Obesity is the second largest cause of preventable deaths, after tobacco, in the United States.

Obese patients are more likely to develop a range of associated diseases and conditions than people of normal weight. Among these diseases and conditions are:

• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• High Blood Pressure
• Strokes
• Cancer
• Fatty Liver (a precursor to Cirrhosis)
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obese children tend to be vulnerable to the same range of diseases. One disease in particular, Type II diabetes, once associated only with adults, is now present in obese children.

Type II diabetes has been associated almost exclusively with adults, children are not routinely screened for it. As a result, many cases may be undetected. Some 500,000 children nationally are believed to be affected.

Columbia-Presbyterian, a leading Manhattan institution, estimates that 30 percent of its pediatric diabetic patients are Type II diabetic. If not carefully managed, Type II Diabetes sets the stage for kidney failure and blindness.

Physicians are now detecting heart disease rising in teenagers, mostly from obesity and poor eating habits. Circulatory problems, sleep disorders and lung disease also afflict obese teens.

There is a burgeoning awareness of a plethora of adult diseases and infirmities now diagnosed in obese children and adolescents. Furthermore, as obese children mature, they are likely to confront an array of severe illnesses as adults. We are faced with the prospect of a generation of obese children entering middle age with the accumulated impact of thirty years plus of obesity. Those who are heavy as adolescents, if untreated, are overwhelmingly likely to remain that way into adulthood.

A concentrated effort to retard the potentially devastating effect of this epidemic is necessary. Apart from the physiological issues associated with obesity, a host of social and emotional issues may also affect the obese individual. In a society which emphasizes youth and physical beauty, the obese person tends to be isolated. Alongside a sense of isolation, depression often ensues.

From an early age, society stigmatizes obese people as lazy, stupid, slow and self-indulgent. Studies have shown that children express negative attitudes toward their obese peers as early as kindergarten and that they prefer a playmate who is bound to a wheelchair or disabled by a major physical handicap to one who is obese. There is a clear association between obesity and low self-esteem.

As we age, the ability to correct medical and behavioral infirmities becomes increasingly difficult. If obesity is not controlled before adulthood, the percentage of those who remain obese for the rest of their lives exceeds 90 percent. Obesity also impacts employment opportunities - it is correlated with lower paying jobs, social problems and a legacy to the next generation.

The costs of obesity and associated illnesses have been estimated at $60 billion in lost productivity alone.

^*Source:
National Institutes for Health – North American Association for the Study of Obesity – The Practical Guide: Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults.