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Article: Economic perspectives on childhood obesity.
- Article from:
- Economic Perspectives
- Article date:
- September 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"Overweight and obesity may soon cause as much preventable disease and death as cigarette smoking. People tend to think of overweight and obesity as strictly a personal matter, but there is much that communities can and should do to address these problems." (Surgeon General David Satcher) (1)
Introduction and summary
Obesity rates in the United States have skyrocketed in the last 30 years. Among adults, obesity rates more than doubled from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. Over the same period, children's obesity rates nearly tripled. These alarming trends have received a great deal of attention in recent years. Researchers are anxious to understand the ...