Influence of Health Care Delivery

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.

It is no doubt that obesity exists worldwide, but it is a very prevalent issue in the US. This pandemic has certainly risen in focus in the past decade, with a rate of obese children that has quadrupled since the 1970s. Though this issue seems quite new, obesity exists in every generation, and the adults in the current generation are living with thirty-four percent of their fellow adults obese. This amount may seem high, and

During the past 20 years, there has been a substantial increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. More than one-third of U.S.

“Obesity is a disease that affects more than one-third of the U.S adult population (approximately 78.6 million Americans). The number of Americans with obesity had steadily increase since 1960, a trend that has slowed down in recent years but show no sign of reversing”.

Health trends in the United States indicate that there are several real problems trending. First of all, the United States population is aging at a fairly rapid rate which means that the problems associate with old age are becoming more prevalent. Another issue that country must face is that obesity has become an epidemic that needs to be curtailed or the health system will not be able to help the people who are destined to adopt diseases associated with increased weight. This essay is a report with regard to the trends that are occurring in the United States health environment and what those trends mean for healthcare professionals.

Obese- is becoming an “epidemic!” We have 44.3 million people that are either obese or over weight. In 1986, the numbers were at 1 in 2000, and they became 1 in 400 by the year 2000. Even our high school age students are at an all time high of 16% overweight and 10% obese. As that number keeps increasing, future projections for covering healthcare expenditures must figure in the obese-related

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.

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

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and other developed economies. Over the past 30 years, the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents in the U.S. has increased at an alarming rate, from 5-7% to 18-20% by 2008 (CDC, 2012). In addition, a full one third of all children in the U.S. are now overweight.

The environmental factors that promote obesity are food consumption, and sedentary lifestyles. The problem with many Americans is that they eat more calories than they can burn in one day. The amount of food a person consumes and the amount of physical activity

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.

     Obesity is the net result of an excess of energy consumption over expenditure. Factors that must be considered as contributing to causation are: heredity, and altered metabolism of adipose tissue, the list goes on and on. Overeating is clearly a prominent contributor to obesity. Feeding behavior occurs in response to hunger and to appetite induced by the presence of food.

Technology has been advancing every day, which has tremendous effects on the lifestyle of people. People are dependent on technology, and as a lifestyle of people change, a demand of advance technology grows. Technological advancement has both positive and negative effects, for instance, benefits of technological advancement are time saving, increases the production, simplifies the communication, improved the health care and education and others. On the other hand, technology has decreased the human interaction, people are lazy and dependent due to technology, which has decreased the innovation and increases the health risks such as weight gain and obesity-related health issues. This paper will describe regarding the historical perspectives of U.S health care delivery system. The paper will contrast and describe the two technological advances and their impact on a health care delivery system. In addition, a paper will explain regarding the author and public opinion on technological advances.

There is an ongoing problem in the United States. According to the “Associated Press” this all began during the 1980’s and has got increasingly worse, especially in children. For children the obesity percentage has tripled and for adults it has doubled. The “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” tells us that there are 97 million obese adults. This number is expected to increase by over 42 percent by 2030. If a persons body weights is 30% or higher then he or she is considered obese. The leading causes of obesity include fast food restaurants, portion sizes, lack of exercise, and medical reasons. Obesity in America is an epidemic, but in most cases it is avoidable.

Overweight and obesity are serious problems in America today. Over 37 percent of adults are considered to be