• *dying early
  
• *having, or dying from, a heart attack, stroke, or other type of cardiovascular disease
  
• *developing diabetes
  
• *developing cancer of the colon, kidney, breast, or endometrium
  
• *having arthritis
  
• *developing gallstones
  
• *being infertile
  
• *developing asthma as an adult
  
• *snoring or suffering from sleep apnea, or
  
• *developing cataracts.
  

Despite the substantial impact of weight on individual health, and the soaring rates of obesity in the United States, relatively few Americans see excess weight as a problem. In a survey conducted by researchers at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, almost 1,000 Americans ranked obesity low on the list of serious health problems. Equally alarming, only 9 percent said their weight was a problem, even though more than half were overweight. That's a shocking finding, given that excess weight leads to at least 300,000 deaths per year and costs more than $70 billion each year in direct costs alone. Obesity now accounts for more deaths and chronic disorders, and poorer health-related quality of life, than either smoking or problem drinking.

If your weight is in the healthy range and isn't more than 10 pounds over what you weighed when you turned 21, great. Keeping it there-and keeping it steady-by watching what you eat and exercising will limit your risk of developing one or more of these chronic conditions noted above. If you are overweight, doing whatever you can to prevent gaining more weight is a critical first step. Then, when you're ready, shedding some pounds and keeping them off will be important steps to better health.

An Epidemic of Obesity
If every picture tells a story, then the one below tells a chilling tale about an epidemic of obesity that poses a major public health problem. In 1991, obese adults made up less than 15 percent of the population in most U.S. states. Ten years later, only one state could claim that distinction. During this span, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System recorded a 61 percent increase in obesity. Today, an estimated 108 million adult Americans weigh more than is healthy.

Even more alarming, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is on the rise, and children are becoming overweight and obese at earlier ages. An estimated 13-14 percent of children aged 6 to 19 years are considered overweight or obese. Early obesity not only increases the likelihood of adult obesity, and it also increases the prevalence of weight-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, elevated serum cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Overweight is at least partly responsible for the dramatic increase in diagnoses of type 2 diabetes mellitus (formerly called adult-onset diabetes) among children. In some parts of the United States., more than 30 percent of new cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus are in children, and most of these are attributable to obesity.