§ 261 — Legislative intent

§ 261. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds, determines,\nand declares that obesity is a serious medical problem affecting up to\none-third of all Americans. In addition, a nineteen ninety-seven Kaiser\nPermanente study concluded that there is a significant potential for a\nreduction in health care expenditures through obesity prevention. In\naddition:\n 1. Obesity is known to cause or exacerbate a number of serious\ndisorders including hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease,\ndiabetes, respiratory dysfunction, gout, and osteoarthritis;\n 2. Nearly eighty percent of patients with diabetes mellitus are obese;\n 3. Nearly seventy percent of diagnosed cases of cardiovascular disease\nare related to obesity; and\n 4. Obesity ranks second only to smoking as a preventable cause of\ndeath, with some three hundred thousand deaths annually attributable to\nobesity.\n