Bad news for women in the Washington Post yesterday. A study, also published yesterday, reveals evidence that life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American females.

According to the Post, the study cites that in nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s. This marks the first decline in life expectancy for a significant number of women since the Spanish influenza of 1918, the Post reports.

And, big surprise, obesity is a prime suspect, too. It has risen markedly in the past two decades (tell us something we don't know) with women more affected than men. About 33 percent of women are now obese, compared with 31 percent of men. Extreme obesity is twice as common in women (7 percent) as in men (3 percent). As a result, the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure are greater.

Researchers said they expect the distinctly American trend -- this is not happening in Western Europe, Australia, Japan, New Zealand -- to spread to other parts of the country.

Isn't all of this just more confirmation of what we already know? Being fat probably means making the ultimate sacrifice sooner rather than later. So, my question of the day is this: How many times do we have to be pummeled with this information for American women to get serious about attaining a healthy weight and dropping bad habits?

Source: The Washington Post