NAASO Responds To Recent Harris Poll On Obesity

CONTACT:
Edward Bernstein
Executive Director, NAASO
(301) 563-6526

Silver Spring, MD – March 6, 2002 NAASO, the nation's leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity, responds to Harris Poll findings about the current state of obesity in America. The recent survey shows that obesity is increasing while smoking rates are decreasing. If this trend continues, obesity will very soon become the leading preventable cause of death.

"These survey findings build upon other research confirming the progression of the obesity epidemic in America," said Samuel Klein, M.D., NAASO's President-Elect and Director at the Center for Human Nutrition, St. Louis, Mo. "the marked increase in obesity that we have recently experienced is being followed by increases in obesity related diseases such as diabetes, liver disease and heart disease. With more than a third of Americans considered obese, we need more resources to reverse this trend," added Dr. Klein.

NAASO has been actively working with the Surgeon General's Office, Congress, the USDA and NIH to address obesity and recognizes reimbursement as a key issue in reversing the epidemic.

"We must begin to view obesity as a medical problem and reimburse for appropriate treatments. It seems illogical that insurance payers are willing to pay for the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, abnormal blood lipids, hypertension, and heart disease, but will not pay for the treatment of obesity, which is often the underlying cause of these diseases," according to Charles Billington, M.D., immediate past president of NAASO, member of the National Task Force on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn.

Dr. Billington added, "Providing treatment for obesity will lead to improved health for millions of Americans. NAASO urges increased accessibility for treatment. The epidemic can be reversed with the right support."

Obesity currently results in more than 300,000 lost lives and a cost of $117 billion in 2000 alone. People who are obese have an increased risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, osteoporosis and pregnancy complications. These concomitant diseases do not only result in higher health care costs and loss of productivity, but could ultimately cost a person his or her life. With the rate of childhood obesity climbing dramatically as well - doubling for children and tripling for adolescents (NHANES) - this epidemic promises to have lasting affects on America's health and economy.

The North American Society for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) is a leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity. NAASO is committed to encouraging research on the causes, treatment and prevention of obesity as well as to keeping the scientific community and public informed of new advances in the field.