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What an increasing waistline means for your health; the battle for minimum weight.

Article Excerpt
CAUGHT UP IN THE FRENETIC GRIND OF her fashion industry job, Allison Ferrell, 41, paid little attention to what she ate. As director of production, logistics, and operations for Abaete, a New York-based women's dress collection, lunch was a luxury she couldn't afford. "l was crazed and I couldn't spare the time. So if I didn't eat by 1 p.m., that was it for the rest of the day." After a 2005 surgery to remove fibroids left her with a delicate stomach, Ferrell avoided a litany of foods and routinely skipped meals.

Her erratic eating habits kicked her body into pre-starvation mode. Not knowing when it would receive the necessary nutrients, her body stopped burning calories and began to store food reserves, causing an increase in body fat. According to the American Council on Exercise, the average body fat range for women is 25% to 31%; 32% and above is obese. Ferrell measured almost 39%. Accustomed all her life to being thin, she was now flummoxed by having gained 15 pounds. "I'd had a good run, but my negative habits were catching up with me and it was time to take care of myself," she says.

Ferrell is hardly alone in her struggle to manage her weight. The American Obesity Association estimates that approximately 127 million adults are overweight. The escalating phenomenon of obesity has become a national crisis, and nowhere is it more evident than in African American communities. Recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show nearly 52% of black women are obese--the highest of all ethnic groups--and about 30% of black men are obese.

THE PRICE OF OBESITY

America's burgeoning waistlines are also having an impact on the business world. According to a study by Duke University Medical...

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