• Shape Up America! -- founded by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D., ScD.
  http://www.shapeup.org/sua

• Weight Control Information Network – from the National Institutes of Health
  http://win.niddk.nih.gov/index.htm

• Body Mass Index Determination
  - http://www.shapeup.org/bodylab/frmst.html
  - Calculate Your Body Mass Index

• The New Food Label: Making It Easier to Shed Pounds – information from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
  http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdweight.html

Obesity Statistics: (information from Cable News Network, Inc.)

• Total number of overweight adults 20-74 years old = approx. 58 million Americans, or 33%
• Overweight adult females (20-74 years old) = 32 million
• Overweight adult males (20-74 years old) = 26 million
• Total number of overweight youths (6-17 years old) = 4.7 million, or 11%
• % of adult women trying to lose weight at any given time = 35-40%
• % of adult men trying to lose weight at any given time = 20-24%
• Number of extra calories a person must eat to gain a pound or burn to lose a pound = 3,500
• Amount of money spent by Americans annually on weight-reduction products and services, including diet foods, products, and programs = $33 billion
• Obesity more than doubles one's chances of getting high blood pressure

Causes of Obesity:

• Genetics
• Environmental factors (diet, activity)
• Psychological factors (eating in response to negative emotions such as sadness, anger, boredom.
• Medical conditions: hypothyroidism, depression, Cushing's syndrome, certain neurological probems
• Medications: steroids, antidepressants, diabetes medicines, birth control pills

Women tend to accummulate fat in their hips and buttocks, giving them a "pear" shape. Men usually collect weight in the abdomen, giving them an "apple" shape. Persons who have fat primarily located in te abdominal area are more likely to develop the health conditions associated with obestiy, particularly heart disease. One way to determine if you're an "apple" or a "pear" is to measrure your waist-to-hip ratio by dividing your waist measurement by your hip measurement. Women with waist-to-hip ratios of more than 0.8 or men with waist-to-hip ratios of more than 1.0 are "apples" are are at increased health risk due to their distribution of body fat.

Health Risks of Obesity
Obesity is a known risk factor for chronic diseases including:

• heart disease
• high blood cholesterol
• high blood pressure
• stroke
• degenerative arthritis, backpain
• diabetes
• gallstones
• some forms of cancer
• some types of lung problems

• Annual number of deaths attributable to poor diet and inactivity = 300,000

• Family history of heart disease and diabetes: People with close relatives who have heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes are more likely to develop these problems if they are obese.
• Diabetes, type II: Nearly 80% of patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus are obese.
• Gallbladder disease: The incidence of symptomatic gallstones increases with increasing weight.
• Heart disease: Nearly 70% of diagnosed cases of cardiovascular disease are related to obesity.
• High blood pressure: Obesity more than doubles one's chances of developing high blood pressure.
• Breast and colon cancer: Almost half of breast cancer cases are diagnosed among obese women. Approximately 42% of colon cancer cases are diagnosed among obese individuals.

How to Lose Weight:

• Healthy diets and exercise are the keys to maintaining a healthy weight.
• It is best to lose weight gradually, no more than 0.5 to 1.0 pound a week.
• Avoid crash weight-loss diets that severly restrict calories or the variety of foods. They are seldom the way to successfully lose weight and keep the weight off long term.
• The following extreme approaches to weight-loss are dangerous to your health: self-induced vomiting or use of laxatives, amphetamines, or diuretics.
• Diet tips:
  • Eat a variety of foods that are low in calories and high in nutrients
  • Check the Nutrition Facts label on food products for the following information: calories per serving, fat calories and quantity (grams)
  • Eat smaller portions, particularly of high fat foods
  • Eat more vegetables and fruits (no fat or cholesterol)
  • Eat pasta, breads. rice, and cereals without adding fats and sugars
  • Eat less sugars (candy, desserts, soda, etc.)
  • Drink less alcohol (alcohol supplies 7 calories per gram)
  • Eliminate snacks and binge eating -- especially when under stress or bored.
  • Drink one full glass of water before each meal. This will fill your stomach up and make you feel full sooner. Remember, water has no calories.
  • Check out the other nutrition information on this web site.
• Exercise Tips:
  • Fit in exercise throughout the day; for example, walk instead of drive to close locations, take the stairs instead of the elevator, housework, gardening, etc.
  • Exercise aerobically for approximately 30 minutes three or four days a week.
  • Check out the other exercise/fitness information on this web site.

• "How's Your Diet?" : to see how well your own eating habits measure up to the national standards.
• "Fit or Not": A fun set of questions designed to help you determine if your weight is reasonable for your height and will help you to design a program of diet and physical activity so that you can achieve a reasonable weight.
• "Calorie Calculator": This site is designed to help you learn about nutritional content of representative foods. Information is given for calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
• Fast Food Diet: This site gives you nutritional information on the 7 largest fast food chains in the United States: McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, Subway, Pizza Hut, Domino's, and KFC.Yum!

Treatment of Obesity

• Guidance for the Treatment of Obesity
  http://www.shapeup.org/profcenter/eguide/eguide.php
  

• 4College Women
  This web site contains comprehensive health information created for college students by college students. This site addresses the unique needs of college women in a wide range of health issues including general health, reproductive health, eating disorders, mental health, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, emergency preparedness, health nutrition, minority health, health information in various languages, and much more.
  http://4collegewomen.org/
  
   
• Better Health for Mother and Baby - Multicultural Health Handout
  http://multiculturalhealth.org/
  
   
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Women’s Health
  http://www.cdc.gov/health/womensmenu.htm
  
   
• JAMA - Women's Health
  http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/18.html
  
   
• National Women’s Health Information Center – U.S. Public Health Office on Women’s Health
  http://www.4women.gov
  
   
• National Women's Health Resource Center
  http://www.healthywomen.org
  
   
• Planned Parenthood
  http://www.plannedparenthood.org
  

• Women's Health
  http://www.womenshealth.org