The STOP Obesity Alliance at the Redstone Center created a one-page infographic highlighting key takeaways from Director Bill Dietz’s recent editorial, Obesity and Excessive Weight Gain in Young Adults: New Targets for Prevention, and data from a related article by Zheng et al. in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Dietz is the director of the STOP Obesity Alliance. Please feel free to use and share the infographic.
Key messages:
- Excessive weight gain (≥ 20 kg, or ≥ 44 lbs) is not only common, but of particular concern during early adulthood
- Such excessive weight gain is associated with significantly increased risks of serious chronic diseases and premature death
- There is a doubling in obesity prevalence between the ages of 6-11 years and 20-39 years—from 17 to 34 percent
- The transition from childhood to adulthood is a critical opportunity for obesity prevention and control efforts; in interventions targeting pediatric weight loss, parents also lose weight