CDC: Half of all American adults have a chronic disease

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Half of all adults in the US have at least one chronic condition, such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in The Lancet.

The paper – part of a new series in the journal, ‘The health of Americans’ – says the proportion of adult Americans who have two or more of these conditions is more than a quarter.

The researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say the bulk of this morbidity could be prevented through the reduction of risk factors that fall within individuals’ control:

-Tobacco use
-Poor diet
-Physical inactivity
-Excessive alcohol consumption
-Poorly treated high blood pressure
-High cholesterol.

Both poor diet and physical inactivity are strongly associated with obesity.

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