According to the National Institutes of Health, 65 percent of American adults age 20 and older (127 million) are classified as overweight (BMI > 25) and approximately 30.5 percent, almost one of every three Americans (60 million), are obese (BMI > 30). Nine million are morbidly obese. An estimated 300,000 deaths a year are attributed to obesity.

Overweight and obesity are major contributors to the escalating rates of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, musculoskeletal conditions, stroke, certain types of arthritis, gall bladder disease, some cancers, poor female reproductive health, depression, and other life-threatening illnesses. The Center for Disease Control estimates that the medical cost of obesity in the U.S. is $75 billion. And now, the overweight / obesity epidemic is reaching the youngest segment of our population. The percentage of overweight children ages 2 to 5 has increased from 7% to 10% in the last decade.

Despite numerous governmental, corporate and private initiatives to modify both attitude and behavior, we continue to get heavier and sicker. We spend at least $42 billion a year on diet plans. Those plans range from the realistic and effective to the downright fraudulent—and most fail to address the real-world pressures, limitations and constraints confronting our time-impoverished, energy-drained, stressed and unmotivated populace.

Consider these facts:
	Approximately 40 percent of deaths in the U.S. are caused by behavior patterns that could be modified.
	More than 9 percent of the nation’s health-care expenditures – about $117 billion – and 300,000 deaths annually are directly related to obesity and physical inactivity.
	Obesity has roughly the same association with chronic health conditions as 20 years of aging.
	Annual medical expenses for employees range from $114 for normal-weight individuals to $573 for overweight individuals to $620 for the obese.
	On average, Americans spend about three hours a day watching television. They spend about 18 minutes a day exercising.
	One of every seven deaths is attributed to poor diet and lack of physical activity.
	The former Surgeon General Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, reports a sedentary lifestyle is as detrimental to your health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
	Almost 31 percent of Americans are now considered obese. That adds up to 9 percent of our national medical bill, or $93 billion. California, NY, Pennsylvania and Texas each spend more than $4 billion annually treating health problems that result from obesity.
	In the last 25 years annual per capita soda consumption in the U.S. increased from 21 to 56 gallons.
	Type 2 Diabetes in the U.S. has increased 1000% in the last 30 years.
	The top-selling size for women has jumped from size 8 to size 14 in twenty years.
	Experts say wellness is about more than weight management: It’s about the total picture of treating mind, body and soul.