 59 million people. And our children are also getting fat.
DR. WILLIAM DIETZ, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: The increases in overweight children and adolescents have been astonishingly rapid. For example, between 1980 and 2000, the prevalence of overweight children doubled and the prevalence of overweight teenagers tripled.
CHERNOFF: The government uses a measurement of body mass to define overweight and obese. For a 5 foot 3 inch person, man or woman, 141 pounds is overweight, 169 pounds obese. At 5-11, 179 pounds is overweight, 215 pounds obese.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, how are your sugars?
CHERNOFF: It is more than merely a cosmetic issue. Obesity can kill. In fact, the recent rise in diabetes is closely tracking the increase in obesity. Among the other health dangers: high blood pressure, arthritis, asthma and high cholesterol.
DIETZ: Obesity is clearly associated with heart disease, cancer and diabetes. And in association with those diseases, causes 300,000 premature deaths per year. CHERNOFF: Fighting those diseases is expensive. A new study in the journal, "Health Affairs," found the average obese person's health care expenses were more than a third higher than a person of normal weight, an extra $732 a year. It adds up. The latest federal estimate in 2000 of health care costs and lost productivity tied to excess weight is $117 billion. That's 1 of every 11 cents spent on health care, an amount rivaling the medical costs of smoking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the differences between obesity and other chronic diseases, such as some of those from smoking, is that you can live with your diabetes for a very long time, and therefore see much greater health expenditures for a much longer time period.
CHERNOFF (on camera): One might think the cost is being borne by those who are overweight, but the truth is we'll all paying. Taxpayers are footing the bill for higher Medicaid and Medicare expenses related to obesity, insurance companies are raising our health care premiums, and the companies that employ us and in which we own stock are suffering because of higher expenses and lost work days.
(voice-over): IBM, Ford and other major corporations are so concerned that they've joined together to fund a special program to attack the problem.
HELEN DARLING, WASHINGTON GROUP ON HEALTH: If corporations don't take some steps to support their employees' interests in having or choosing a healthier lifestyle, they pay the price for it anyway.
CHERNOFF: The bottom line: the fattening of America is not only a health crisis, but a serious financial drain on the nation.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired July 28, 2003 - 05:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The next story is just as much about health as it is about money. Studies show Americans are getting fatter and fatter to the point that obesity is now considered an epidemic. And, as CNN's Allan Chernoff reports, fighting the disease is costing big bucks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me a meatball on hero.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All the talk about exercise and eating healthy appears to be just that -- talk. Instead of getting fit, Americans are getting fat.
TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: When you take a look, you know, obesity is just the fastest-growing disease in America. It's an epidemic for our population. It's an epidemic on our medical delivery system.
CHERNOFF: The percentage of overweight Americans is ballooning. The latest national weigh-in, completed in 2000, revealed nearly two of every three adults was overweight, compared to just under half of the population in 1980. And the number who were obese doubled, nearly one of three -- that's 59 million people. And our children are also getting fat.
DR. WILLIAM DIETZ, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: The increases in overweight children and adolescents have been astonishingly rapid. For example, between 1980 and 2000, the prevalence of overweight children doubled and the prevalence of overweight teenagers tripled.
CHERNOFF: The government uses a measurement of body mass to define overweight and obese. For a 5 foot 3 inch person, man or woman, 141 pounds is overweight, 169 pounds obese. At 5-11, 179 pounds is overweight, 215 pounds obese.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, how are your sugars?
CHERNOFF: It is more than merely a cosmetic issue. Obesity can kill. In fact, the recent rise in diabetes is closely tracking the increase in obesity. Among the other health dangers: high blood pressure, arthritis, asthma and high cholesterol.
DIETZ: Obesity is clearly associated with heart disease, cancer and diabetes. And in association with those diseases, causes 300,000 premature deaths per year. CHERNOFF: Fighting those diseases is expensive. A new study in the journal, "Health Affairs," found the average obese person's health care expenses were more than a third higher than a person of normal weight, an extra $732 a year. It adds up. The latest federal estimate in 2000 of health care costs and lost productivity tied to excess weight is $117 billion. That's 1 of every 11 cents spent on health care, an amount rivaling the medical costs of smoking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the differences between obesity and other chronic diseases, such as some of those from smoking, is that you can live with your diabetes for a very long time, and therefore see much greater health expenditures for a much longer time period.
CHERNOFF (on camera): One might think the cost is being borne by those who are overweight, but the truth is we'll all paying. Taxpayers are footing the bill for higher Medicaid and Medicare expenses related to obesity, insurance companies are raising our health care premiums, and the companies that employ us and in which we own stock are suffering because of higher expenses and lost work days.
(voice-over): IBM, Ford and other major corporations are so concerned that they've joined together to fund a special program to attack the problem.
HELEN DARLING, WASHINGTON GROUP ON HEALTH: If corporations don't take some steps to support their employees' interests in having or choosing a healthier lifestyle, they pay the price for it anyway.
CHERNOFF: The bottom line: the fattening of America is not only a health crisis, but a serious financial drain on the nation.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
