America's Quiet Epidemic

1 Comment | Insight on the News, Dec 28, 1998 | by Cheryl Wetzstein

9 million people experience "severe hunger," in which both adults and children missed meals in the past year.

9.2 million people experience "moderate hunger," in which an adult missed a meal in the past year.

Another 23.4 million people worry about not having enough food.

but obesity is becoming a greater health concern

About 55 percent of U.S. adults (97 million people) are overweight.

About 13.6 percent of schoolchildren and 8 percent of preschool children are overweight, for a total of 10 million youngsters.

Teens in poor households were more likely to be overweight than teens in middle- or higher-income households.

Sources: U.S. Agriculture Dept. 1995 survey; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Center for Health Statistics

COPYRIGHT 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
 
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    Allotedminds

    10/29/09 | Report as spam

    RE: America's Quiet Epidemic

    I think is a great article for my analytical essay for school, as a senior I have to do a long essay on a particular public policy topic, but I just have two questions. The first sentence states that "The percentage of overweight American has grown since 1980 -- 55 percent of adults." Who were considered adults in this article? 18yr olds or 21 yr olds? And another issue I can look up myself is, the percentage of adults that were overweight in 1980.

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