Overcoming overweight
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
About one third of Americans are obese. And besides what that does to their bodies, it also runs up big medical bills - about $147 billion a year. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researcher Deborah Galuska notes that overweight and obesity raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, osteoarthritis, and problems in getting pregnant.
Of course, diet and physical activity is the way to shed the weight. Galuska reminds us that high-calorie foods such as fatty and sugary things can be replaced with fruits and vegetables. And she says people should aim for at least two and one half hours of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. However, she notes:
"Even if they can't get to that goal, they should be at least somewhat active, so something is better than nothing." (6 seconds)
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.