Sample Solution

Obesity is widely recognized as a health risk. The negative effects of obesity and other known health risks, such as smoking, heavy drinking, and poverty, have been well documented. But until now, no one has compared them. Is one problem worse than another? Or are they all equally risky? Americans haven’t given obesity the same attention as other risks, like smoking, but it is clearly a top health problem and one that is on the rise in all segments of the population. More effective clinical and public health approaches are urgently needed. Not only does obesity have more negative health consequences than smoking, drinking, or poverty, it also affects more people. Approximately 23 percent of Americans are obese. An additional 36 percent are overweight. By contrast, only 6 percent are heavy drinkers, 19 percent are daily smokers, and 14 percent live in poverty. Obesity rates are increasing dramatically. These rates used to be fairly stable: Between 1960 and 1980, there was only a minor increase in the number of Americans who were overweight or obese. Since 1980, however, not only has the percentage increased, but much of the increase is concentrated in the “obese” category, which grew by 60 percent between 1991 and 2000.