Thursday, April 21, 2005
Government Issues Confusing Message: Leadership Needed
A report released yesterday by a unit of the Centers for Disease Control could lead overweight and obese Americans to falsely believe that being overweight is not dangerous. The new report, based upon statistical analysis, revised the number of annual deaths due to obesity dramatically downward, from a previously estimated 400,000 to 112,000 annually.
Dr. Bob Eckel, of the American Heart Association, said the confused message from the CDC could be dangerous if people use it to justify being overweight. "I hope people aren't jumping to that conclusion," he said, indicating that the statistics used in the report may be skewed. "We are getting heavier, younger, and people don't die of obesity in five to 10 years. I think the epidemic of obesity is not being assessed adequately."
"I am sure this is going to create confusion," agreed Dr. William Cochran of Pennsylvania's Geisinger Health System. "[T]here is positively, absolutely undeniably no doubt that being obese is not good for you."
Other factors skewing the results of the study include better drugs for controlling blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes and a reduction in the number of smokers, all of which contribute to keeping overweight people alive longer.
Tim Church of the Cooper Institute, which advocates exercise, agreed that most overweight Americans do not fit the profile of being overweight yet fit. "No, the average American is not fit," he said. "That is the problem -- we are an extremely sedentary country. We have two epidemics in this country -- one is obesity and one is physical inactivity."
Cochran also noted the current study points to adults, most of whom only became overweight as adults. But 16 percent of U.S. children are overweight, and other studies have predicted they may die at younger ages than their parents will.
"We are seeing kids with insulin resistance, kids with what used to be called adult onset diabetes. I see kids that can't breathe at nighttime. So there is no doubt, being obese is not healthy."
Dangerously confusing messages like this, coming from the government's authority on disease control, illustrate the critical need for leadership on the issues of health and health care. Governor Mike Huckabee is that leader. His new book, "Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork", will be published next month.
BSR
