Florida is facing a public health crisis:  the crisis of obesity. Obesity, a disease in which a person’s weight becomes significantly above the norm, is on the rise in Florida. In fact, almost 60% of the population of the Sunshine State is overweight or obese. And the crisis extends to our children as well. According to a 2007 study by the Trust for America’s Health, 14.4% of our state’s youth ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese, with a rank of 21 out of the fifty states.

Obesity is a serious disease — the second most common cause of preventable death in the United States. Besides its obvious lifestyle drawbacks, it may lead to life-threatening illnesses called co-morbidities, such as Type II diabetes, cancer, heart conditions, and hypertension.

We Floridians must rise to the challenge of obesity. But how?

Getting Fit

Beating obesity is not simply a matter of losing weight. That’s easy. The human body requires a certain number of calories each day simply to stay alive. If the number of calories consumed in a day is less than this, the body burns fat to provide the necessary metabolic energy – and weight is lost.

The difficulty comes in restricting caloric intake safely and over the long term. Fad diets and weight-loss pills can cause a person to lose pounds, but most quickly regain the weight – and often suffer damage to their health as a result. Such “cures” treat the symptom of obesity – visible excess weight – not the disease itself. The only way to successfully treat the disease of obesity is by a complete change in the patient’s lifestyle and eating habits.

Many obesity sufferers use eating as a substitute for emotional needs. Others are food addicts, plagued by an urge to eat even when not hungry. Sadly, many people who do not suffer from obesity see these behaviors as indicators of personal weakness on the part of the obese.

We can beat obesity here in Florida. If we eat better food and less of it, and couple this dietary change with a more active lifestyle, we can lose the excess poundage. For those whose obesity is beyond the reach of lifestyle changes, weight loss surgery is there to help.

About Weight Loss Surgery

Weight loss surgery is performed under general anesthesia; usually laparoscopically. Its purpose is to surgically alter the patient’s stomach and/or digestive tract in order to physically limit the amount of food the patient can eat at a given time. If successful, the surgical alterations will cause the patient to take in fewer calories each day than he or she burns, resulting in steady, safe loss of excess weight. But weight loss surgery is only a treatment for obesity; a complete change in the patient’s relationship to food is the only real cure. Failure to follow postoperative instructions may regain any weight lost. It is also important to carefully assess the risks and possible outcomes of weight loss surgery with your physician prior to making a decision.

To defeat obesity, Floridians must redefine our current relationship to eating. With willpower, medical care, and counseling — and, as a last resort, weight loss surgery – we can do this.

Obesity is a health crisis in Illinois. Across our state, the number of overweight and obese individuals is rapidly increasing. In fact, more than 61% of the population of Illinois is overweight or obese. Not only is obesity the second most common cause of preventable death in the United States, but it can also foster comorbidities—that is, life-threatening illnesses related to obesity—such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and Type 2 Diabetes.

Unsurprisingly, Illinois also spends a fortune each year – some $3.5 billion – on expenses attributable to the obesity epidemic.

It’s obvious that something must be done to stop the epidemic of obesity in our state.

Getting Fit

Weight loss itself is a no great problem: by cutting a person’s daily caloric intake below the number of calories their body needs to maintain life, weight loss can be easily effected. The difficulty comes in conquering the primal urge to eat when hungry.

Obesity is not simply a matter of weight, nor is it a character flaw. It is a disease caused by a disordered relationship with food. For some, the pleasure of eating is a substitute for emotional satisfaction. Others are food addicts, who battle an overwhelming urge to eat even when they aren’t hungry. Sadly, the pain of obesity often leads those with the disease to attempt self-treatment, including fad diets, exercise programs, or gimmicks like so-called weight-loss pills. These efforts lead some to lose significant weight, but most quickly regain it. Many people suffer damage to their health as a result of such quickie “cures”.

No miracle cure for obesity exists. The only way to successfully treat the disease of obesity is through medical care, based upon a complete change in the patient’s lifestyle and eating habits. To beat obesity we must change the way we relate to food, making better food choices and eating less of it. Most of us can accomplish this through education and willpower, in some cases combined with counseling and support. For the rest, weight loss surgery is the only way to combat the disease.

About Weight Loss Surgery

Weight loss surgery works by surgically altering the patient’s stomach and/or digestive tract in order to physically limit the amount of food the patient can eat at a given time. This may be done by removing part of the stomach, or by re-routing the flow of ingested food around the areas where the calories are absorbed. In Lap-band surgery — the most widespread procedure — the stomach and bowel are not cut; only a few small incisions in the abdomen are made to allow the surgeon access to the stomach. An inflatable band is then placed around the stomach, creating a small pouch. If successful, these alterations will cause the patient to take in fewer calories each day than he or she burns, resulting in steady, safe weight loss.

But losing weight is only half the battle. Only a complete change in a patient’s lifestyle can win the war on obesity. Patients who fail to change their activity level and dietary habits may regain any weight lost via surgery.

Summing It Up

Weight loss surgery is a powerful weapon in Illinois’ fight against obesity, but it is only one weapon. To win the fight, we must be willing to change the way we live – eating better food, and less of it, and living an active lifestyle. Only by combining these weapons with our will to win can we conquer obesity and live longer, healthier lives.

Iowa is facing a health crisis. Across our state, the number of overweight and obese individuals is rapidly increasing. In the Hawkeye State, nearly 60% of the population is overweight or obese, and the estimated costs for treating conditions associated with obesity totals $783 million annually according to estimates from the U.S. Public Health Service’s Centers for Disease Control.

The costs – both physical and financial — of dealing with our obesity epidemic in Iowa can confidently be expected to increase over time, unless action is taken to reduce the numbers of our citizens suffering with obesity.

What is to be done?

Losing weight itself is easy enough — simply reduce the body’s daily caloric intake below its daily caloric needs. Some sufferers try fad diets, TV exercise gizmos, or so-called weight-loss pills to lose weight — but many who do slim down by these means quickly regain it.

However, excess weight is only a symptom of obesity. To focus on weight loss alone instead of looking at obesity as a complex of symptoms is to miss the root cause of the disease. The only way to successfully treat the disease of obesity is through a doctor-supervised diet and exercise program that incorporates radical changes in a person’s lifestyle and eating habits, with weight loss surgery as a weapon of last resort.

How it works

Surgical weight loss – also known as bariatric surgery — has been proven to help ease or resolve obesity-related health problems. It can also help those who are obese but have no co-morbidities, and lessen their chances of a patient developing weight-related health problems in the future.  It works by limiting the amount of food – and thus calories – the patient can consume.

The surgical operation itself, which is performed under general anesthesia, takes one of three forms. In all of these, the patient is rendered unconscious, then the surgeon physically alters their stomach and/or bowel, reducing the amount of space for ingested food, and thus the amount of calories they can consume.

 However, the surgery itself can only do so much. It is up to the patient to make a fresh start after surgery, changing their eating habits and lifestyle to keep themselves at a healthy, stable weight. Patients who fail to follow postoperative instructions may regain any lost weight and/or suffer complications, including postoperative anemia, ulcers, internal hernias, calcium deficiencies, and gallstones. It’s vital that you and your physician discuss all aspects of weight loss surgery, including the potential negative effects, prior to deciding on surgery.

Let’s Face It

Iowa can face this crisis, but it doing so will take time, money, and leadership. By keeping the goal of a healthier Hawkeye State in mind we can overcome the problems caused by widespread obesity in our great state.