Is obesity an epidemic in the United States?

Is obesity an epidemic in the United States?

John Spencer Ellis (Author, TV Show Host, Trainer and CEO, National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association) gives expert video advice on: Can prescription drugs help me lose weight? and more...

It's an unfortunate fact that obesity is truly an epidemic in the United States. Over 6% of the US population is considered obese. And obesity varies from state to state; obesity also varies from ethnicity to ethnicity, and of course both genders vary in the proportion who are obese as well. There's a couple of reasons for this obesity epidemic. One cause of obesity is inactivity, caused by all the modern conveniences that we enjoy on a daily basis. And then of course, the epidemic itself of fast food and trans fats, which is kind of a funny fat that man has made to preserve the shelf life of food items contribute to obesity. Obesity then leads to the other epidemic that we are experiencing, which is the drastic increase in diabetes in both adults and children.