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The Crisis

Unhealthy has become the norm in America.

 

Unhealthy living is an epidemic, manifested in ballooning obesity rates, soaring health care costs, and the overabundance of unhealthy people, places, products, and policies. In short, America has a crisis of culture - a culture that is rapidly becoming unsustainable and will, unless novel action is taken, bankrupt our country and its people.

America’s clock is ticking and the available time for us to get organized and implement an effective solution is slipping away. We are at a crossroads and the severity of the situation requires immediate, disruptive innovation. Despite decades of work and billions of dollars spent each year to combat the symptoms of this cultural crisis, traditional approaches have had little impact. It’s time for a cultural-change solution that has been proven effective time and time again throughout America’s history by people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B. Anthony.

The future of America literally hangs in the balance.

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It's time to move beyond obesity

The staggering rates of obesity and overweight in this country represent America’s cultural canary in the coal mine—a clear indication that our society is not well.

  • Today’s children are the first generation in 100 years to have a lower projected life expectancy than their parents[1] 
  • 32% of U.S. children are overweight or obese[2] 
  • 23 is the number of pounds the average American is overweight[3] 
  • 3.8 million Americans weigh over 300 pounds. This exceeds the population of any U.S. city other than New York or LA. [4] 
  • 72% of U.S. adult females are currently overweight or obese. [5] 
  • 299,155 deaths were caused by or related to obesity in 2000. [6]

Source: CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

It's time to make better choices

Our lifestyles are intrinsically linked to what we purchase and consume each day, and we have become a society of unhealthy consumers. With each dollar we spend on unhealthy products and with each hour we spend engaged in sedentary activity, we advance the demand for unhealthy, which is undoing our country.

  • 25% of U.S. adults eat at least one fast food meal a day. [7] 
  • 80% of children and adolescents eat fewer than five fruits and vegetables a day.[8] 
  • 51.5 gallons is the average annual soft drink consumption for an American. [9] 
  • 46% of American students report no weekly physical education attendance. [10] 

It's time to take a stand

In addition to skyrocketing obesity and overweight rates, the fallout from our cultural crisis is all around us. The amount of resources and effort to reverse these trends is compounded ever day, and if we don’t act soon, and act differently, it will be too late.

  • 20,000,000 Americans have Type II diabetes; 176,500 are under the age of 20 [11] 
  • 54,000,000 million more Americans are pre-diabetic; 2,000,000 million are under the age of 20. [12] 
  • 555,000 Americans die of cancer; 1/3 of these deaths are linked to poor diet, physical inactivity, and excess weight. [13] 
  • $200,000,000,000 could be saved by 2019 if obesity levels were held at their current rates. [14] 

It's time to act before time's up

If current trends continue as experts predict, America’s time will be up in the very near future. Because this crisis is so comprehensive and deeply woven into the very fabric of our society and because its many symptoms are so devastating and intractable, continuing to hope for and wait on a solution from traditional approaches is no longer an option. We have a very clear picture of what awaits us if we do not respond with an extreme sense of urgency and a laser focus on disruptive innovation and massive, cultural change.

  • It’s predicted that by 2030, 86% of Americans will be overweight or obese. [15] 
  • If these predictions are realized, an extra $860 billion to $956 billion will be spent annually to treat obesity-related conditions. $1 out of every $6 spent on health care would be spent in this effort. This number is a conservative estimate, as it assumes that the amount of money needed to care for overweigh individuals remains the same, though many estimates see this number rising. [15] 
  • Obesity is rising more rapidly than any other public health issue America has faced. At the current rate: 103 million American adults will be obese by 2018, and $344 billion will be spent on obesity-related health care costs in 2019, which will account for more than 21% of US health care spending in 2018. [16] 

1. Olshansky et al (2005) A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21st Century. New England Journal of Medicine

2. Ogden et al (2008) High Body Mass Index for Age among US Children and Adolescents, 2003-2006. JAMA.

3. NeerGaard, (July 27, 2009) Nearly 10% of health spending for obesity, Associated Press.

4. Hedley et al (2004). Prevalence of overweight and obesity among US children, adolescents, and adults, 1999–2002. JAMA.

5. Flegal et al (2010). Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among U.S. Adults, 1999-2008. JAMA,.

6. Flegal et al. (2007). Cause-specific Excess Deaths Associated with Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity.JAMA.

7.Schlosser (2001) Fast Food Nation.

8. USDHHS and USDA (2005) "Dietary Guidelines for Americans"

9. USDA/Economic Research Service (2007) http://www.ers.usda.gov/.

10. Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Com, Report (2008).

11. Nat. Inst. of Diab. and Digestive and Kidn. Diseases Report (2009.

12. Flegal et al. (2007). Cause-specific Excess Deaths Associated with Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity.JAMA.

13. American Cancer Society (2006) Diet and Physical Activity: What's the Cancer Connection?

14. Thorpe (2009) The future costs of obesity

15. Wang et al. (2008) Will all Americans become overweight or obese? Obesity.

16. Thorpe (2009) The future costs of obesity