BILL NUMBER: ACR 199INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonta JUNE 21, 2016 Relative to Obesity Awareness Month. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 199, as introduced, Bonta. Obesity Awareness Month. This measure would annually proclaim the month of November as Obesity Awareness Month in California. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, Obesity is recognized as a national epidemic and each state must seek out all necessary means to fight it; and WHEREAS, More than one-third of adults in the United States (34.9 percent), or approximately 111 million Americans, are obese; and WHEREAS, In California, nearly 60 percent of adults are considered overweight or obese and one in four are obese; and WHEREAS, Minorities in California are disproportionately affected by obesity, with approximately 34.7 percent of African Americans and 31.7 percent of Latinos considered obese; and WHEREAS, Those without economic means are disproportionately affected by obesity; 33 percent of those with incomes of $15,000 per year or less are obese, compared with 24.6 percent of those who make at least $50,000 per year, while 33 percent of those not graduating high school are obese compared to 21.5 percent of those who graduated college or technical college; and WHEREAS, Obesity has been linked to many comorbidities and chronic diseases, with the six most common and most costly being type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, arthritis, and certain types of cancer; and WHEREAS, Obesity is one of the largest drivers of health care costs, with estimates ranging from $147 billion to $210 billion in annual medically related costs as of 2012; and WHEREAS, The State of California paid approximately $1.3 billion in obesity-related costs in Medi-Cal in 2013, and annual costs of severe obesity cost $9.1 billion in overall health care costs in 2013; and WHEREAS, The estimated medically related costs of adult obesity are expected to rise to $620 billion annually by 2030; and WHEREAS, Obesity-related job absenteeism costs United States' employers at least $4.3 billion annually, taking a toll on the economy; and WHEREAS, Almost every state that demonstrates a 5-percent decrease in average body mass index will experience an approximate 6.5 percent to 7.9 percent reduction in overall health care costs over the next 5 to 10 years; and WHEREAS, The American Medical Association (AMA) has now recognized obesity as a chronic disease requiring a range of medical interventions to advance obesity treatment and prevention, and health professionals from a large and growing number of other professional medical societies have signaled their support for the AMA's decision to recognize obesity as a disease; and WHEREAS, Significant innovations in treatment and medical interventions, including pharmacotherapy and other medical interventions, have been approved for the medical community in recent years; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims the month of November 2016 and each year thereafter as Obesity Awareness Month in California; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature supports policies to reduce obesity in California and the costs associated with the disease; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies to the author for appropriate distribution.