Overweight

Date

Dear Public Service Director,

According to a recent report by the U.S. Surgeon General, 61% of Americans are now significantly overweight, compared with 55% in the early 1990s, and 46% in the late 1970s. Obesity generates $117 billion in annual medical bills and triggers 300,000 premature deaths each year. So many Americans are now overweight that one attorney is actually suing the junk-food industry for making Americans obese!

Americans now spend more on fast food than they do on movies, books, magazines, newspapers videos and recorded music combined. They spend more on mass-produced burgers than on higher education, or computers, or cars. More than 90% of American children eat at McDonald's at least once a month, and the average American eats three hamburgers and four orders of fries every week according to Fast Food Nation.

Restaurants and food companies have a vested economic interest in making tasty food and in increasing per capita consumption. In this country, food is delicious, cheap, and readily available. Combine that with some individual’s need to use food to fill emptiness, provide good feelings, and soothe all kinds of upsets, and it is no wonder that our average weight keeps increasing. Many people need psychological help to confront the reasons for their recourse to food and to bring their consumption patterns into a saner balance.

Here is a PSA. Please air it this month. If you would like to invite a local psychologist to talk with your listeners about this subject, please contact me to coordinate an interview. He/She would be able to discuss how a psychologist could help. For instance, some patients may simply need basic behavioral weight loss treatment while others suffering from depression and low self-esteem may require more specialized treatment.

Your listeners can call toll-free 1-877-603-4000 for a free brochure called "Straight Talk - Choosing a Psychologist."

APA’s Psychologists in Independent Practice represents independent psychologists, each of whom is a doctoral level professional licensed by his or her particular state. When you need to talk to someone who can help, you need an experienced, licensed psychologist.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,
Kelly Cunningham
(703) 548-1291

PSA

60 seconds



The average American eats three hamburgers and four orders of fries every week. The U.S. Surgeon General stated that 61% of Americans are now significantly overweight. Obesity generates $117 billion in annual medical bills and triggers 300,000 premature deaths each year.

Some people use food to provide good feelings and soothe all kinds of upsets. That combined with easy access to tasty, inexpensive fast food and it is no wonder that our average weight keeps increasing. As many overweight people discover, dieting does not solve the problem. Some will need psychological help to confront the reasons that they turn to food and to bring their consumption into balance.

When dieting fails, a psychologist can help. Some patients may simply need behavioral weight loss and healthy life style treatment. Others may suffer from behavior they seem unable to control, such as depression or low self-esteem, and may require more individualized treatment.

Psychologists are experts at helping people find their way through life’s difficulties. For a free copy of “Choosing a Psychologist,” phone toll free 1-877-603-4000.

Psychologists in Independent Practice...personal, confidential, private