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Couch potatoes may one day tie smokers as most endangered

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, March 9, 2004

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Better preventive measures are necessary to stop the large majority of deaths in the U.S, according to new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which shows that half of all deaths in the U.S. are caused by preventable behaviors and exposures.

Smoking, for example, is still the leading cause of death in the U.S., although poor diet and physical inactivity is catching up, according to the study, which appears in the March 10 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 291, No. 9).

"The rapid increase in the prevalence of overweight [people] means that this proportion is likely to increase substantially in the next few years," state the researchers, led by Ali H. Mokdad, PhD, of the CDC's Adult and Community Health division.

To assess the impact of poor diet and physical inactivity on mortality, Mokdad and colleagues reviewed annual deaths caused by being overweight. They used a body mass index range of 23 to 25 as their overweight benchmark.

According to the new CDC research, the leading causes of U.S. deaths in 2000 were:

•  tobacco: 435,000 deaths, representing 18% of total U.S. deaths
• poor diet and physical inactivity: 400,000 deaths, representing 17% of U.S. deaths
• alcohol consumption: 85,000 deaths, representing 4% of deaths

Other causes of death included:

• microbial agents such as influenza and pneumonia: 75,000 deaths
• toxic agents, such as exposure to pollutants and asbestos: 55,000 deaths
• motor vehicle crashes: 43,000 deaths
• incidents involving firearms: 29,000 deaths
• sexual behaviors: 20,000 deaths
• illicit use of drugs: 17,000 deaths

"Our findings indicate that interventions to prevent and increase cessation of smoking, improve diet, and increase physical activity must become much higher priorities in the public health and health care systems," the researchers conclude.

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