America’s Fat Future

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) warn that if obesity rates continue to follow current trends, more than half the population of 39 US states will be obese in 2030.  Should the trend persist, the related disease rates will spiral:  the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension and arthritis could increase 10 times between 2010 and 2020—and double again by 2030.  Further, obesity could contribute to more than 6 million cases of type 2 diabetes, 5 million cases of coronary heart disease and stroke, and more than 400,000 cases of cancer in the next two decades. Consequently, by 2030, medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases are estimated to increase by $48 billion to $66 billion per year in the United States, and the loss in economic productivity could be between $390 billion and $580 billion annually by 2030.