To: Tim Kaine

From: Joshua Martin

Date: 11/10/21

Subject: S. 596 Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021

In the past year and a half, the whole world has stopped and things have changed so much from
this Covid pandemic. One problem that has been a silent epidemic in America has been the
increasing numbers of humans being obese. With the whole shutdown of the world, this number
has almost doubled because we were told to stay home and not go to the gym or even be with
family. In all, obesity has always been a huge problem in America and this pandemic has just
made it worse. The meaning for this letter to you is to state that I support the passing of bill S.
596 Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021. I hope after reading this letter you will agree with
me as well. We need to tackle this health issue before it is too late. We need to make America
great again.

In case you are not too familiar with the term obesity, I can explain it to you in medical terms
because I feel like the general public does not know it. The definition from the World Health
Organization can simply be said a human being with a BMI, which stands for body mass index,
of over 30 is to be considered obese. Now one alarming thing that is not talked about a lot is that
if a person is clinically diagnosed to be obese. This can put a person at an increased risk for
diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. All of these conditions can also put a person at risk of being
hospitalized and can increase their chances of dying at an earlier age. With help from you and
many other senators, we can pass this bill to help Americans with medicare get coverage for
certain drug therapy and weight loss programs for people who are obese and overweight. This
bill can help many Americans fight the battle against obesity and hopefully return to a normal
healthy BMI.

● According to the World Health Organization there were about 39 million kids
who were under the age of five were either obese or overweight in 2020
alone(Obesity and overweight,2021).
● From the years 1990-2000 through 2017-2018 the CDC has reported in the USA
the prevalence of severe obesity has increased from 4.7% to 9.2% and on top of
that, the prevalence increased from 30.5% to a big 42.4%(Adult obesity facts,
2021).
 ● An alarming statistic I found is that from the CDC about 93.9 million adults and
13.7 million adolescents in the United States of American are considered to be
obese(Lockett, 2018).

Recommendation: My recommendation is to simply vote to pass bill S. 596 Treat and Reduce
Obesity Act of 2021. As explained above by nationally-recognized organizations the obstacle of
obesity is not going away anytime soon. In fact, if we don't implement proper protocols soon this
epidemic could get out of control fast. The most alarming statistic I brought up is the fact that
13.7 million kids and adolescents are diagnosed with obesity. This alone should make people
realize that it is not just a problem with the older generations it is now affecting the younger
generations as well. We need to pass this bill so we can help Americans become healthy again.

The health of our nation is going to be in your hands when this bill comes to a vote. So I strongly
urge you to vote yes for bill S. 596 Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021. This bill will help
fight the ongoing epidemic of obesity.
 References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, September 30). Adult obesity facts.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 10, 2021, from

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html.

Lockett, E. (2018, October 17). How to prevent obesity: Tips for kids and adults.

Healthline. Retrieved November 10, 2021, from

https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-prevent-obesity#TOC_TITLE_HDR_1.

World Health Organization. (2021, June 9). Obesity and overweight. World Health

Organization. Retrieved November 10, 2021, from https://www.who.int/news-

room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight.