The basic aim of the paper is to carry out research work on the social concern which I have selected obesity. The topic of obesity has been selected because it has become a major social concern of the United States as well as other industrialized countries. Information related to the research of obesity will be helpful for determining major causes and adverse consequences which are associated with obesity in the U.S. This topic was selected with the hopes in finding effective ways which can be used for preventing the ever increasing numbers of obesity in the world. While a lot of people try to blame children, and even adults, being overweight and obese on genetics, that does not play as crucial of a role as people try to make it sounds. Some …show more content…
Obesity and overweight are because of caloric imbalance which has become one of the major and serious social concerns in America. Almost two third of adults in United States have become obese and overweight (Flegal et al., 2010). In spite of the media, the public, mass educational campaign, and health profession related to increased physical activity and benefits of a healthier diet, the occurrence of obesity is increasing in the United States with a rapid pace (Tompson et al., 2012). The rate of obesity has been doubled in recent decade, which is posing a serious challenge for health care professionals. The weight may come from muscle, bone, fat, and/or body water. Both terms mean that a person's weight is greater than what's considered healthy for his or her weight" (Medline Plus, 2013). Being obese increases one's risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and even some cancers. This also increases the cost in our economy. "The economic costs from the excess morbidity and mortality attributable to obesity-related diseases go beyond health-care costs alone, perhaps most notable are the consequent losses in productivity" (Wang, McPherson, Marsh, Gortmaker, & Brown, 2011). We need to be focusing on more physical activity and better eating …show more content…
As stated previously, along with home and school based intervention, it needs to get even bigger with community and government based interventions. Education is the key. By organizing community activities, walks can be planned to encourage physical activity, paths can be made for children to ride bikes on, and playgrounds can be established for things like basketball and other physical activity. By coming together as a community and encouraging these things within our children, obesity can decrease significantly over the next five to ten years. Preparing foods at home and leaving fast food chains alone is also a major factor in preventing obesity. The fast food industry has become a huge target in the obesity rate. "Erci Schlosser's surprise best-seller, Fast Food Nation, featured some familiar demonization arguments: A cynical industry targets children, reshapes their eating habits (it is hugely "profitable to increase the size and the fat content of their portions"), and literally spongers an epidemic ("no other nation in history has gotten so far so fast")" (Kersh & Morone,
The United States of America is known for having a high obesity level. According to David Frum from CNN, except for Mexicans, American citizens are more likely to become obese than any other nationality. Some obese countries have enforced an extra high tax on fast foods and other high calorie foods, and many people believe that the U.S. should adopt the fat tax as well. According to Dictionary.com, the fat tax is “a tax imposed on or proposed for high-fat or otherwise unhealthy foodstuffs”. Although a tax on junk food could reduce obesity, the low prices could protect low income families from going broke, and therefore a tax on junk food would not be beneficial to America.
In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous burden on both the health and healthcare of those affected. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. According to the Centers of Disease Control, as of 2013, 34.9% of our population is considered overweight or obese. America is the richest yet the fattest nation in the world, and our obese backsides are the butt of jokes in every other country (Klein, 1994).
many overweight children, for the first time ever the current generation of children is expected to have
In the beginning, it was just a few grains of sand. Now, those grains have seemed to triple in amount. The 1960’s were great, as many might recall. New rock bands from other countries were jamming out making number one hits on the billboards. Times were actually changing in more than just that one way though. Hiding behind the curtains, an “epidemic,” was about to break out. Unlike many epidemics, this one only pertained to the United States. The United States of America is very unique in many ways compared to most other countries of the world. Ranging from activities and the way they live, to the way its government is ran and how different the means of education
An estimated 97 million adults in the United States are overweight or obese (Klein 2000). “"Affecting one in five Americans – or more than 22 percent of the U.S. population – obesity is one of the most pervasive health problems in our nation right now," said George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of surgery and associate director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. "We need to implement steps to slow the progression of this national epidemic” (NAASO 1999). But the problem of obesity does not only affect the United States. "We now know that the growing prevalence of obesity is creating major health problems worldwide," said Dr. James O. Hill, president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Obesity was once regarded as unique to Americans, but it is now seen as a global health risk affecting developing and underdeveloped countries (AOA 2000). Obesity is increasing at an epidemic rate in the United States - 1.3% a year for women over 20. Rates of obesity among minority populations, including African-Americans and Hispanic Americans are especially high (AOA 2000). There is also a marked increase in obesity among children.
One can imagine how obesity is taking over the world 's population, so rapidly and it is obvious that the United States of America has high rates of Obesity. Obesity, also known as overweight, is a serious epidemic disease that can cause harm to the systems of the body including the heart. Obesity is the biggest threat to the United State of America 's population and something urgent has to be done, otherwise our future generation is at stake. the parent of U.S kids should be aware that obesity is affecting health, has national consequences, and lead to depression in the victims. If something is not done fast to alter this misfortune, there is a high percentage that our future generation is at stake.
The ongoing controversy as to who is to blame for this unhealthy food/obesity epidemic is fiercer than ever. Fingers have been pointed in all sorts of directions and will continue to be pointed. The industries, personal responsibility, food culture, and parents have all taken heat for this rapid increase of obesity. But who is really the root of this ongoing problem? Though the industries affect the rapid increase of obesity and health problems correlating to this unhealthy food crisis, it is not fully their fault. If you sit down and think about it, the people who are to blame are none the less but the parents.
know over the past couple of years America has become one one of the most obese countries in the world and to be quite honest the reason for it are right in front of us. If you go out to McDonalds everything is so ridiculously cheap. From snack cakes to 12 pack sodas being less than 5.00 you can easily say that there is a problem in how we are going about this obesity problem in the United States today. To be honest how many of us can honestly say that we have never indulged in some type of our favorite food that was extremely cheap these days? I can answer that for you not very man at all. Upon further research I noticed that in 2012 a study showed that obesity rated have increased at a constant level and have stayed there for about a couple of years but even that is still unacceptable. The reason why that is unacceptable is because about 40 percent of all Americans are obese to this day that is twice the amount that is was about 30 years ago and it is still growing in outrageous numbers. Not only has that but the number of children being obese nearly tripled in that time frame to about 17 percent. So in all honesty, do you believe that we are doing enough to bring these ridiculous numbers? Do you believe America is doing enough to bring these numbers down? I will answer that for you a big fat NO because making food that is unhealthy for you extremely cheap and giving your kids anything they want to eat no matter what it is apparently is not working at all and it needs to
Obesity in the United States has been a serious problem affecting Americans and has been continually growing higher in numbers each year. American obesity has nearly doubled within the last 40 years and is now considered to be an epidemic that is affecting millions of people around the nation. According to the National institute of Diabetes and digestive and kidney Diseases, 31% of men and 35% of women are considered seriously overweight, along with 15% of children between the ages of six and nineteen are also overweight. The lack of physical inactivity and extreme poor dieting are catching up to almost the same threat as cigarettes and tobacco smoking. We as a nation are considered to be the fattest country in the world.
The topic of obesity is a current American issue that is in the midst of being solved. Obesity, the condition of being overweight, was named a disease in 2013. Obesity has rapidly emerged as an American problem and poses as a serious health challenge. The cause of obesity has a lot to deal with America’s social dynamics. Today, advertisements are in all places promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. Considering the great expense of healthy foods, low income families can barely afford fruits and vegetables. These two ideas are greatly connected with the increasing obesity rate in the United States. Seventeen percent of American adolescents were considered obese from 2011 to 2014. This is double the amount of obese
Adult overweight and obesity have become a worldwide issue that has very dangerous consequences on health. World Health Organization defines obesity as the “epidemic of the 21st Century”. WHO reports show that 1.9 billion people with 18 years age and older are overweight, and 600 million of them are obese. In the United States, obesity is a serious problem today that results from overconsumption of high-fat food and sugary food with lack of exercise. The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention reports show that the obesity rates are above 20 percent in all states. Overweight and obesity have become a major public health issue because of their high rates of mortality and morbidity. People who are considered overweight or obese are at increased
It is no secret that obesity is huge problem in the United States. About 40% of the United States’ population is obese (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2015). According to CDC, obesity causes: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and is the second most preventable disease in the United States (2014). If that’s not enough of a public health problem, than add the 147 billion dollars spent in healthcare expenses just in the U.S. alone (CDC, 2014). According to the text, Public Health 101, “the prevalence of obesity has been steadily rising in the U.S. over the last 50 years; increasing over 250%” (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015, p. 114). The obesity percentages increase when a family is in poverty. The facts are that if you make about $30,000 a year; the children of that family is almost twice as likely to be obese than a family that is making 350% above the poverty level, which is about $136,000 a year (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015, p. 114). But, to make it even worse, the Mexican Americans and non-Hispanics black populations don’t even follow those statistics; they have a high obesity level in all socioeconomic levels (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015, p. 114).
Compared to other countries, the United States was reported to have the second highest rate of obesity in the world after Mexico. Over the past decade, cases of obesity have triplicated in the U.S., affecting more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of the adults (Ogden et al. 2014). Given the current trends, it is projected that 42% of the U.S. population will be obese by 2030 (Finkelstein et al. 2012). Aside from its nefarious impact on the overall quality of life of the affected individual on a micro level, obesity has an enormous economist cost on the US healthcare system. In their extensive annual medical spending report, Finkelstein et al. (2012) indicated that the annual medical cost for obesity in the US amount to $147 billion
Obesity, the condition of being severely overweight, is a serious issue in the United States that is gradually beginning to affect more and more citizens. In recent years, the number of Americans suffering from this chronic disease has significantly increased. Researchers have found that nearly one third of the U.S. population is considered overweight and, on average, three hundred thousand individuals die yearly as a result of obesity (Hollands et al. 2). When one participates in little to no physical activity and their diet consists mostly of high fat foods, chances are they will gain weight. If someone becomes obese, they may develop serious health related issues that, in some cases,
All over the united States, companies have created so many fast food restaurants that made people fat. We live in a world where people work every single day and they never have time to eat good food. So they rely on fast foods such as empanadas, buying hot dogs from the vendors,etc. People never have time to buy healthy food because they are always in a rush. Obesity has changed throughout the years. Obesity was never a big problem back in the old days when TV’s wasn’t available in their houses. People back then used to be healthy because they had enough time to eat healthy food to support their hunger and continuing their day. Nowadays, you see people running with a slice of pizza in their hands just because they are running late to go to