Hi, I’m Dr. Caplan from Helios Telemedicine for Men. I hope I convinced you last week that unhealthy weight is a disease rather than an accumulation of bad habits or a risk factor for other diseases, but how common is it?
Looking at the adult population, in the 1960’s the just over 31% of Americans were overweight, while obesity ran at about 13% and severe obesity was at about 1%, so around 44% of us had unhealthy weight issues. 50 years later, in 2010, the total had jumped to 74% of our population. It has been estimated that by 2030 75% of all adults in the US will be obese or severely obese, not including the millions who will be overweight, but not yet obese. I find it truly amazing that obesity, or unhealthy weight as I prefer to call it, will be by far the most common disease in America within just a few years, and the rest of the world isn’t far behind.
Unhealthy weight is so important because as weight increases so does death by all causes, including diabetic, cancer, heart, kidney, liver, lung, and nervous causes. For example, compared to normal-weight people, the risk of dying early from obesity increases 50% at a BMI of 36 and nearly 100% increase at a BMI of 45, and it’s even worse if you smoke as well. This means that as your weight goes up, your life expectancy goes down significantly, and we haven’t even touched on the devastating metabolic, physical, emotional, and financial quality of life issues that those living with unhealthy weight suffer. At Helios, we are determined to help you avoid these health problems to lead your best healthy life.
That’s all for now. Until next time, please check out my website for my prior videos and blog posts, links to more information, a complimentary self-assessment questionnaire for those worried about their testosterone levels, and a link to make an appointment to see me. Thanks for your time and attention. Bye for now.
