Community Prevention Programs

For 2 decades or more, the American public has known that feet (physical activity), forks (dietary pattern), and fingers (avoidance of tobacco) are the master levers of medical destiny. But U.S. society is still overwhelmingly sedentary. Approximately 68% of American adults and more than one-third of American children are overweight or obese. A much reduced but fixed percentage continues to smoke, and only approximately 1.5% meet the recommendations for daily intake of fruits and vegetables. The modern epidemic of obesity and its metabolic sequelae, in children and adults alike, are among the more prominent manifestations of a lifestyle at odds with health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases today account for 70% of the [Page 276]deaths of all Americans and ...