In the Surgeon General’s Report: A Surgeon General’s Call to Action to
Prevent and Reduce Overweight and Obesity, we referred to the “epidemic” of
overweight and obesity. This was an unusual designation for a chronic disease
or condition but we felt it quite appropriate. In public health, where “epidemic”
has generally referred to an unusual outbreak or increase in incidence of an
infectious disease, this application of the term to a chronic condition such as
obesity was unusual but appropriate. The increase in overweight and obesity
in America over the last two to three decades has been both dramatic and

unprecedented and certainly unexpected. We reported that in children over-
weight had increased two-fold from 1980 to 2000 and almost tripled in ado-
lescents. A similar trend was also seen in adults in America. There was no sign
of abatement of this increase as we entered the 21st century.