We strongly believe that our research plays an important roles in addressing some important contemporary health issues that we face today. We believe our research will lead to discoveries that can result in higher quality of life and lower the demands on our medical systems. Below is some helpful information pulled from various internet sites:
Overweight and obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, as well as worldwide.(3) Data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics indicate that the prevalence of obesity, defined as a body mass index >30 kg/m² has increased from 12.8% in 1976-1980 to 22.5% in 1988-1994 and 30% in 1999-2000. 4) Roughly 31% of American adults meet the criterion for obesity – about 59 million American adults. More than 64% of the US adult population have a BMI >=25 kg/m².(4) In an effort to increase public awareness of the epidemic proportion of obesity, the Surgeon General has issued a call to action to prevent and treat overweight and obesity and their associated health complications.
US Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity. [Rockville, MD] US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General (2001).
Over seventeen million Americans (6.2% of the population) have diabetes. Almost 6 million Americans are unaware they have the disease. There are two main types of diabetes. Both types are caused by problems in how a hormone called insulin (that helps regulate blood sugar) works. Type 1 diabetes most often appears in childhood or adolescence and causes high blood sugar when your body can’t make enough insulin. Over 90% of all diabetes cases are what we call type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed after age forty; however it is now being found in all ages including children and adolescents. Type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity and physical inactivity. In this form of diabetes your body makes insulin but can’t use its insulin properly. At first, your body overproduces insulin to keep blood sugar normal, but over time this causes your body to lose its ability to produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels in the normal healthy range. The result is sugar rises in your blood to high levels. Over a long period of time, high blood sugar levels and diabetes can cause heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, leg and foot amputations, and pregnancy complications. Diabetes can be a deadly disease: over 200,000 people die each year of diabetes related complications.

Considerable evidence suggests that obesity and overweight play an important role in cancer. Obesity and overweight have been clearly associated with increased risks for kidney cancer in both men and women (two-fold increased relative risk), and in women, endometrial cancer (one and a half-fold relative risk) and postmenopausal breast cancer (two-fold relative risk). Building evidence suggests that obesity and overweight also are associated with an increase risk of colorectal cancer, gall bladder cancer, and perhaps more modestly, the risk of thyroid cancer in women. For colorectal cancer, the effect of obesity and overweight on risk may be due in part to low physical activity, as consistent evidence exists for a strong protective effect of physical activity against developing colorectal cancer. Recent studies suggest that obesity and overweight may also play a role in the increasing incidence of some types of esophageal cancer, possibly through obesity’s association with gastric reflux. For prostate cancer risk, inconsistent findings from studies evaluating obesity may result from limitations in the measurement of obesity, as more consistent results have come from recent studies of biological factors that are more directly associated with specific aspects of body composition (e.g., total fat). For other types of cancer, in general, too few studies have been conducted to draw conclusions about the relationship between obesity and risk of disease development. However, strong experimental research in animal models of cancer development and disease progression have shown that maintenance of adequate and not overweight body size can delay development of cancer. Whether this can be achieved in humans has not been evaluated in prospective randomized trials.

U.S. Obesity Trends
During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States.
Currently, more than 64% of US adults are either overweight or obese, according to results from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This figure represents a 14% increase in the prevalence rate from NHANES III (1988-94) and a 36% increase from NHANES II (1976 -80). (Prevalence is the percentage of the population that falls into the designated category.)
The greatest increase took place in the obese group (Body Mass Index > 30), where the prevalence doubled from NHANES II (1976-80). Roughly 59 million American adults are in this group, which is at the greatest health risk. (Please note that NHANES data are based on weights and heights as actually measured by trained health professionals using standardized measuring equipment.)

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/obese/obse99.htm

The maps below graphically depict this trend over a 16-year span. It is important to note that these figures are based on telephone interviews where weight and height are self-reported. Self reported data tend to underestimate weight and over-report height. Therefore, the prevalence rates are actually under-estimates compared to the NHANES data which originate from actual measurements.

To view the entire presentation visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm

Obesity Statistics

Estimated Adult Obesity-attributable Percentages and Expenditures by State (BRFSS 1998 to 2000)

*Estimates based on fewer than 20 observations.
Source: Obesity Research, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2004

Finkelstein, et al, pages 22-23