32 Million Called Overweight, Primarily From Lack of Exercise

About 32 million Americans between 25 and 74 years of age are overweight and 11.7 million of them are “severely overweight,” the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture reported Tuesday.

Moreover, the report said, this obesity is primarily the result of “very low levels of physical activity,” rather than the excess consumption of calories.

“The health consequences of inactivity may be serious and they deserve more investigative attention,” the report said.

The federal advisory Joint Nutrition Monitoring Committee, in a report to Congress on nutrition, said the “principal nutrition-related” health problems experienced by most Americans are caused by overconsumption of fat, saturated fatty acids, cholesterol and sodium.

“Dietary data indicate that the U.S. population as a whole has relatively high intakes of all these food components,” the report said.

In diets reported over a three-day period, the report said, the proportion of calories from fat averaged 41%.

“Few individuals, regardless of sex, age, economic status or race reported diets which provided less than 30% or even 35% of calories from fat, as recommended by some authoritative groups such as the American Heart Assn. and the National Academy of Sciences,” the panel said.

“Excessive intakes of these food components are associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases,” the panel continued, adding: “Overweight greatly increases the risk of having hypertension and diabetes, particularly among adults under age 45.”

The report, culminating a three-year project to review the National Nutrition Monitoring System operated by the two departments, also said that black women and women below the poverty level are more likely to be overweight.

“Obesity is more prevalent among the poor,” the report said. “Many of the health problems of the poor are related to obesity.”

The panel also concluded that the U.S. food supply is “safe and adequate, indeed, abundant.”

“Although some Americans may not have sufficient food, clinically significant nutritional deficiencies for which the diet is responsible are relatively rare,” the study said. “Food choices based on variety, balance, and moderation can provide a diet adequate to meet nutritional needs.”

The report also found that intake of iron is low among young children and women of child-bearing age, and “impaired iron status is most frequently found in these groups as well, especially children and women who are black and poor.”