U.S. obesity, diabetes rates continue to climb

Americans are fat and getting fatter. And without substantial changes in lifestyle and diet, the vast majority of U.S. adults will be overweight or obese and more than half will suffer from diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions by 2020, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011 in Orlando.

Researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine examined data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 1988 to 2008 to create a composite health score projected to 2020. Specifically, the team investigated the association between smoking, body mass index, physical activity and diet on cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose.

They found by 2020, 83% of men and 72% of women will be overweight or obese. Currently, 72% of men and 63% of women are overweight or obese.

In 2020, 77% of men and 53% of women will have dysglycemia (either diabetes or pre-diabetes). Currently, 62% of men and 43% of women have dysglycemia.

To increase overall heart health by 20 percent, American adults would need to rapidly reverse these unhealthy trendsstarting today," said lead researcher Mark Huffman, M.D., assistant professor in preventive medicine and medicine-cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. In concert with individual choices, public health policies can be and should be effective tools to reduce smoking, increase access to healthy foods, and increase physical activity in daily life."

More people would need to improve health behaviors related to diet, physical activity, body weight and smoking and health factors, related to glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure.

"Weve been dealing with the obesity trend for the past three decades, but the impact we project on blood sugar is a true shock," said Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., chair and associate professor of preventive medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine, a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and senior author of the study. Those are some really scary numbers. When blood sugar goes up like that all of the complications of diabetes come into play."

More people would need to improve health behaviors related to diet, physical activity, body weight and smoking and health factors, related to glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure.

Achieving a healthy weight through diet and physical activity is the best way most Americans can improve their cardiovascular health, but, as Huffman stressed, not smoking is the number one preventable cause of preventable death. Yet, one in five Americans still smoke.