As a physician, author and weight-loss specialist, I am concerned about increasing obesity among children and adults in this city and country (“Crisis in Fat City,” April 25).
Obesity affects nearly a third of the children in New York City. As people age, obesity creates additional health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer, debilitating back pain, joint pain, kidney disease and increased respiratory distress.
A 40-year-old with diabetes will lose 11 to 14 years of his or her life. Children at the ages of 11 or 12 are regularly diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes, which will shorten their life span by several more years.
This is the first generation of Americans predicted to have a shorter life span than the previous one.
In the same way that the government influenced education regarding the risks of smoking, it should educate people about obesity and its causes.
Dr. Howard Shapiro
Manhattan