Overweight and Obesity for Teens and Adults

Definitions for Teens and Adults Overweight: An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 Obese: An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher Adult BMI Calculator Child and Teen BMI Calculator

Maintaining a healthy weight for life! Weight management is all about balance: balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses or burns off. Calorie: unit of energy supplied by food. All foods have calories, some good some bad. Caloric balance is like a scale: to remain in balance and maintain your body weight, the calories consumed must be balanced by the calories used.

Balance If you are…Your caloric balance status is… Maintaining your weight“in balance” You are eating about the same number of calories that your body is using. Gaining weight“in caloric excess” You are eating more calories than your body is using. You will store these extra calories as fat and you’ll gain weight. Losing weight“in caloric deficit” You are eating fewer calories than you are using. Your body is pulling from its fat storage cells for energy, so your weight is decreasing.

Health Consequences Coronary heart disease Type 2 diabetes Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon) Hypertension (high blood pressure) Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides) Stroke Liver and Gallbladder disease Sleep apnea and respiratory problems Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint) Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)

Economic Consequences Overweight and obesity and their associated health problems have a significant economic impact on the U.S. health care system. Direct medical costs may include preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services related to obesity. Indirect costs relate to morbidity and mortality costs. Morbidity costs are defined as the value of income lost from decreased productivity, restricted activity, absenteeism, and bed days. Mortality costs are the value of future income lost by premature death. The medical care costs of obesity in the United States are staggering. In 2008 dollars, these costs totaled about $147 billion

Prevalence of obesity among adults-2009

What can you do as an individual? Eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer foods high in fat and sugar. Drink more water instead of sugary drinks. Limit TV watching to less than 2 hours a day and don’t put one in your room. Try going for a 10-minute brisk walk, 3 times a day, 5 days a week. Discuss as a group different ways to incoprorate physical activity into each and everyday. Discuss the log assignment progress

Resources Center for Disease Control and Prevention: –