30% of overweight Americans think they're in normal range

See link to get full article. Recognizing obesity seems to be an important first step!

"Dr. Mitchell Roslin, chief of obesity surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, noted that "when (Dr. Everett Coop, surgeon general in the 1980s) wrote 'Shape Up America,' he said the biggest health problem facing America was not AIDS, not cancer, it's obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. Since then ... we've seen nothing but a rise in obesity despite all of these efforts that have gone on now since the 1980s."

"The American public knows this but it's hard and it's something that they're not quite ready to do," Corso added. "This wake-up call still isn't ringing as loudly as it could."

Over one-third of MA students overweight/obese

WBZ News
9/8/2010
6:05 pm


State public health officials say that more than one-third of the students in 80 Massachusetts school districts are overweight or obese.


The Massachusetts Department of Public Health released a study Wednesday of more than 100,000 students which found that 17.3 percent were obese and 16.9 percent were overweight.

The percentage of students overweight or obese ranged from a low of 9.6 percent in Arlington to a high of 46.6 percent in Lawrence.

The study measured students in the first, fourth, seventh and 10th grades. In all four grade levels measured, more boys were overweight or obese than girls.

The study was part of the state’s Mass in Motion initiative which tries to promote wellness and prevent obesity in Massachusetts.