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Physical Inactivity and Unhealthy Eating

We support a FY 2003 appropriation of $60 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s (NCCDPHP) Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity.  This request represents a $32 million increase over 2002, which is necessary to fully fund CDC’s efforts to reduce unhealthy eating and physical inactivity - two primary causes of obesity in the United States, which occurs across all population categories.  Unhealthy eating and physical inactivity is responsible for at least 300,000 preventable deaths each year and increases the risk for many chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.

How Would CDC Use Increased Resources

• CDC would establish Nutrition/Physical Activity programs in all states, in some territories and tribes.
• Funding at the $60 million level, CDC would support 20 state programs at core funding and 4 at a higher comprehensive level.
• CDC would support analyses of the cost effectiveness of prevention and treatment for specific groups and identify and promote policy initiatives to modify diet and physical activity.
• CDC would develop and evaluate health communication campaigns for specific audiences.

Facts about Physical Inactivity and Unhealthy Eating

• Physical inactivity and unhealthy eating are two primary causes of obesity and are responsible for at least 300,000 preventable deaths each year.
• Obesity increases the risk for many chronic and disabling diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis-related disabilities.
• The majority of people in the United States have poor eating habits.  Only 28 percent of women and 20% of men eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
• Over 60% of adults do not engage in levels of physical activity needed to provide health benefits.
• Obesity has reached epidemic proportions.  In the past 15 years, the prevalence of obesity has increased by more than 50% among adults and 100% in children and adolescents.
• Ten to 15% of children and adolescents are overweight and more than half of these children have at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor, such as elevated cholesterol and hypertension.
• The cost of diseases associated with obesity has been estimated at almost $100 billion per year.

Translating Research into Action at the State and Local Levels

Although research has helped to better understand the epidemic of obesity, effective measures are not being fully implemented at the state and local levels to create environments that support physical activity and prevent unhealthy eating and its devastating and costly consequences.  Behavioral and clinical research needs to be effectively promoted and applied at the community level through the nation’s public health network, with the guidance of the nation’s prevention agency –CDC.

CDC’s chronic prevention framework includes measures that have been shown to be effective and in many cases cost-effective in reducing physical inactivity and unhealthy eating:

• Active Community Environments (ACE), an initiative in collaboration with national organizations and government agencies to promote the development of accessible recreation facilities.
• Revised pediatric growth charts- to reflect the nation’s cultural and racial diversity and; to help health professionals identify weight problems in children and adolescents.

The President's FY 2003 budget request for physical inactivity and unhealthy eating is $27.6 million, which is $116,000 less than FY 2002. 

The FY 2003 budget for the Division of Physical Activity and Nutrition needs to be funded at $60 million to make up for missed opportunities in previous years and to aggressively address the epidemic of obesity - thereby saving lives and reducing U.S. health care expenditures.

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