Do Right!®

The Obesity Crisis

Obesity is rapidly closing in on smoking as the nation’s number one underlying preventable killer. It is a major modifiable factor for heart disease, and increases the potential for high cholesterol, blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and other serious health conditions.

Obesity rates are substantially higher among African Americans, Mexican Americans and other minorities in the United States:

• White: 59.6%

• Black: 69.9%

• Hispanic: 62.1%

• Asian/Pacific Islander: 38.7%

• American Indian/Alaska Native: 67.1%

• Other: 59.5%

Overweight and Obese Child Statistics in Hamilton County:

• White, Non-Hispanic: 21%

• Black, Non-Hispanic: 43%

There are also significant disparities in terms of access to healthy food and safe places to play. A study of more than 200 neighborhoods found four times as many supermarkets in predominantly white neighborhoods as in black neighborhoods. And communities with high levels of poverty are significantly less likely to have places where people can be physically active, such as parks, green spaces, and bike paths and lanes.

If we don’t act to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic, we’re in danger of raising the first generation of American children who may live sicker and die younger than the generation before them. Preventing obesity during childhood is critical, because habits that last into adulthood frequently are formed during youth. Research shows that an obese older teenager has up to an 80 percent chance of becoming an obese adult.

The main risk factors for obesity are preventable. Throughout the Do Right!® website you will find tools to guide you through making healthier food choices and living a more physically active life. It is up to you to change your behavior and this information is key to making lifestyle improvements that combat obesity.