| 697 | Friday, April 2, 2004 |
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| 4:00 PM-5:15 PM | Convention Center:220/221 |
| AAHPERD/North American Society of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance Professionals |
| The Obesity Epidemic: Implications for Our Professions |
| Obesity is directly related to numerous adverse health outcomes, and a physically active and fit way of life is inversely related to the same outcomes. In addition, the percent of individuals who are active and fit declines across the spectrum from normal weight to obesity. Research on obesity and health has failed to take activity or fitness into account, and thus the hazards of obesity have been overestimated. Obese individuals who are active and fit have much lower mortality risk than normal weight persons who are also sedentary and unfit. These observations have given rise to the 'fitness--fatness' issue, which will be discussed.
The obesity epidemic has come about in the last 15 years. We know of some of the causes and we know the difficulty of achieving long-term weight loss. We also know many of the health benefits of weight loss. We don't know the long-term outcomes of changing the environment and public policy, and we don't have long-term solutions because long-term studies of 5 to 10 years are rarely funded. Meanwhile the epidemic continues. A set of novel approaches will be presented for impacting the epidemic in the next 10 years. |
Keyword(s): . NA
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| Presider: Joel Meier, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN |
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Speakers: |
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Obesity in America: A Brief Overview
Charles B. Corbin, Arizona State University-East, Mesa, AZ |
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Can You Be Fit and Fat: How Does This Relate to the Obesity Problem?
Steven N. Blair, The Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research, Dallas, TX |
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Long-term Weight Loss: What We Know and Don't Know
Timothy Lohman, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ |
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Summary and Question/Answer Period
Charles B. Corbin, Arizona State University-East, Mesa, AZ |
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