Obesity : A Growing Disease

“Soda Taxes: Gaining Steam or Getting Steamrolled?” is an enticing article by Anna Gorman that focuses on the issue of taxing sugary beverages and the effect it will ultimately have on the health of the general population. She mentions that the tax could reduce the rates of obesity and diabetes in the affected areas. She also points out the counter to this claim, that soda taxes may not have any effect on obesity rates at all and may give the government too much power over the consumer choice. Overall, she seems to advocate that soda is an unhealthy beverage and should be cut down among consumers. Soda however, is not the only unhealthy options out there. There is a plethora of products on the shelves of supermarkets and sold at restaurants.

The number of obese adults now exceeds 25 percent in nearly two thirds of states. The rates of obesity in America have risen in the last thirty years, costing Americans, health, happiness, money, and productivity (Obesity is a serious problem 12). In this research paper I will be telling you about arguments and opposing viewpoints about a growing epidemic in teens and adults, obesity. Currently this topic is very controversial about who is to blame the kids, the parents, or the advertising companies because the cost is so low and the advertisers are getting a lot of views because kids are less active. The biggest issue in my opinion is that the parents and children are not aware of all of the consequences and health risks they are putting not just themselves in but their children. With this paper I want to bring out these issues so the parents especially have a better knowledge of this whole situation. Also, in this paper I will be discussing how advertising, fast food, cost/portion size, and better education about obesity. Obesity is a growing epidemic in teens and adults across the world especially America and people need more education about this epidemic. My position on this topic is that I am against obesity.

Obesity has been a growing epidemic for decades. The United States is among the highest countries around the world to experience obesity. Nearly 78 million adults and 13 million children in the United States deal with obesity. (American Heart Association, 2017) Furthermore, death tolls for obesity range from 100,000 to 400,000 in the United States per year. This has caused an increase in health care use and expenditures an estimation of 147 billion dollars (Finkelstein, 2009). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is one of the top states where obesity prevalence is 35% or greater. (CDC, 2016) Social and environmental influences contribute to the rise of obesity. Nevertheless, there are some interventions and suggestions that can be applied to

Obesity is a nationwide epidemic and it continues to affect Americans of all ages, gender and ethnicity. It’s a condition of access body fat that can affect any person from young to old. This national crisis is becoming unbearable and defines Obesity as your BMI (Body Mass Index), which is a ratio of the individual’s height and weight. Obesity is caused from many factors, overeating, genetics, hormones, lack of physical activity and the environment which is a serious public health issue. The environment involves another person’s home, school, community or work that can provide barriers or opportunities for an inactive and active lifestyle. The majority of Americans eat at their convenience because fast food is rather more accessible than healthy

Considered as a disease by society since 2013, obesity has become a growing epidemic. It results from consuming an overly excessive amount of calories than the approximated two thousand that are necessary for everyday use. The extra calories that are not burned for immediate energy are stored as fat. This eventually leads to an accumulation of fat and thus, generates a large weight gain. It was once believed that obesity was only an issue for the developed countries, but globalization has changed this. As undeveloped countries transitioned from a traditional diet to a more western one, the rate of worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980. A western diet primarily consists of highly processed foods. This type of food is composed of high concentrations of sugar, sodium, fats, and carbohydrates. Through trade and multinational fast-food companies, globalization has allowed greater access to these very cheap and unhealthy processed foods. The trend of globalization increasing the number of obese people has been labeled by the World Health Organization as “globesity” (Brunner-Brown 1).

Obesity is amongst the fastest growing causes of disease and death in America. As stated by Obesity Action Coalition (2015), approximately every one in three children is affected by childhood obesity. Presently, more children are diagnosed with cases of hypertension, diabetes, and various other comorbid conditions alongside their condition of obesity (para 1). In order for a child to be identified as overweight, the child must have a body mass index for their particular age greater than 85 percent but less than 95 percent. In order for a child to be identified as obese or affected by obesity, the child’s body mass index for their particular age percentile must be greater than 95 percent.

Obesity is one major healthcare issue worldwide. This occurs in any race, gender, and ethnicity. In fact, individuals have been struggling with this problem way before the simplest sexually transmitted diseases were ever discovered. Buchwald (2003) states that, “An individual usually is considered obese when his or her body mass index (BMI) is over 30 percent.” Although it can occur in any individual, obesity is determined after a few factors: gender, height, and age. A physician is usually the one to determine BMI and whether an individual is obese or not. An individual who is obese but can easily take proper precautions to control their weight is not that serious. On the other hand, those who are way over a 30 percent BMI may have a bigger problem. For example, A 30 year old women weighing 500 pounds who only stands about 66 inches tall can be a bit risky. After this is discovered, individuals usually make surgery decisions if he/she cannot take control of their own weight. Often times, to jumpstart their weight loss, patients usually choose gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass surgery does not take all of the excess weight off of an individual but it starts the process. The surgery is very risky. Gastric bypass surgery causes a series of health problems, causes financial burdens, and navigates to lifestyle changes. Therefore, dieting and exercising should be the only decision an individual should make when thinking about how to lose weight.

The prevalence of obesity in the American population is growing at epidemic proportions. As our waistlines grow, so does the number of proposed solutions. Fad diets, celebrity workout videos, and fat burning pills promise Americans a quick fix. Despite what the billion dollar weight-loss industry claims, these various remedies rarely have any long- term success. The most effective weight loss model is quite simple in explanation but difficult in practice: make healthy food choices and exercise more.

Obesity is defined as a condition which weight gained has reached a point where it causes a substantial risk of health. World Health Organization has defined obesity as an abnormal or excessive fat increase that may impair health. Obesity is one of the most common Public Health challenges in the world and is already responsible for a major number of the health cost and deaths in society. Obesity rates have increased steeply in recent decades, with two-thirds of American adults being overweight and one- third of the entire population being obese. Significantly increasing in numbers of illnesses, including type-2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and infant mortality are arising in the United

With the rise of obesity rates in the United States, a need has risen for a long term, effective solution to help subdue this desperate crisis. Obesity rates in America have skyrocketed, but instead of stopping and plateauing like researchers hoped, they have continued to multiply every decade. Recently, Flegal and her researchers

Taxation will certainly incite healthier eating habits. It can be very difficult to change our current eating habits, even when they are harmful; however, increased prices can help. Since such purchases will cost more, while providing less nutritional value, some families may decide to choose healthier, and more affordable options. Therefore, taxation on sugary products may have a lasting impact on the public's eating

The soda tax policy has open eyes to many. It has positively and negatively impacted the public health and the economy of lower socio-economic cities. In order for the tax to maximize its potential, which includes improving the health of these communities and building their economy, the government has to take many things into considerations. “High prices remain a formidable barrier for many people, especially those of low socioeconomic status, to adopt a healthier diet;” however, lowering the prices of these goods will decrease the motivation to produce. To accommodate these people, price of both food and beverages should be adjusted. Also, the taxes would be more effective if government studies the elasticity of goods before making rash decisions.

We live in a busy era. In a blink of an eye a week and even a month passes by. Time is precious, and people are trying to cut corners in order to get things done faster. Most families have both parents working. After a long working day there is no desire to spend another couple of hours by the stove preparing dinner. The convenience of fast food has replaced most family’s homemade meals. Because of this, many Americans, especially children, eat processed food every day. The usual menu consist of a sugary cereal for breakfast, a “hot dog” and chips for lunch, and chicken nuggets and fries for dinner. Such processed food has a little or no nutritional value, which is why it is often called “junk food.” But why would any parent feed junk to their children? Is the body a garbage disposal? Why do people choose unhealthy foods? The problem is that it is very cheap, tasty, and in most cases it does not require cooking, which saves people a lot of time and money. However, junk food should be taxed because of these three reasons. First, it causes people to be overweight which leads to many health problems. Second, taxing junk food will encourage people to choose a healthier diet.

Even though these people only occasionally consume these foods, they will be unduly punished for the habits and decisions of others to whom they have no relation whatsoever. The consequence of a sugar tax is that it will penalize both those who enjoy an occasional treat as part of a balanced diet, as well as over-consumers. Tax on food and drink puts unnecessary pressure on responsible consumers. It will place the greatest encumbrance on the financially unstable, who spend a larger quantity of their income on their nutritional needs. Most consumers make responsible decisions, but a tax will punish them for the choices of those who do

Obesity is classified as one of the extremely common and serious public health problems in the world. Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading global risks of mortality in the world (World Health Organization, 2009). Furthermore, they are one of the major factors of for a number of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer (World Health Organization, 2005). According to NHS UK, obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more for adults, and the UK 1990 growth reference curves are used to define obesity for Children (Cole TJ, Freeman JV, Preece MA, 1995). The growing challenge of obesity of Europe countries is remarkable among Asian countries .In 2008, 1.4 billion adults (35%) aged 20 and over were overweight and 500 million were obese (11%). More than 40 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2012(World Health Organization, 2014). That is the global obesity situation. Furthermore, the obesity problem in the UK is not optimistic, the UK has the highest obesity rates among Europe countries, and this trend has strikingly increased over the recent years to the point where more than 20% of the population are now obese. (University of Birmingham, 2014) However, the obesity situation in Singapore is more worrisome. In 2010, 40% adults aged 18 to 69 were overweight and 10% were obese which is more than double the level seen in 1992. (Ministry of Health Singapore, 2010) This essay will