Doctor’s Orders : Ex-Surgeon General Koop Calls for War Against Obesity

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop calls it his last crusade, a national consciousness-raising campaign to warn of an obesity epidemic that he said affects one of every three Americans.

The 78-year-old, 6-foot 1-inch scourge of the tobacco industry, who weighs 194 pounds, speaks from personal experience about the tribulations of dieting.

“After I got in government, with the rubber-chicken circuit and the pressure, I got up so I was around 220 pounds,” Koop said. “Being entertained by people every minute, you just get fat. I’ve lost 25 pounds since I left office.”

Koop brought his 3-month-old Shape Up America campaign to the 200 mostly slim employees and franchise owners of the Jenny Craig organization who gathered at the Hyatt Regency Irvine for a weight-loss symposium Friday morning.

Though Koop says he is putting in 90-hour weeks in his war against the expanding waistline, his battle with the tobacco industry also continues. Koop contends that recent attempts by Congress to eliminate the position of surgeon general are being orchestrated by politicians from tobacco-growing states.

“If you really want to trigger something that’s beneficial to the tobacco industry, get rid of the Surgeon General’s Report,” Koop said.

The outspoken former surgeon general launched the Shape Up America campaign in Washington on Dec. 6, one day after the Institute of Medicine called for a fundamental change in the way Americans think about obesity. Obesity is not a matter of cosmetics, the institute report states, but a “chronic, degenerative disease that debilitates individuals and kills prematurely.”

Koop argues there also must be a fundamental change in the approach to obesity, from an emphasis on short-term losses to long-term maintenance.

Obesity is the second leading cause of premature death in the United States, according to Koop, who said obesity-related health problems such as heart disease and diabetes cost $40 billion a year and cause 300,000 deaths annually. Tobacco- and alcohol-related illnesses rank first and third, respectively.

Several studies indicate that 33% of all Americans are overweight, according to Koop, up from 25% in the years 1960 through 1980. Those weighing 20% or more than recommended weights for body size are considered overweight.

“We have to do something, because if you look at the shape of Americans, it’s really almost grotesque,” Koop told the audience. “We’ve been suffering from a new epidemic, an epidemic of disease and disability and death.”

The Shape Up America campaign, funded by a variety of corporate sponsors ranging from Jenny Craig to Taco Bell, has signed a deal with the Kellogg Corp. that Koop said will put the campaign logo and related information on 600 million cereal boxes in June.

Koop’s cure is based on behavior and rooted in self-reliance. Eat less, exercise, take control of your life, he says. Koop said he sees obesity as reflective of a kind of national spiritual crisis, caused by an addiction to the sedentary habits of television viewing and the use of food as an antidote to depression.

“Many people in our society turn to food and alcohol out of loneliness or disappointment or frustration or despair,” Koop said. “To our shame, we have done almost nothing about this national trend.”