The United States of America is a nation that has long been associated as suffering with weight issues. ‘Obesity’ is a term used to describe somebody who has a body mass index (BMI) of over 30, and it seems many Americans are going above and beyond this number. Environmental, social and cultural factors have been cited by many as being the causes for the obesity epidemic. Typically American’s favourite foods tend to be high in fat and/or sugar and include unhealthy options such as hamburgers, hotdogs, doughnuts and French fries. Some argue that traditional family meal times have been lost in recent years as households become preoccupied with other activities and opt instead to snack on unhealthy treats throughout the day. Of course these are just a few of the reasons for the obesity crisis in the U.S. that in 2008 resulted in some estimates pitting 32.2% of men and 35.5% for women as being obese. Even five years prior to this back in 2003, there were researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who claimed that the medical cost attributed to obesity-related conditions stood at a staggering $75 billion. This was all way before the current day though. Fast forward to today and new predictions have been released that show the U.S. is fatter than ever, and will be getting much, much fatter. So much so that by 2030 half of adults could be classified as obese. This is according to a report released on Tuesday by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who warn that if Americans continue with their poor eating and exercise habits then their weight will continue to soar. More recent data shows that 35.7% of adults and 16.9% of children aged 2 to 19 are obese in the U.S., as confirmed by the CDC earlier in the year. However the forecasts by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, paint a much bleaker outlook than the government’s first prediction of a 42% obesity level by 2030. The former decided to thoroughly analyse government figures for 39 of the 50 states and found that in every state, the obesity rate will hit 44% by 2030. In 13 states however, it would be at least 60%. Even the ‘thinnest’ current U.S. state, Colorado, is not going to fare very well in the future. Currently about a fifth of the people in Colorado are obese, but this could surge to 45% if current trends continue. Two major states in New York and California currently have an obesity rate of just 25% and 24% respectively. In 18 years’ time though, these numbers could be bumped up to 51% and 47%. All of these statistics may not mean much to people reading them, but if you do happen to have a BMI over 30 (from anywhere around the World, not just America), perhaps it is worth considering the detrimental impact that the extra weight is having to your health and will do so even worse in the future. In fact these latest predictions say that in the next two decades, there may be 7.9 million new cases of diabetes a year in comparison to the current 1.9 million and 6.8 million new cases of chronic heart disease compared to 1.3 million presently. However it is not just the U.S. that needs to think about ways to stop this from happening in the future. Indeed the problem is one that is also escalating closer to home. Over the last thirty years, the UK rate of obesity has spiralled fourfold. In 1980 it was estimated that 6% of males were obese and 8% of females were. In 2009 this had jumped up to 22% for males and 24% for females. One study conducted by the National Audit Service found that obesity is draining the NHS of roughly £500 million each year and the economy of £2 billion every year in lost productivity, and the problem looks to be getting worse. Experts say that in 10 to 15 years’ time, three-quarters of the UK population will feel the repercussions of ill-health from extra weight. Obesity is clearly a global problem that should be taken into account by everybody and acted upon today to prevent the dark predictions for the future. The following table shows the scale of the problem that has been growing in recent years:  

Country	Adult obesity prevalence rate (%)	Year estimated
Tonga	56	2000
Kiribati	51	2006
Saudi Arabia	36	2000
United States	34	2006
United Arab Emirates	34	2000
Egypt	30	2006
Kuwait	29	2000
New Zealand	27	2007
Seychelles	25	2004
Fiji	24	2004
Mexico	24	2000
Canada	23	2004
Israel	23	2001
United Kingdom	23	2002
Greece	23	2003

Medical Specialists Pharmacy believe the UK coalition government need to take both the U.S. AND UK warnings on obesity very seriously and implement effective preventative measures and policies to promote numerous things such as healthier eating, increased exercise, and the major health benefits that can be had from the maintaining of a healthy weight. Encouraging all of these from an early age would be most ideal, with the responsibility of parents now to drum a healthy mentality into the minds of their children so this hopefully continues well into their adult years. If you are overweight or obese though now, but wish to lose weight safely and reap the benefits of doing so, let Medical Specialists help. We can provide suitable patients ‘Xenical’, the only clinically proven and prescription-only slimming medication available today. It works in the digestive system, blocking roughly one-third of the fat in the food you eat from being digested and absorbed by your body. We are pleased to inform patients that we are now able to drastically reduce the cost of the medication from £89.50 for one month’s supply, down to just £59.95 with free delivery for UK orders.