An Obese Town of St. Albans in Queens, New York Essay

Obesity is becoming a major problem to many Americans as well as many people around the world. Being the second cause of preventable death in the United States, obesity increases the risk of numerous adverse health problems including breast cancer, heart disease, type II diabetes, osteoarthritis, colon cancer, stroke, and more. Obesity is defined as an excess proportion of total body fat, with a person being considered obese if his or her weight is twenty percent or more above normal body weight. A common way to measure obesity is by calculating the body mass index. An individual is considered overweight if his or her BMI is between twenty five and thirty,

According to the 2010 U.S Census, Abington was made up of 92.5% White, 2.1% Black, 0.3% American Indian, and 1.8% Asian (US Census Bureau 2010).

The cultural demographic in Queens County is heavily dominated by a melting pot of Asian cultures including Chinese, Korean and Indian. Historically, the Fresh Meadows was thriving Jewish community. In 2010, there was 44.3% White who may have celebrated the Jewish culture and 45.2% Asians. Now, it has been surveyed that 47.7% of the total population in Fresh Meadows is Asian (US Census Bureau, 2014). But, nonetheless, in this diverse community, it is not difficult to find someone who have the cultural background.

Obesity has played a major role in media over the last decade. With growing concern over the issue, a controversy over whether obesity is a disease itself or not has developed. Obesity, by definition, is a condition that is characterized by excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body, usually indicated by a body mass index of 30 or greater. According to the currently accepted definition of disease, a condition of the body or one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms, it can be concluded that obesity does not meet the criteria to be classified as a disease.

Obesity in America is real and profoundly alarming when you look at the major impact it has on our communities. Major health concerns like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure cases are at an all time high. Specifically, the disparity between low-income urban inner cities in regards to obesity as compared to more upper class wealthier communities makes you take pause. This relates to my professional goals of going back into my community as an activist and organizer of issues related to my environment, like health and education.

For people all over the world, obesity has reached an all time high and will only continue to climb. Obesity is the accumulation of excessive body fat on an individual that increases the chance of developing health complications. Obesity is a health condition that can cause much damage to an individuals mind and body, and has become linked to a shortened life span. It has caused an increase in blood pressure, strokes, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and heart disease. It has cause

Obesity is defined as an accumulation of excessive fat that impairs a person health or a body mass index (BMI) that greater than or equal 30 (WHO, 2012). Childhood obesity is a major public health epidemic in which the prevalence has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the United States over the past three decades with the highest prevalence in Blacks, Hispanics and Native American children and the number is

Obesity is when a person has excess body fat. It is calculated by dividing one’s weight by his or her height to get the body mass index (BMI=kg/m^2). This number is also used to screen for health problems that maybe be caused by certain weight categories. A BMI of 25-29.9 is considered to be overweight and over thirty is considered obese. A third of children are overweight (CDC, 2014). Obesity leads to significant physical and mental health consequences. Obese children are at risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, type two diabetes, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease and hypertension (CDC, 2014).

The ease of slipping on a pair of jeans turns into a battle between a thigh and pant leg while exerting too much pressure on the diaphragm; a loss of breath incurs. How can obesity be defined? This can be described as a critical medical condition in which the body fat has been accumulated in an abnormal way especially in the abdominal area. To be considered obese, a person’s Body Mass Index (BMI) must be 30 or greater, and this measurement can be calculated by dividing the person’s height and weight. Without having the need to find data, just looking around, more people are becoming overweight or obese. Where one problem begins,

According to MedicineNet.com obesity is defined by National Institutes of Health as a BMI (Body Max Index) of thirty and above. A BMI of fifty would be about fifty pounds overweight. BMI is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. A high BMI usually means high body fatness. Obesity is based on both genetic and behavioral factors. Although both these factors can play a huge role in obesity it is time for Americans to own up to the fact that we are making ourselves obese.

Obesity is defined by dictionary.com as the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. Obesity in the United States has gone up dramatically in the past couple decades and has transcended to being a major global epidemic. In the United States the obesity rate has doubled since 1970 to over 30% and more than two thirds of adults are overweight today while one third is obese (Hammond & Levine, 2010).

The prevalence of obesity continues to increase in the United States. Lack of physical activity and over consumption of foods that are high in calories, fat, sugar, and sodium, has negatively affected millions of Americans’ lives related to nutrition and personal health. Michigan is now 16th in the nation for the highest rate of obesity, with 31.2% of its total population being obese1. Detroit ranks second in the state for the number of obese individuals at 38.1%. Some contributing factors to such a high rate in this community are the lack of awareness of proper nutrition, abundance of low-income families, and lack of access to grocery stores with fresh food items.

Cross-tabulation was completed to produce a contingency table summarising the association between obesity and regions. Percentages are a better representation of the data because of the uneven numbers in the categories. Figure 2 indicates that the region with the highest percentage of obesity is the North West, 29.3%, and the region with the lowest is London, 21.2%. The South contains relative lower accounts of obesity, 24.2% and 25.9%, than the North, creating a North-South difference. Yorkshire contains the second highest percentage of obesity, 28.8%.

In general, obesity is a condition that is characterized by excessive body fat accumulation, to the extent that health can be impaired (International Journal of Epidemiology, 2010). Among children, it is defined as being higher than the 95th percentile for the given sex and age group on a smooth curve BMI chart (Puhl & Schwartz, 2003).

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