Obesity

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions. As of 2003, approximately 36 million US women were obese, and almost 67 million were overweight.¹ Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥30, and overweight as a BMI ≥25.¹

Obesity and Cardiac Risk

• Obesity may predispose patients to the development of CHD.⁴⁵
• Obesity has traditionally been measured by BMI, but research has shown that waist circumference (ie, abdominal obesity) is associated with greater cardiac risk and may be more important than BMI.^46,47

Physical Inactivity and Obesity

A lack of physical activity is an important contributing factor to obesity.⁴⁸ According to the Centers for Disease Control, less than a third of US women (aged ≥18 years) engage in any regular physical activity, and many are considered "physically inactive" (Figure 7).⁴⁹

Figure 7. Percentage of Women Who Were "Physically Inactive" or Engaged in Any Regular Physical Activity (1999-2001)⁴⁹