ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on solutions to obesity and diabetes that are cost and outcome effective, evidence based, and encouraging in their potential to improve health while lowering health care costs. These two disorders now exceed malnutrition in global public health costs and life lost. Recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data of Americans 2003-8 show that nearly 75% of the US population is now overweight [1]. Childhood obesity has increased threeto fourfold since the 1960s [2]. In 1980, no states had obesity rates over 15%; by 2010, every state had an obesity rate greater than 20% [3].