Newly Reelected Leader Shares His Stance on Health and Fitness With Leading Healthy Living Site; Emphasizes a "Balanced Lifestyle"DEERFIELD BEACH, FL, Nov. 15, 2004 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Think you've heard Bush's stance on all the issues? Think again.
eDiets.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: DIET), a leading online diet, fitness, and
healthy living destination, has asked the recently reelected
commander-in-chief about the nation's weight woes, the initiatives
he's launched to combat this epidemic, the role he thinks the rest of
us should play, and his own diet and fitness regimen. The full
interview in which each of these issues are discussed can currently
be accessed from eDiets.com's award-winning Web site at
www.eDiets.com.
In the interview, the President makes clear that he's acutely aware
of the critical public health problem of obesity, stating that "too
many Americans do not exercise at all and have poor dietary habits...
Americans pay a staggering physical and financial cost for this
sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle, including an estimated $117
billion annually in problems associated with overweight and obesity
alone." He goes on to state his belief that changes need to be made
on many different fronts, from parents instilling healthy eating
habits in their children to employers encouraging exercise on a daily
basis. But ultimately, "health and fitness are personal
responsibilities."
In regard to his own personal fitness, President Bush indicates that
he values exercise and has always found a way to incorporate it,
despite his busy lifestyle and physical limitations or injuries. He
states his belief in balance and common sense in what he eats; no fad
diets or junk food. This is good news for the nation; 53 percent of
respondents in a recent eDiets.com survey believe that our nation's
President should be a role model for healthy living.
And his beliefs have manifested in national programs. Among the
actions Bush has taken to help America make healthy changes include
the following:
-- HealthierUS - a challenge for all Americans to take control of their
health by being more active, eating better, getting preventive screenings,
and avoiding unhealthy habits;
-- President's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports - an effort to get
young people, adults, and families to exercise more. The Council's website
sets the goal of encouraging 20 million Americans to be active at least 30
minutes a day, 5 days a week, within 6 weeks of starting the program; and
-- The US Department of Agriculture has established childhood nutrition
programs and public information campaigns to help improve fruit and
vegetable consumption in schoolchildren
"America is at a crisis point regarding obesity, and it's critical
for our nation's leaders to focus on programs and other methods to
improve the situation," said David Humble, CEO of eDiets.com. "I
encourage President Bush and other elected officials to continue
making needed improvements to facilitate our nation's collective
health and wellness."
In a prior eDiets.com interview, Tommy G. Thompson, U.S. Secretary of
Health and Human Services, underscored the severity of the issue,
noting, "Obesity and overweight are about to overtake smoking as the
leading cause of preventable disease. Two out of every three
Americans are overweight or obese. The financial cost of obesity
totaled $117 billion in 2000, and chronic diseases associated with
obesity -- such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes -- consumed 75
percent of health-care dollars. These chronic illnesses and others
were attributed to 7 in 10 deaths that year."
eDiets.com's magazine-style "eCovers" have featured a diverse array
of government figures and leading health advocates in addition to
Tommy Thompson, including Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Oprah
Winfrey's personal trainer Bob Greene, former Miss America and
diabetes advocate Nicole Johnson, and Trim Kids® co-author Melinda
Sothern. In addition to being prominently featured on the eDiets.com
home page eCover, in-depth interviews with featured guests are also
distributed in eDiets.com's leading electronic newsletter that has a
circulation of over 13 million opt-in subscribers.
About eDiets.com
eDiets.com is a premier one-stop online diet and healthy living
destination offering professional advice, information, products and
services to consumers seeking to improve their nutrition and fitness,
live healthier, and live longer. Through September 30, 2004, over 1.8
million consumers worldwide have become eDiets.com members since
1997. Throughout 2004, Nielsen//NetRatings ranked eDiets.com as the
#1 Most Trafficked Health, Fitness & Nutrition Site, Forbes named
eDiets.com "Best of the Web" in the diet and nutrition category and
PC Magazine selected eDiets.com for its "Editors' Choice" award.
eDiets.com offers 21 personalized online programs including the
Atkins Nutritional Approach™, The Zone Perfect Nutrition Plan, The
Slim-Fast® Plan, Trim Kids the eDiets.com Alternative to Jenny
Craig, and more than a dozen specialized Healthy Living programs for
those with special needs, including the "Living With Type 2 Diabetes"
plan offered in partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb's ChoiceDM™
brand. The revolutionary eDiets.com|Solution(SM) program gives all
dieters, regardless of their chosen program with eDiets.com or
otherwise, support to help them succeed with exclusive access to its
wide range of award-winning expert and peer-based online support
services, including Online/Anytime Meetings(SM) that provide
on-demand expert guidance and inspiration in a streaming video
format.
Dieting is a $30 billion market with established brands such as Jenny
Craig®, Weight Watchers® and several regional brands. Founded in
1996, eDiets.com is a public company (NASDAQ: DIET) headquartered in
Deerfield Beach, FL, that operates Web sites at www.eDiets.com and
www.eFitness.com, and publishes and distributes one of the Internet's
leading electronic newsletters with an opt-in circulation base of
over 13 million subscribers. eDiets.com also owns eDiets Europe Ltd.
("eDiets Europe") which operates www.eDietsUK.com in Ireland and the
United Kingdom, www.eDiets.de in Germany, and www.eDiets.com.es in
Spain. eDiets Europe has also entered into an exclusive licensing
agreement with Tesco.com, the world's largest online grocer and a
wholly owned subsidiary of Tesco plc (LSE: TSCO), to use eDiets.com's
personalized diet technology in the United Kingdom and Republic of
Ireland.
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