News release: National

November 30, 2004

For more information, call:
Dena Durkin
Kaiser Permanente
Phone: (626) 381-5845
E-mail: Dena.M.Durkin@kp.org

Nearly three-fourths of Americans view obesity as a disease; Consensus around obesity holds, whatever a person's weight, new Kaiser Permanente survey finds

New online weight management and fitness programs help Americans fight obesity and weight gain

Oakland, CA – Recent warnings about the alarming rates of obesity in the United States and the serious health risks involved have helped jump-start a nationwide discussion of the issue, raising questions about what causes obesity and how to fight it. Now, according to a new nationwide survey from Kaiser Permanente, nearly three-fourths of Americans view obesity as a disease and believe treatment should be included in health plan benefits.

Obesity is linked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to such severe health problems as diabetes, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, strokes, some types of cancer and more. Diet and activity patterns are second only to tobacco as an actual cause of death, and being overweight has been found to exacerbate various chronic diseases. According to a recent article in Science Magazine, at the current rate of prevalence, the national obesity rate will be 39 percent by 2008.

The new survey, conducted for Kaiser Permanente by market research firm Synovate and released today, asked 1,000 Americans whether they regard obesity as a disease and believe treatment should be included in health plan benefits. Respondents were also asked to describe their own weight, to determine if one's weight class affects views on the subject. Among those surveyed, more than 78 percent of the sample acknowledged being "a little bit" or "significantly" over their ideal weight (85 percent of women, 71 percent of men).

Overall, a respondent's own weight had very little impact on his or her views of obesity. Those above, below and at their ideal weights overwhelmingly agreed that obesity is a disease and that treatment should be included as a health plan benefit. Those who agreed most strongly described themselves as either "slightly" or "significantly" overweight, although those in other weight categories weren't far behind.

A full 87 percent of respondents who are "significantly overweight," and 71 percent of those who called themselves "slightly overweight," agreed that obesity is a disease and treatment should be included among health plan benefits.

The numbers dropped slightly with the scale, but still revealed overwhelming agreement even among those who don't struggle with weight gain. Sixty-three percent of respondents at their ideal weight, and 64 percent of those slightly under, said they believe that obesity is a disease.

"Like the general public, Kaiser Permanente views obesity as a chronic health condition, and we are responding with programs to help provide support, knowledge, and options to our members," said William Caplan, MD, director of clinical development for Kaiser Permanente's Care Management Institute (KP-CMI). Kaiser Permanente is a leader nationally in joining forces with others, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a collaborative strategic effort to address the crisis of overweight and obesity in this country. This national weight management initiative is led by KP-CMI.

"Our survey results reveal that people are taking this issue very seriously, and they want to know that the healthcare community will support individual efforts to get weight under control," Dr. Caplan said. "To that end, Kaiser Permanente now offers a series of online weight loss and fitness programs to our members. It's just one way we help our members maintain healthy lifestyles that arrest problems before they can develop.

"In addition, as part of Kaiser Permanente's Weight Management Initiative, we are conducting research that will lay an evidence-based foundation for developing, evaluating and sharing proven models of obesity prevention and treatment," he added. Kaiser Permanente's Garfield Memorial Fund has funded eight new weight management projects totaling $2.4 million.

Dissecting a pervasive problem

According to the survey, those significantly over their ideal weight were most likely to agree "strongly" (50 percent) that obesity qualifies as a disease worthy of health plan inclusion—compared with 24 percent of those at their ideal weight, 22 percent of those slightly overweight and just eight percent of those slightly underweight. But it wasn't unanimous, even within this group. In fact, more than 13 percent of those "significantly overweight" said they either somewhat or strongly disagreed that obesity is a disease and treatment should be included. Thirty-seven percent agreed "somewhat."

Of the 27 percent overall who disagreed, only nine percent said they "disagreed strongly." Within this group, those who disagreed most strongly were at their ideal weight—16 percent, versus 10 percent of those slightly overweight, and five percent for those significantly overweight and those slightly underweight.

Both women and men agreed that obesity is a disease and should be included in health plans (78 percent and 68 percent respectively), while the biggest gaps in agreement occurred when the findings were broken down by age, household income and education.

While a majority of all age groups agreed that obesity is a disease, support for the idea started high among the young and decreased consistently with age. At the high end, more than 87 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 agreed. That number dropped to 60 percent of those 65 and older.

Interestingly, those with the highest levels of education were not as likely as their less-educated counterparts to support the idea that obesity is a disease and treatment should be included in health plans. Slightly more than 64 percent of respondents with post-graduate degrees agreed, while 74 percent of those with at least some college—and 76 percent of those with high school or less—agreed.

Online programs offer weight management

Kaiser Permanente recently introduced a series of in-depth online behavior-change programs for members, addressing common concerns that affect the health of increasing numbers of Americans. These modules include weight management and fitness, smoking cessation, stress reduction and nutrition.

Known collectively as the Kaiser Permanente Healthy Lifestyle Programs, these new online features are part of a larger effort to empower members to live healthier lives. The features are based on research acknowledging that Americans are not just seeking health care but total health, which continues Kaiser Permanente's long-standing mission of helping to prevent, not just treat, disease. Kaiser Permanente's online tools can be found at http://www.kp.org/totalhealth; Kaiser Permanente's Weight Management Initiative can be accessed at http://www.kpcmi.org.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a not-for-profit, group practice prepayment program with headquarters in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of some 8.2 million members in 9 states and the District of Columbia. Today it encompasses the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 134,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and more than 12,000 physicians representing all specialties.