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Obesity : A Growing Epidemic For Decades

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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 …show more content…

To combat the rise of obesity, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health launched the “Get Healthy Philly” program, which started in 2010. It was a remarkable initiative that brought together the government, community organizations, schools, and private sectors. The program promoted a healthy lifestyle, which included healthy eating, active living and smoke-free areas. The goal of the program was to increase life expectancy and reduce disease, disability and premature death. (Public Health, 2010) Corner stores provided a supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, and schools helped provide healthy snack and nutrition to students. A good social support has a great impact on reducing the rise of obesity. The social environment can either have a positive or negative impact on the overall epidemic. Supportive family and friends help determine healthy lifestyle choices for the people around them. If parents can promote healthy food choice behaviors and take part in physical activities it is more likely their children will follow their lead. Additionally, the environment in which an individual eats, such as home, work, school, etc. has a great effect on the health of the individual. “Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) is an initiative that makes healthy living easier by promoting environmental changes at the local level.” (CDC, 2012) The Philadelphia community provided variety of changes in effort to make a

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