Obesty hearing: House Agriculture Committee

From the inbox this afternoon:

Today, the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry held a hearing to review the problem of obesity in the United States.

The subcommittee heard testimony from health and obesity experts about the most current statistics on obesity and the many implications of obesity on public health and communities.

"With its cost on America estimated somewhere in the $80 to $120 billion a year range, obesity is a problem we must address both for the health of our nation and for our long-term economic sustainability," Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry Subcommittee Chairman Joe Baca said. "Today's hearing provided an excellent opportunity to learn of the tremendous impact of obesity on America, and study the education and preventative steps we must incorporate as we move forward in our attempts to eliminate this disease."

"The increase in obesity nationwide has far-reaching effects in terms of public health and health care costs," Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Fortenberry said. "I am very concerned by this trend, particularly among our children. Good nutrition, including a diet of fresh, locally-raised foods, can improve health outcomes and lower medical costs, a winning combination for American health care, sustainable agriculture, and strong local economies."

Written testimony provided by the witnesses is available on the Committee website: http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html.
A full transcript of the hearing will be posted on the Committee website at a later date.


Witness List

Panel I
William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington, D.C.

Panel II
Anne M. Wolf, R.D., M.S., Research Instructor, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia Richard S. Hamburg, Director of Government Relations, Trust for America's Health, Washington, D.C.
Martin M. Yadrick, M.S., M.B.A., R.D., F.A.D.A., President, American Dietetic Association, Washington, D.C.
Donna Mazyck, R.N., M.S., N.C.S.N., President of the Board, National Association for School Nurses, Silver Spring, Maryland


From statement of Dietz:

The prevalence of obesity among American youth increased radically between the 1980’s and the present decade. Between 1976 and 1980, approximately 5 percent of youth 2 to 19 years of age were obese.[i] In 2006, the rate had increased to 16.3 percent. In fact, obesity among children aged 2 to 5 years doubled, increasing from 5 percent to 12.4 percent; among children 6 to 11 had doubled, increasing from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 17.0 percent in 2006; and tripled among adolescents aged 12 to 19, increasing from 5 percent in 1980 to 17.6 percent in 2006.[ii] Furthermore, 11.3 percent of children and adolescents aged 2 through 19 years were found to be severely obese, that is, their BMI was above the 97th percentile.


Later....


Several sources of CDC-funded surveillance or monitoring data allow us to track obesity related behaviors and other risk factors among the nation’s youth.[i] Behaviors and risk factors monitored by CDC tracking systems include rates of physical activity and critical indicators of nutrition (e.g., fruit and vegetable consumption, maternal breastfeeding practices). We use these data to assess the health of our youth and develop relevant interventions designed to integrate multiple settings (i.e., communities, medical care and schools) in efforts to support healthier behaviors for children and their families.

Later...


Further, the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourages all Americans to daily consume fruits and vegetables in amounts sufficient to meet their caloric needs based on age, height, weight, gender, and level of physical activity. However, between 1999 and 2007, the percentage of U.S. youth in grades 9 through 12 who reported eating fruits and vegetables five or more times per day declined from 23.9 to 21.4 percent.[i] These factors may have had a direct impact on the nation’s childhood obesity rate. That students cannot meet these physical activity and nutrition recommendations illustrates the need to develop public policies that create and support environments that allow for regular and routine physical activity and access to healthful foods for our youth.


TK: Dietz notes that the obesity rates appears to be plateauing. Here are the strategies from CDC:


increasing physical activity;
increasing fruit and vegetable consumption;
increasing breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity;
decreasing television viewing;
decreasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages; and
decreasing consumption of foods high in calories and low in nutritional value.