Informative Speech Obesity

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.

Obesity is defined as a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduce life expectancy and/or increased health problems. “The problem of obesity is increasing in the United States. Understanding the impact of social inequalities on health has become a public health priority in the new millennium. Social, political, and economic factors now are acknowledged to be "fundamental" causes of disease that affect behavior, beliefs, and biology.” (Goodman, 2003)  In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous problem. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. Obesity has not always been seen as a medical

Obesity has been a growing problem in the U.S. for more than a decade. Various reasons and theories are thrown around as to the cause of this severe problem by psychologists, dietitians, and professors trying to pinpoint a single cause. Due to America’s vast supply of resources, luxurious living standards, and moral of the country, there is no one cause for obesity contrary to advertisements offering a quick-fix drug. America’s obesity problem is rooted much deeper than just cheap fast food and poor choices. Medical conditions, influence of genes, unhealthy lifestyles, and mental illnesses are all contributors towards obesity in any one person. Obesity is a serious problem in America with multiple contributors and one lone solution

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.

After including additional keywords (fast food earnings, food oppression, food insecurity, minorities and low income paired with initial keywords and searching the reference lists of those articles already found, an additional search yielded a plethora of articles to choose from , some of which were actual research studies and others that were descriptive articles or summaries. The three articles in this review are the ones I found most profoundly supported my main arguments in my thesis statement. The research used to support my arguments employed qualitative methods for obtaining data which was supported by statistical information, professional and educational sources and articles from scholarly sources (Freeman, A. (2007); Adler, N. E., & Stewart, J. (2009); Kumanyika, S. & Grier, S., (2006). Kumanyika, S. & Grier, S., (2006), looks at obesity from the perspective of the government’s role in the situation, or lack thereof a presence in combating situations where they know people are getting taken advantage of through heavy influence from lobbyist groups. Adler, N. E., & Stewart, J. (2009), looks at the situations surrounding lifestyle choices, for example the availability of low cost foods, access to quick processed items versus nutritious ones and the poor quality of areas in these coined phrase, food deserts. Freeman, A. (2007), looks at the corporations and governments angle at keeping this an ongoing epidemic and ways in which they

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

Challenges of maintaining proper nutrition for the economically disadvantaged in the US. Studies show there is a clear difference in economic classes in regards to nutrition and food consumption. Low income groups find it very difficult to eat a healthy diet, and are experiencing food poverty or food insecurity. There are many reason for food poverty the main problems to eating a healthy diet are cost, accessibility, and education. The combination of these three problems creates areas in cities, counties and rural areas called food deserts.

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.

Obesity, or being overweight, is a common problem today. Walk down any street in America and a large majority of people seen will be overweight or obese. Obesity is determined by a measure of body mass index (BMI), which is an indicator of fat content in the body. The BMI score can be obtained by dividing weight in pounds (multiplied by 703) by height in inches squared. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight while a BMI of 30 or more indicates that one is obese. Being overweight affects nearly one third of the population of the United States, with another one third obese, and a portion of those are considered morbidly obese (a BMI of 40 or more). This statistic includes adults, adolescents, and school-aged children. Glassman, Glassman,

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess fats have grown and accumulated to the point of harm, and a shortened life expectancy. Obesity is a problem that has been more prominent in the 20th and 21st century and is now a main concern for both society and the government. It is the citizen’s duty to resolve this epidemic known as obesity in the United States.

For the sake of concise and clear discussion about America’s problem with obesity, it is first important to understand what this health condition entails. According to the definition provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity is defined as a condition where a person incurs excessive body fat (World Health Organization 4). Obesity has been among the epidemics that have affected the health conditions of Americans of all ages even those under the adolescent stage (Hardy, Harrell and Bell 376). Obesity causes other major health complications, such as diabetes, heart ailments, etc. making a major reason for concern. The US government spends millions of dollars each year to mitigate the effects of obesity as well in the efforts to prevent I, but not much success has been accomplished so far.

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.

Source I: The Obesity Epidemic in the United States: Gender, Age, Socioeconomic, Racial/ethnic, and Geographic Characteristics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis.

It was merely a decade ago that the obesity epidemic was thought to only be a minor problem and had only alarmed a small number of endocrinologists interested by the size of the situation (James, 2008). However today, the problem of obesity is vast with more awareness of its presence by doctors and individuals alike. In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, “More than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese (CDC, 2014)”. These numbers are outrageous and eye opening, leaving millions looking for a solution to this troubling epidemic. Obesity is not simply a cosmetic flaw as some might think, but is actually a very dangerous state of being for any individual to sustain long-term. Mentioned further in

Obesity has caused great dilemma in America. It was known as an adult disease. “Over two thirds of adults are over weight or obese.”(Obesity, Jerry R Ballenttne) these numbers are increasing rapidly. Obesity is not just a appearance