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Nationally, 34 percent of adults, age 20 and older are obese, while 20 percent of children age 6-11 are obese. Within the same context, 20 percent of adults over the age of 20 are overweight. Heart disease, cancer are the leading cause of death among adults in the country. In 2009, 560,000 deaths were attributed to cancer. Among men age 75 and older, prevalence rates for heart disease rose from 38 percent (1999) to 46 percent (2009). In 2007, it was estimated that nearly 200,000 people under age 20 had diabetes.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, little progress has been made in lowering the percentage of high school students and adults who were smoking. Smoking has been associated with lung cancer, diabetes, and other chronic lung diseases.
Between 1999 and 2009, progress has been made in physical activity. Number of men and women, age 18 years and older, that are engaged in physical activity has increased from 19 to 22 percent and 12 to 16 percent, respectively. In addressing the health disparities, Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) strongly believes in the value of training communities in health education. To reduce health disparities and advance health outcomes, the health program is targeted into three subgroups, as follows:
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