Obesity : A Complex Condition

In this study, they investigated the social spread of obesity by performing a quantitative analysis on 12,067 people that were a part of the Framingham Heart Study. Longitudinal statistical models were used to assess the effect of another person’s weight gain on an individual. They found that a person was 57% more likely to gain weight if they had a friend who became obese, 40% more likely if their sibling became obese, and 37% more likely if their spouse became obese. Hence, obesity seems to be influenced by social factors. This study seems like a reliable source as it was published by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007.

Dalton, S. (2005). Our Overweight Children: What Parents, Schools And Communities Can Do to Control the Fatness Epidemic. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Many people are unaware that more than third or 35.7 percent of adults are considered obese in America. In recent years obesity is the health topic of choice these days because obesity in America is a growing epidemic. One out of twenty people in America have extreme obesity. According to a 2009-2010 survey conducted by the National Health and Nutrition examination this data states that about one third of children and adolescents ages six to nine are considered to be overweight or obese. Adolescent obesity has more than tripled in young adults and doubled in children since the year 1980. Unless there is a cultural and behavioral change among Americans obesity will continue to spread and health problems will keep sky rocketing, but obesity can be prevented.

The United States have the highest rate of people battling obesity, with childhood obesity on the rise. Just about one-third of adults in America are obese, and about 17% of children are obese. There are many health problems associated with obesity, which are preventable. America has state and local programs to prevent obesity, which Centers for Disease control and Prevention funds in all 50 states. Obesity is considered one of the highest killers since the 1980’s, with fast food shops on the rise and the healthy prices going up it’s hard to control how we eat.

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

Obesity to some may not be technically a disorder or disease. Although those skeptics may have some excellent points the American Medical Association has officially reviewed and determined obesity to be a disorder. Obesity is simply just excess or extreme amount of body fat. Obesity is one of the most controversial health topics considering the amount of disagreements about it being an official disorder. One of the major disorder criteria’s that obesity meets is that it impairs the human body functions.

Per the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, more than 35 percent of American adults are obese, more than 34 percent is overweight, and 17 percent of the children from the United States are affected by obesity. Most people disregard the fact that Obesity is a known disease that affects our future and youth, but unlike most people I would rather save this human from their disease, by telling them they are unhealthy, than to let them live an unhealthy life. I did not hesitate letting a close family member know that his obesity is a disease that will just cripple his life more than it is right now. With the

Tackling obesity is a complex process that requires a proactive approach and interventions from the individual, society, local authorities, and public health service and partner organisation (PHE 2016f). In response to obesity as a public health issue, the government introduces no of policies, strategy and health campaign to tackle this problem, including Change4life campaign and Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England (Foresight 2007). Chang4life is a public health campaign in England, which started in 2009 supported by the Department of Health to tackle growing problem of obesity (Change4life 2016). This was the first campaign to adopt a social marketing approach to address obesity by making significant improvements in an individual’s diet, being physically active and alcohol consumption to improve their health (NHS Choices 2016a).

Obesity is a Complex problem with multiple factors involved. The issue is that various forms of solutions are required to deal with this problem. There is a policy gap which is a minimum number of early child health promotion programs in Atlantic Canada specifically Nova Scotia (Figure 2). Diseases traditionally not seen until adulthood are now prevalent in children as well, such as type 2 diabetes. Some people are not aware that childhood obesity can have serious implications later in life. Children who are at risk of obesity, or are already overweight or obese, need support to change their eating habits and physical activity to achieve a healthy weight. Improving awareness, knowledge and skills of healthy eating and physical activity are key to addressing this issue effectively. There is a widespread agreement that early child development is a fundamental building block for health and human development (Baker, Kusi-Achampong, Walker & Davison, 2011, p.1). There is a need for high quality child care programs that support early childhood development and health promotion for every Canadian child, regardless of their family’s background (Baker et al., 2011). Investing in childhood obesity prevention programs will be less expensive compared to the costs related with treating obese individuals (Cawley, 2010, p.367).

Obesity is primarily measured in body mass index or BMI, a BMI over 30 is considered obese. Until recently, there has been a steady rise of the obesity prevalence over the last three decades. The American taxpayers and the medical community face a huge challenge with regards to the 34.9% of adults and 16.9% of children who struggle with obesity (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014). Even with the prevalence of obesity remaining flat, morbid obesity, a BMI of over 40 has increased by two to three times the rate of moderate obesity (Sturm, 2007). Furthermore, 22.9% of Americans have metabolic syndrome, a condition of excess belly fat and commonly referred to as the skinny on the outside fat on the inside disease. Metabolic syndrome, like obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, type-one and type-two diabetes, cancer, and stroke (Beltrán-Sánchez, Harhay, Harhay, & McElligott, 2013). Unfortunately, the cost of treating obesity and obesity related diseases carry a significant financial burden for individuals, organizations, and the United States government.

Over the years I have come to realize that most people who actually want to lose weight in a healthy way are still battling with excessive weight gain despite practicing different weight loss approaches. Unfortunately, these people have spent huge amount of money on different weight loss strategies, which of course, do not guarantee any success.

With obesity rates being much higher than they were twenty or thirty years ago, it’s no surprise that people are looking for solutions. The influence of unhealthy food choices are not only becoming greater but also leading to other sicknesses. There are multiple culprits behind the cause of obesity those include advertisements, overpriced healthy foods and desserts. The current obesity rates are egregious compared to past years due to the prevalence of unhealthy food and advertisements for such foods. Those factors play an immense role in the current obesity epidemic.

Obesity is a complex multifactorial disease caused by genetic and epigenetic factors, among others. An adverse intrauterine environment, like excess or restrict diet, can lead the fetus to develop metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease when its grow up. These complications pass through family’s descendants as a result of epigenetic modifications. Physical activity is a non-pharmacology form of prevention and treatment of obesity, and it helps to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition, beside other elements. For this reason, this study evaluated whether or not a high sugar/high fat (HS/HF) diet would affect anxiety levels and memory patterns of female Wistar rats from generation F0, and if these changes

Obesity is one of the major health problems of today, which has taken on the proportions of the global epidemic. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 1.5 billion people are overweight, of which more than 500 million people are considered obese, which provides for the increase in prevalence in the coming years. Fourteen million Australians are overweight or obese in Australia (http://www.modi.monash.edu.au/obesity-facts-figures/obesity-in-australia/).

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