Obesity

When it comes to weight loss, there's no lack of fad diets promising fast results. But such diets limit your nutritional intake, can be unhealthy, and tend to fail in the long run.

The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn't about short-term dietary changes. It's about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses.

Staying in control of your weight contributes to good health now and as you age.

T A K E   C O N T R O L
- 1 - Assess Your Weight The first step is to determine whether or not your current weight is healthy. BMI - Body Mass Index is one way to measure your weight.	- 2 - Lose Weight Healthy weight loss isn't just about a "diet" or "program". It's about an ongoing lifestyle that includes long-term changes in daily eating and exercise habits.	- 3 - Prevent Weight Gain To stay at a healthy weight, it's worth doing a little planning now. If you are overweight but aren't ready to lose weight, preventing further weight gain is a worthy goal.

According to the CDC, "American society has become 'obesogenic,' characterized by environments that promote increased food intake, nonhealthful foods, and physical inactivity. Policy and environmental change initiatives that make healthy choices in nutrition and physical activity available, affordable, and easy will likely prove most effective in combating obesity. The Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) is working to reduce obesity and obesity-related conditions through state programs, technical assistance and training, leadership, surveillance and research, intervention development and evaluation, translation of practice-based evidence and research findings, and partnership development."

How long has it been since you took a look at your health risk status? Check out this Health Goals Assessment and find out how well you are taking charge of your health-for-life plan. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid offers sensible guidance on daily nutrition for adults and kids. Take the mind mirror quiz and find stress reduction techniques in the Mind section of the web site.