[Jog] [Prc-obesity-network-cwh] Obesity Takes Toll on Young Americans

[Jennifer L YOUNG]

FYI - Jennifer
 
Compliments of ...
 
*********************************************
   Center for Family and Community Health
           School of Public Health
      University of California, Berkeley
           http://cfch.berkeley.edu 
  A CDC Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
        and Health Promotion Research
*********************************************
 

Obesity, Lack of Insurance Take Toll on Young Americans
 
CDC annual report on nation's health focuses on those aged 18 to 29
 
HealthDay News, February 19, 2009
 
Increased rates of obesity and lack of insurance coverage are among 
the many health challenges facing young American adults, according to 
just-released statistics.
 
A special section on young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 is 
featured in the annual report on the nation's health from the U.S. 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
Among its findings:
    * In the past three decades, obesity rates among young adults 
have tripled, from 8 percent in 1971-74 to 24 percent in 2005-06.
    * In 2006, 34 percent of adults ages 20 to 24 were uninsured, 
compared to 29 percent of those ages 25 to 29 and 21 percent of those 
ages 18 to 19.
    * Between 2004 and 2006, 17 percent of young adults reported 
needing but not receiving at least one of the following health 
services because they couldn't afford them: medical care, 
prescription medicines, mental health care, or eyeglasses.
    * Between 1999 and 2004, almost 9 percent of adults ages 20 to 29 
reported major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, or panic 
disorder within the past year.
    * Young adults also have the highest rate of injury-related 
emergency department visits of all age groups. And in 2005, 
unintentional injuries or accidents, homicide, and suicide accounted 
for 70 percent of deaths among young adults.
In addition to the special section on young adults, the report also 
found for the population as a whole:
    * Life expectancy increased by 3.6 years for men and by 1.9 years 
for women between 1990 and 2006. In recent years, death rates for 
heart disease, stroke and cancer have continued to decline.
    * Between 2003 and 2006, 65 percent of men and 80 percent of 
women aged 75 and older reported having high blood pressure or taking 
high blood pressure medications, compared to about 36 percent of 
adults ages 45 to 54.
    * Within the same time frame, cholesterol-lowering drugs helped 
reduce the proportion of adults with high cholesterol to 16 percent. 
Women aged 55 and older are much more likely than men in that age 
group to have high cholesterol.
    * About 25 percent of adults aged 60 and older had diabetes in 2003-06.
    * While not increasing as rapidly as in the past decade, obesity 
rates remain high. More than a third of adults age 20 and older were 
obese in 2005-2006.
===
 
Top Health Risks for Young Adults
 
Accidents Are the Leading Cause of Death; Long-Term Health Risks 
Include Smoking, Obesity, Inactivity
 
Miranda Hitti, WebMD Health News, Feb. 18, 2009
 
Youth is often painted as a time of picture-perfect health, but 
that's not necessarily reality, a new CDC report shows.
 
The CDC today released its latest roundup of U.S. health statistics, 
with a special focus on young adults 18-29.
 
Highlights of the findings on young adults include:
    * Top cause of death: Unintentional injuries, which killed about 
40 per 100,000 young adults in 2005.
    * <http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/default.htm>Smoking ( http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/default.htm> ): 
29% of men and 21% of women 18-29 smoke cigarettes as of 2006.
    * <http://www.webmd.com/diet/tc/obesity-overview>Obesity ( http://www.webmd.com/diet/tc/obesity-overview> ): 24% of 
young adults are obese, and 28% more are overweight but not obese as 
of 2005-2006. Obesity rates for young adults tripled between 
1971-1974 and 2005-2006.
    * Regular 
<http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/default.htm>physical ( http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/default.htm> )
activity: Only 36% of young adults get regular physical activity in 
their spare time as of 2005-2006. That's better than the rate for 
older adults but below national goals.
    * 
<http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/health-fitness-get-strong>Strength ( http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/health-fitness-get-strong> )
training at least twice per week: Done by only 26% of young adults in 
2005-2006.
    * No health insurance: About a third of young adults 20-24 were 
uninsured in 2006.
The new CDC report, which is more than 600 pages long, isn't only 
about young adults. Here's a quick look at some of the health stats 
for the nation as a whole:
    * Life expectancy is up. As the CDC first reported last year, 
life expectancy for babies born in 2006 is 78.1 years, a record high. 
Life expectancy is still lower for men than for women and for 
African-Americans than for whites, but those gaps are narrowing. And 
among 37 countries and territories that submitted life expectancy 
data in 2004, the U.S. ranked 23rd for men and 25th for women (Hong 
Kong was No. 1 for men and Japan was No. 1 for women.)
    * Top causes of death: Deaths from 
<http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/default.htm>heart ( http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/default.htm> )disease, 
stroke, and cancer continue to drop but are still the nation's top 
three causes of death.
    * Obesity: Still rising, but more slowly than in past decades. 
More than one-third of adults aged 20 and older are obese as of 2005-2006.
    * Aging: People aged 75 and older made up 6% of the national 
population in 2006 and their ranks will double by 2050, the CDC predicts.
SOURCES:
 
CDC: "Health, United States, 2008."
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm
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