Rising Obesity in the United States Is a Public Health Crisis
<p>Obesity is a grave public health threat — more serious even than the opioid epidemic — and it is still on the rise in the United States. The latest federal data show that nearly 40 percent of American adults were obese in 2015–16, up from 34 percent in 2007–08.</p><p>In a new <em>To the Point</em> post, the Commonwealth Fund’s David Blumenthal, M.D., and Shanoor Seervai argue that while solutions emphasizing food and diet may help in individual cases, policy solutions are required to fight the obesity epidemic nationally.</p>
<p>Early evidence shows that taxing sugary beverages and limiting advertisements, particularly those that target children, could be effective in curbing obesity.</p>
<p>“Providing affordable health care to Americans will prove increasingly difficult as weight gain continues to ravage the United States,” say the authors.</p>