Obesity In America

Being overweight, eating poorly, and not exercising are becoming an epidemic in America, especially among college students. Most of the research on it states the same things, however the first research article I found speaks more to the behavior and its current affects on college students’ health. A slew of doctors and Jesse S. Morrell wrote an article about “Risk Factors Among College Men and Women” in relationship to obesity. The opening of this article stated that “an estimated 300,000 deaths each year are attributable to obesity… and young adults have experienced dramatic increases in obesity rates,” (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). This statistic is what really got the research going and helped the researchers focus specifically on college-aged individuals. Upon diving into their research, the authors found more alarming statistics and related diseases. This included a recognizable relationship between obesity in young people and chronic disease risk, especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). In fact, CVD was the second leading cause of death in the US in that college-age group showing that our generation is at a greater risk for health problems than ever before due to our lack of exercise and healthy diets. Researchers then took to college campuses to examine students and their habits and provide risk assessments to promote healthier lifestyles and hopefully decrease the probability of CVD and DM through the metabolic syndrome system,

America is experiencing an increasing problem with obesity that arose from numerous factors such as sugary processed foods, larger portion sizes, and lack of physical activity that lead to detrimental results like preventable diseases that lead to death. In order to stop this rising epidemic, it will take national effort to educate the public and to offer fetter food alternatives in schools and in grocery stores.

The United States of America is the fattest country in the world. Obesity in America has reach epidemic proportions. Obesity and weight gain has become major concern of public health in the United States. In every state, at least twenty percent of adults are obese, and in twelve of these states the obesity rate is above thirty percent. Mississippi currently holds the highest rate of obesity with 34.9 percent of its residents being obese. On the contrary, Colorado has the lowest rate of obesity with 20.7 percent. CNN estimated that annual medical care costs due to obesity reached $147 billion, but the Institute of Medicine estimates it is closer to $190 billion.

Obesity in America is a continually growing problem and even worse our own children are sharing in this problem. A commentary in the Washington Times reports that sixty million Americans are obese. What really is the meaning of obese? Obese is having a body mass index of thirty percent or more. In recent years, the percentage of obese Americans has risen. In the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, the percentage of obese Americans rose from 22.9 in 1984-1994 to 32.2 in 2003 and 2004. The study also says if you throw in the number of "over weight" Americans (body mass index of 25 to 29.9) the total jumps to 66.3

In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous problem. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. A study done by the Centers of Disease Control showed that since 1980, one third of our adult population has become overweight. America is the richest but also the fattest nation in the world and our obese backsides are the butt of jokes in every other country (Klein 28). The 1980s were a time when Americans suddenly started going crazy over dieting, jumping onto the treadmills, and buying prepackaged non-fat foods. However, while all of that was going on, the number of obese Americans began to increase. According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 58 million

When discussing the issue of obesity in America, it seems to be that there is plenty of blame to go around and most of that blame falls on fast food companies. When searching for a concrete answer to the question used as my title, you will find none because there isn’t one. When asked this simple question, it is easy to blame the obesity problem on fast food considering 8 out of 10 Americans consume fast food according to a report done by the Huffington Post. But after doing more research you will notice that this isn’t necessarily the case. American obesity can be blamed on a variety of things; lifestyle, accessibility of fast food, and what we are taught about food growing up. However, when the only options you are provided with by the food industry are all unhealthy, obesity cannot be avoided.

Obesity is defined as having excess body fat. To be considered obese, you must have a BMI of 30 or higher. Your BMI, Body Mass Index, is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. While obesity can affect all ages, sexes and ethnic groups, compared with whites, African-Americans have 51% higher and Hispanics have 21% higher obesity rates (CDC, 2010). Along with that, it has been found that women with higher education are less likely to be obese compared to those with less education (Rodrigo, 2013). Also, obesity is affecting younger ages each year; childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. It is said that one-in-three children are affected by excess body weight, which then carries into adulthood. According to the AACAP (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), if one parent is obese, there is a 50% chance their child will be obese and if both parents are obese their child has an 80% chance of being obese.

Today, in our fast-paced world of modern America, the availability of inexpensive, cheap processed food and drink is overwhelming. We have quickly become the most obese nation on the planet by simply allowing companies to lower nutritional value, raise sugar quantity, and increase fat and calorie percentages to an astounding amount. We as a nation buy into these consessions because of three main reasons: low price, convenience, and massive availability. Because of this, eating healthy is seen to be expensive, time consuming, and daunting. This is the opposite of what we need here in America. Big name companies spend billions upon advertising their sugary, fat-gushing products. When in reality, we should restrict the abundance of adverts, plastered all over major cities, social media, and television. We need to start taking a

The government with all of its power is now trying to tell you what you can and cannot eat. It is true that America has an obesity problem but people’s freewill should be respected in regarding individual lifestyle choices. Americans should have the freedom to choose what food they eat and the lifestyles they choose regardless of the impact on their health.

We are all guilty of spending five dollars a meal from McDonalds or Burger King instead of taking a little time the day before and making our self our own meal, but let’s keep in mind that just because is made home doesn’t mean is healthy. According to the article “The state of obesity” by better policies of America more than one third of adults (34.9) are obese in the United States. But why is there so much obesity in the United States and who is there to blame? We can go ahead and blame the fast food restaurants or we can blame the people itself. Individuals are the ones to blame for the obesity in the United States because they have this idea of eating fast and easy, but just cause is fast does not mean healthy. Fast food are part of our daily life but is does not forces us to eat it.

Obesity is an issue that has been growing constantly in the United States. Due to the growing number of fast food restaurants and everything becoming more and more convenient to the human race, the population has been gaining an abundance of weight over the last several decades. The United States has the highest obesity rate among all of the countries in the world. The rates of obesity for each individual state in the United States all exceed 20 percent (Adult Obesity). Gary Stocklaufer, was a married man that was certified by the state to be a foster parent. Gary and his wife had been foster parents to a child of the family for three months when they filed the papers to adopt him. The judge did not allow Gary and his wife to adopt the child because of Gary’s weight; which at the time was between 500 and 600 pounds. The reason the judge had denied them the right to the adoption was because Gary was obese and he was likely to die at an early age due to a serious disease. The judge had stated the he was authorized to take into consideration the welfare and what was best for the child. A legal defense fund was started by the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) and the case was soon appealed. The judge ended up reversing his previous ruling because during the whole situation, Gary had gastric bypass surgery and lost 200 pounds. Gary’s story is only one of several stories where a person has been denied the right to adopt due to their weight (Grison, Heatherton,

“Did you know that the average weight of an American has increased twenty-four pounds since 1960?” (Stewart). Obesity is a growing issue in America and the government and society want to have a say in this issue. The government can not stop a person from becoming obese. In order to understand why the government and society is too involved in obesity, one needs to understand the physical and emotional effects society has on America, and how media affects views on obesity, and the government controlling food portions in schools.

Can you imagine your child having a shorter lifespan than you because of what you feed them? This may happen if parents continue to feed their children unhealthy foods, later leading to obesity. Obesity is a disorder involving excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems. “Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year.” Teen obesity is a serious issue since we have high statistics of obesity in the US, increasing health issues among teens and causes are becoming more complex.

For centuries obesity has been a problem among the people of these earth. During these last few years it has rapidly grown all around the world. Obesity has become a very big problem for all sexes and ages. And it has put The United States has been second in the list of countries of most obese people in the country. Obesity is a disease because it meets all the criteria and steps needed to be a disease. Being an obese person impairs you like any other disease. The United States is the second most obese industrialized country in the world. The first one being mexico but not by much.“It decreases life expectancy and impairs the normal functioning of the body; and it can be caused

As humans we all have certain motivations behind every action that we exhibit. This is called a hierarchy of needs, and in 1943 a scientist by the name of Abraham Maslow theorized it. When he discovered this characteristic of the human body, he came out with an organized chart, or pyramid. His pyramid showed five different levels, Basic needs, Safety, Love and Belonging, Self esteem, and Self-Actualization. Basically he created a blueprint for life. First you have to lay your foundation with your basic needs, then when you have those you add on safety and so on and son, until you get to Self-Actualization. Once you’ve reached the top, you’ve made it. But it is also saying that life is life and you can not do anything about