Did you know that “sugar-sweetened beverages are the single most fattening and disease promoting aspect of the modern diet” (“15 Things”), yet it is one of the most popular drinks in the United States? It is surprising that a liquid could cause so much damage to one’s health. This is one of many factors contributing to obesity. In fact, the population of obese adults who are of the age 20 and older in the United States has doubled since early 1960s, from 13.4% to 35.7% (“Overweight and Obesity Statics”). That means that more than one-third of adults are considered to be obese today in America, and its number is still increasing. This is something we need to further study since obesity causes critical health damages such as cancer, stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and stillborn for a child whose mother is obese.
Though I don’t have an obesity problem, I learned that what goes into my body affects my physical and mental health from my experience of being diagnosed with eating disorder. Since then, I started to study nutrition from my doctor and dietitian. The more I learned, the more I became interested. Consequently, my major is nutrition and I am taking a nutrition class. Thus, I have a basic knowledge of health studies, and am concerned about the obesity problem in the United States. I am eager to expand a research on obesity issue, including its causes and solutions. Obesity problem should be considered more seriously by all Americans, not because it looks
How would you feel if I told you that there is no one state with an obesity rate lower than 20%? Take this information and compare it to twenty years ago when every state had an obesity rate lower than 15%. Obesity has become not only the number one cause in death, but according to David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health and author of “Don’t Blame the Eater”, it is the number one cost in health care with numbers rising well over 100 billion dollars a year (196). There are many people we could blame, such as the food industry or the government, but before we start pointing fingers elsewhere, individuals need to stand up and take personal responsibility for their own actions and health. Either way it is evident a
Over one-half of all Americans are overweight or obese. If you are overweight or obese, carrying this extra weight puts you at risk for developing many diseases. Women generally have more subcutaneous fat than men, but appear to suffer a greater cardiovascular risk from a given degree of fat than women.
Obesity in the United States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 35.7% of American adults as obese and 17% of American children. Obesity is obviously a big problem in America. One of the major causes of Obesity in America is the high consumption of junk food. In order to combat America 's obesity problem, junk food must be made less appealing to the public. Lack of exercise and genetics also result in the build of fat on an individual. The high consumption of junk food is one of the major causes of the high obesity rates America faces. The increased availability and relatively low costs of this junk food make it appealing to the masses. One may ask, is Obesity really a disease? If so, what can be done to solve the problem? I will explain the arguments for, against, and under certain circumstance(s) and conclude with my preferred position on rather Obesity is a disease.
Obesity rates are soaring throughout North America (What Is Obesity?, 2013). With obesity reaching almost epidemic proportions in the United States, and the threat of a global epidemic, we must watch this alarming increase carefully ( Health Risks of Obesity, 2013). Obesity is defined as: "…an excess of adipose tissue…" (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014). The two most common measures of obesity are Body Mass Index (BMI is a ratio of weight to height) and relative weight index, such as percent desirable weight (Body Mass Index , 2013). BMI is the most frequently used measure of obesity as it has a strong correlation with more direct measures of adiposity, such as underwater weighing (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2013). Some
Obesity has become increasingly more prominent in American society. The Unites States has even been termed an overweight nation. Some twenty to thirty percent of American adults are now considered obese (Hwang 1999 and Hirsch et al 1997). With this in mind, Americans constantly look around themselves determining their weight status as well as that of those around them. While some Americans do fit the healthy category, others enter the underweight, overweight, and even obese categories, all of which can be unhealthy.
Recently, obesity has become an epidemic in many parts of the world. The condition has accelerated in the past thirty to fifty years, and its health effects are devastating. Obesity is a leading contributor of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and countless other health concerns. Obesity is also the second leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Currently, around one in three Americans are obese. Now more than ever, obesity prevention in the health field is a primary concern. However, many cases of obese children are related to parents or relatives who are overweight or obese themselves. With this predicament, obesity is a trend that must be stopped before it continues to worsen.
The obesity epidemic proves to be an issue in America and continues to grow with time. In simple terms, obesity is a disorder where the subject has increasing amounts of fat, leading to health problems in the future. This epidemic has steadily increased in American bodies for decades and researchers have tried to find the root causes of this problem. Though there is controversy as to what is the primary cause of this rising epidemic, it is clear that there are many factors that contribute to the fluctuating weight gain among many American citizens. With these factors, there are multiple perspectives of the epidemic. One of the primary perspectives is that an unhealthy diet contributes to obesity in Americans; with the popularity, convenience and cheap prices of fast food, statistics have shown direct relations of increasing obesity rates with an unhealthy diet. A secondary factor of rising obesity rates is the lack of exercise or activity in the body. Without a way to burn off excess calories, they sit in your stomach and there is not a good alternative to burn them off like in a workout. Additionally, with the strong presence media plays in society, there is an idea that women have to be stick-thin as the norm. As a result, there is a new perspective that being overweight is due to societal standards of skinny figures and the increasing media, creating weight bias. These different perspectives all provide a basis for researchers to explore this issue and find ways to
Obesity basically means having too much body fat. Not being overweight for your height, having too much muscle, or water in your body. What exactly is obesity? “Obesity is a condition that is associated with having an excess of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Obesity is classified as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater. BMI is a tool used to measure obesity. Obesity increases your risk of developing related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea, to name a few. Many individuals are affected by obesity and are not aware of it” (O.A.C, 2016). Causes of obesity vary from person to person, but most are from the same reasons. Taking in more calories than your body can burn leads to obesity because your body stores the unused calories as fat. Typical causes are eating too much food than your body can use, drinking too much alcohol, and not getting enough exercise. Many obese people who lose large amounts of weight and gain it back think it is their fault. They blame themselves for not having the willpower to keep the weight off. Many people regain more weight than they lost. Today, we know that biology is a big reason why some people cannot keep the weight off. Some people who live in the same place and eat the same foods become obese, while others do not. Our bodies have a complex system to help keep our
Children and adolescents with obesity and obesity related diseases reported to have systemic inflammation and evidence of endothelial activation. A recent study indicated that severely obese with metabolic syndrome schoolchildren (10-15 years) had a significantly higher cIMT, -IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, VCAM-1, ICAM-1 levels and other CVD risk factors compared to lean counterparts, 79 along with other studies153,154 obesity is associated with endothelial activation and inflammatory process in obese children. Indications for clinical intervention to prevent future CVD in obese children and adolescents is not well defined. 99 Clinical guidelines addressed the importance of lifestyle modifications, dietary and exercise interventions to prevent and
The everyday routines of life can and will be more difficult if encumbered with obesity.
More than one-third (36.5%) of adults in the United States are obese. Obesity is defined as a weight that is higher than what is considered as a healthy weight. Body Mass Index (BMI) is used as a screening tool for overweight and obesity. According to the World Health Organization, worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980. In 2016, 39% of women and 29% of men over the age of 18 were overweight. Today, around one in five children, ages 6-19 are obese. The obesity epidemic only continues to worsen in the United States. According to the article, “F an is Fat”, if obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, by 2030, 13 states could have adult obesity rates above 60 percent, 39 states could have rate above 50 percent, and all
As it currently stands, little has been done to adequately engage and educate communities with knowledge to effectively combat obesity. Surveys have been administered, and a health profile of 77 different neighborhoods in the Chicagoland area have been collected to reveal "alarming" health disparities between different communities (Thometz, 2017). Sadly, this reality is not very “alarming” for anyone who has lived in these communities. Limited access to vegetables and an abundance of fast food chains probably made residents aware that these disparities already exist.
Obesity in the United States has more than doubled over the past four decades. Prevalence of obesity cause many other disease such as diabetes and heart issues. Obesity can be described as a health condition of a person or people of a population that have excess body fat. Diabetes is a disease related to high level of blood sugar in the blood. Obesity and diabetes are among disease that have direct relationship with each other. As obesity increase in a population, diabetes increases too. Jennifer B.Marks, Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller researches in “Obesity in America: it’s getting worse”, Roger Z. Joanne a public health provider in the Obesity Action Coalition group researches in “Obesity and type 2 Diabetes”, Eckel H. Robert, Professor of Medicine in Colorado University researches in “Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: What can be Unified and What needs to Be Individualized”, and Obesity Society group researches in “Your weight and diabetes”, mention that while obesity and diabetes have different definition in medical process, the reason why people become obese and diabetic as well as how to prevent them is same. Eating larger portion size than what the body needs , lack of physical activity, and putting foods without good quality in diet are the major reasons that people become obese.
Obesity has become an epidemic in our over indulgent North American society. In addition to body image issues, obesity causes significant health issues. Society often views obesity to be a disease when it is actually a sign of a disorder, genetic or environmental. The percentage of our population that is growing overweight is increasing every year, and can become a very serious issue if it is not dealt with urgently. Problems relating to self-confidence, self-consciousness, and isolation can occur as a result.
Obesity is a condition in which the over accumulation of adipose fat tissue causes the weight of a person to increase abnormally. Their weight exceeds by 20%, as a factor of their ideal body weight. According to recent analysis, statistics show that more than one third of the world’s population is targeted by obesity. Research shows that overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. Obesity occurs greatly amongst adults who are 18 years or older. An estimated 600 million adults were obese out of the 1.9 billion that were overweight, around the world in 2014. One in three adults in Mexico, New Zealand and United States are obese, and one in four adults in Australia, Canada, Chile and Hungary are obese. In contrast, rates of obesity are much lower in Asian countries, where approximately 2-4% of adults have obesity. In countries such as Mexico and the United States, Latino and Africans have the highest rates of obesity amongst all the individuals. However, along with adults, statistics show that the rates for obesity are also high among children within and below the age of 5. As calculated in 2013, the number of children across the world that were either overweight or obese was 42 million. Since then, the rates have increased by 30% more in in low- and middle-income countries than in developed countries. Due to the fact that this condition continues at higher rates across the world, several organizations, such as the World Health Organization, are working with and