HR 9101

1
House Resolution
2A resolution recognizing April 10, 2008, as "Obesity
3Awareness Day."
4
5     WHEREAS, Florida's leaders have a responsibility to
6encourage and promote healthy lifestyles for the citizens of
7this state, including communicating information about healthy
8diet, the importance of physical activity, and the availability
9of clinical treatment, and
10     WHEREAS, in recent years, poor health, in the form of
11obesity and inactivity, has increased dramatically throughout
12the world, and
13     WHEREAS, more than two-thirds of all American adults are
14overweight or obese, representing approximately 151 million
15people, and
16     WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control, in
17the year 2006, approximately 34 percent of adults in the United
18States were classified as "obese," an increase of more than 100
19percent since 1980, and
20     WHEREAS, only 22 percent of American adults engage in
21recommended regular physical activity of any intensity during
22leisure time, and only 15 percent engage in the recommended
23amount of vigorous activity, and
24     WHEREAS, obesity can lead to a 50-percent to 100-percent
25increase in risk of death to an individual from all causes, and
26more than 280,000 Americans die each year from obesity-related
27diseases, and
28     WHEREAS, 17.1 percent of all children and adolescents are
29overweight, nearly double the percentage of children and
30adolescents who were classified as overweight two decades ago,
31and
32     WHEREAS, in 1980, fewer than 4 percent of childhood
33diabetes cases were Type 2 Diabetes, but that number has since
34risen to approximately 20 percent, and, of the children
35diagnosed as having Type 2 Diabetes, 85 percent are obese, and
36     WHEREAS, because the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes has
37tripled in the last 30 years, more people who have diabetes will
38live longer and have a greater chance of developing disabling,
39life-threatening complications from diabetes, and
40     WHEREAS, the direct costs of inactivity and obesity account
41for approximately 9.4 percent of national health care
42expenditures, with costs reaching at least $75 billion in 2003,
43approximately $37.5 billion of which is borne by the federal and
44state governments, and
45     WHEREAS, citizens will become more aware of the growing
46problems related to obesity and inactivity if they are given
47pertinent information and if good examples are set by leaders in
48the community, NOW, THEREFORE,
49
50Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
51Florida:
52
53     That the House of Representatives, recognizes April 10,
542008, as "Obesity Awareness Day."


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.