Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, is taking on American obesity – and calling on hospitals and healthcare providers to help.
The government reports obesity-related illness costs the nation some $147 billion a year. Further, obese Americans spend $1,429 per year for medical care – 42 percent more than people of "normal" weight.
At the American Hospital Association's annual conference Monday in Washington, D.C., Benjamin said obesity is contributing to a growing list of deadly chronic health conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and its complications, coronary heart disease, stroke, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, as well as endometrial, breast, prostate and colon cancers.
Benjamin, a 2008 AHA Award of Honor recipient for her work as founder and CEO of Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Bayou La Batre, Ala., was greeted by a standing ovation as she took the podium at AHA's conference luncheon.
She released a paper earlier this year warning of the dangers of obesity. She cites research published in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that two-thirds of adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of obesity in adults has increased from 13.4 percent in 1980 to 34.3 percent in 2008 and from 5 percent to 17 percent among children over the same period.
Benjamin said the challenge will come in trying to change American culture to focus on prevention. "This is where hospitals can have an impact," she said.
"We need to stop telling people what they can't do and start telling them what they can do," Benjamin said. "We need to turn this into a positive conversation."
Many hospitals likely already have obesity on their radar. Under guidelines issued last December for meaningful use of information technology, hospitals and doctors are required to collect body mass information on youths age 2 through 20 to qualify for incentives under the stimulus package.
Benjamin and First Lady Michelle Obama launched the "Let's Move" campaign this year to target childhood obesity within this generation. The campaign aims to get healthier food in schools, encourage children to get physically active and promote the availability of healthy food choices in America.
Benjamin said the government and communities should work together to ensure that neighborhoods have parks and safe places for children to play.