for many chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis …
Fact Sheet
Physical Inactivity and Unhealthy Eating
We support a FY 2003 appropriation of 60 million for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention CDC National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotions NCCDPHP Division of Nutrition and
Physical Activity This request represents a 32 million increase over
2002, which is necessary to fully fund CDCs efforts to reduce unhealthy
eating and physical inactivity - two primary causes of obesity in the
United States, which occurs across all population categories Unhealthy
eating and physical inactivity is responsible for at least 300,000
preventable deaths each year and increases the risk for many chronic
diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes
How Would CDC Use Increased Resources
CDC would establish Nutrition/Physical Activity programs in all
states, in some territories and tribes
Funding at the 60 million level, CDC would support 20 state programs
at core funding and 4 at a higher comprehensive level
CDC would support analyses of the cost effectiveness of prevention and
treatment for specific
groups and identify and promote policy
initiatives to modify diet and physical activity
CDC would develop and evaluate health communication campaigns for
specific audiences
Facts about Physical Inactivity and Unhealthy Eating
Physical inactivity and unhealthy eating are two primary causes of
obesity and are responsible for at least 300,000 preventable deaths
each year
Obesity increases the risk for many chronic and disabling diseases
such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis-related
disabilities
The majority of people in the United States have poor eating habits
Only 28 percent of women and 20 of men eat at least 5 servings of
fruits and vegetables per day
Over 60 of adults do not engage in levels of physical activity needed
to provide health benefits
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions In the past 15 years, the
prevalence of obesity has increased by more than 50 among adults and
100 in children and adolescents
Ten to 15 of children and adolescents are overweight and more than
half of these children have at least one cardiovascular disease
risk
factor, such as elevated cholesterol and hypertension
The cost of diseases associated with obesity has been estimated at
almost 100 billion per year
Translating Research into Action at the State and Local Levels
Although research has helped to better understand the epidemic of obesity,
effective measures are not being fully implemented at the state and local
levels to create environments that support physical activity and prevent
unhealthy eating and its devastating and costly consequences Behavioral
and clinical research needs to be effectively promoted and applied at the
community level through the nations public health network, with the
guidance of the nations prevention agency -CDC
CDCs chronic prevention framework includes measures that have been shown
to be effective and in many cases cost-effective in reducing physical
inactivity and unhealthy eating:
Active Community Environments ACE, an initiative in collaboration
with national organizations and government agencies to promote the
development of accessible recreation facilities
Revised pediatric growth charts- to reflect the nations cultural and
racial diversity and;
to help health professionals identify weight
problems in children and adolescents
The Presidents FY 2003 budget request for physical inactivity and
unhealthy eating is 276 million, which is 116,000 less than FY 2002
The FY 2003 budget for the Division of Physical Activity and Nutrition
needs to be funded at 60 million to make up for missed opportunities in
previous years and to aggressively address the epidemic of obesity -
thereby saving lives and reducing US health care expenditures
Source:nfcacares.org
