[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 12, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H268-H269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND PREVENTING AND DECREASING OBESITY, 
                     A GROWING EPIDEMIC IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the kickoff of 
Black History Month and all the great accomplishments that African 
Americans as a whole have contributed to this great Nation.
  As we begin this month in honoring these great people, I would like 
to single out African American physicians and health care providers. 
These physicians and health care providers were not only the principal 
guardians of the black community's health, but were servants of 
humanity as a whole.
  This is why I must stand and strongly urge my fellow Members to 
support the Surgeon General's call to action to prevent and to decrease 
obesity, a growing epidemic in the United States. I applaud the United 
States Surgeon General, David Satcher, and Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, Tommy Thompson's, initiative; and let me add the 
borough president of Brooklyn's name to that distinguished list, Mr. 
Marty Markowitz, to ensure that all Americans understand what they can 
do to combat this serious disease.
  This initiative consists of communication with Americans about 
related health issues, actions to assist Americans in balancing eating 
right and exercise, research and evaluation to invest in causes, 
prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity. This is what the 
Surgeon General calls CARE. Our support is needed now, not later.
  My support begins in my own borough of Brooklyn. On March 20, I will 
be joining forces with Brooklyn's borough president, Marty Markowitz, 
to kick off a 3-month-long health community campaign promoting diet, 
exercise, and the Surgeon General's CARE initiative for Americans. As 
Members of Congress, we need to fully support the Surgeon General's 
report and findings as his initiative to combat this growing national 
problem.
  The Surgeon General's Call for Action report states that ``obesity 
has become a national health crisis.''

                              {time}  1945

  In addition, the instance of overweight and obesity has almost 
doubled among America's children and adolescents since 1980. It is 
estimated that one out of every five American children is now obese.
  The National Center for Health Statistics reports that 61 percent of 
Americans over 20 years of age are overweight or clinically obese. The 
National Center of Health Statistics conducted research from 1991 to 
2000 which supports the finding that this epidemic has significantly 
affected approximately 300,000 weight-related deaths yearly. In 
addition, the research also shows great disparities in overweight and 
obesity prevalence based on race, gender and socioeconomic status. 
Overall, Hispanic Americans have the highest risk of being overweight 
and obese, followed by African Americans. And women in both ethnic 
groups are at the highest risk. Further, women of lower socioeconomic 
status have a 50 percent higher chance to be obese than women in higher 
socioeconomic strata.
  As this epidemic continues to grow, other health consequences need to 
be considered such as heart disease type 2 diabetes, with a high 
prevalence in school-age children, cancer, asthma, high blood pressure, 
arthritis, childbearing complications, and stroke, which is the third 
leading cause of death among African Americans.
  For the past decade the health community has made great strides in 
these areas, but specifically with heart disease and cancer research, 
treatment and prevention. However, if the current overweight and 
obesity epidemic is not managed, all accomplishments made thus far will 
be for naught. Our Nation's health would be taking gigantic steps 
backwards.
  Last year I introduced H.R. 1641 that would amend Title XIX of the 
Social Security Act to require States that provide Medicaid 
prescription drug coverage to cover drugs medically necessary to treat 
obesity. At a time of national urgency, this amendment to the Social 
Security Act is crucial.
  As I close, I would like to share with my colleagues that the 
economic cost of this growing epidemic in our Nation was approximately 
$117 billion, that is B as in boy, in 2000. We need to support the 
Surgeon General's initiative against obesity in order to ensure 
America's health in the present and in the future.

[[Page H269]]

  I would like to thank my staff, Michelle Scott and others who put 
together this report.

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