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Overweight and Obesity
Obesity Trends
Prevalence among U.S. Adults of a Metabolic Syndrome Associated with
Obesity
Findings from the Third NHANES Survey
In an article appearing in the January 16, 2002, issue of the Journal
of the American Medical Association, researchers at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that as many as 47 million Americans
may exhibit a cluster of medical conditions (a "metabolic syndrome") characterized
by insulin resistance and the presence of obesity, abdominal fat, high
blood sugar and triglycerides, high blood cholesterol, and high blood
pressure. The syndrome was first defined in the Third Report of the National
Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation,
and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (ATPIII), released on
May 15, 2001. Because the root causes of the metabolic syndrome for a
majority of individuals may be poor diet and insufficient physical activity,
the high prevalence of the syndrome underscores an urgent need to develop
comprehensive efforts directed at controlling the U.S. obesity epidemic
and improving physical activity levels within the U.S. population.