The physiology of obesity

Overweight and obesity have reached epidemic proportions in the United States. More than 61 percent of Americans aged 20 years and older are overweight and one-fourth of American adults are obese (an estimated 97 million), putting them at serious risk for poor health (DHHS, 2001). Yet, trends show that obesity continues to increase at alarming rates in men and women in most population groups. Among children six to seventeen years old, there seems to be an "obesity" crisis. Since 1980, the number of overweight children has doubled, and the number of overweight adolescents has tripled. In addition to being a major health hazard, obesity is associated with approximately 300,000 deaths a year in this country (DHHS, 2001; Kucz-Marski, R., Flegal, Campbell, & Johnson, 1994).