We as Americans are in the midst of the fight against one of the biggest factors harming our well-being…obesity. This epidemic is somewhat of a new problem for our modern society, as generations before us generally faced the inverse problem. Obesity has been on a steady rise for many years now due in part to the modernization of our country and the technological benefits that go hand-in-hand with those advancements. As obesity has become a commonplace problem, we are now adapting aspects of our society for this epidemic, such as enlarging the size of seats in movie theaters to accommodate our ever-increasing waist lines. Along with forcing structural changes, obesity and the many health problems that follow, cause our society to devote …show more content…
The most well-known diseases associated with being overweight include, but are not limited to, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. I tend to think of obesity as the opening of a hole, filled with health problems that worsen as you fall deeper and deeper in. In addition, the odds of you being able to lose weight, or climb out of the hole, become less and less likely as you fall deeper because much of the damage done to your body from obesity cannot be undone. But I have to wonder, if it’s so commonly known that a balanced diet and exercise can avoid these problems, then why has obesity been on such an upward slope? As Americans’ weight has grown, so too has the amount of sugar in our diets, especially within our beverage choices. Due to the increase in technology a lot has changed in the amount of choice and convenience we, as consumers, have in today’s society compared to previous generations. Until recent years, Americans were more likely to drink milk and water as opposed to soda or juice, especially in light of limited financial and accessibility reasons. Today I, like a lot of Americans, are more likely to grab a sugary beverage before a healthier choice like water. Most Americans know that soda is an unhealthy choice, one that can lead to an array of health problems related to obesity. One of these being the inhibition of the release of hormones like leptin, the hormone that gives you
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 is an increasing epidemic affecting the United States in an alarming and negative way. In the past centuries it was rare for Americans to be obese. Today they’re numerous factors contributing to the epidemic but they can be reversed with awareness of the severity of the issue, it’s affect on health, and a willingness to make changes in their daily life.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012), "more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese." This fact effectively underscores the seriousness of the issue at hand. Further, it means that obesity is affecting millions of people in the U.S. alone (either directly or indirectly). As McKnight (2006) points out, one of the leading causes of death in America is physical inactivity. Physical inactivity coupled with other factors has been branded a leading cause of obesity. Every day, people die from obesity related diseases including but not limited to hypertension and heart disease as others have their social lives greatly inhibited by the condition. In the recent past, debate has been rife on whether obesity should be branded a disease or a factor contributing to ill health. Whether classified as a disease or a factor contributing to ill health, the epidemic remains one of the main preventable causes of death not only in the U.S. but also across the world. In the modern day, both comfort and convenience have come to be regarded top human priories. In pursuance of these two "ideals", healthy living has seemingly taken a backseat. A sedentary lifestyle coupled with poor eating habits is slowly making America a fat nation and as a result, we are slowly gravitating towards poor health. It is this trend that is making obesity synonymous with disease. Obesity is however not a disease but one of the many factors that contribute to ill health.
Obesity is a condition caused in various ways. The number one cause of obesity is above average sugar consumption. According to the health documentary, “Fed Up”, the suggested amount of sugar intake per day is 4-6 tsp.; however, the average American consumes about 41 tsp. A common misconception is that obesity is caused by calories from fats; this is because when looking for a cause of obesity, researchers misconstrued fat caused by sugar to instead be caused by calories. This caused a “less fat” phenomenon and the food industry fooled consumers by putting the term less fat on their product. When that term is put on a food product, it typically means that in order to make the food have its delectable taste, the company adds more sugar. Sugar affects the body because once it gets ingested the sugar, or glucose, travels through the bloodstream until eventually the glucose reaches the pancreas. The human pancreas senses high blood sugar levels, causing it to secrete insulin, which will send the excess sugar back into other cells so that the other cells can use the glucose as energy, but the excess sugar after that process must be stored somewhere so it gets stored inside fat cells thus resulting in weight gain. A main issue with above average sugar consumption is the addictive factor to it. According to Fed Up, sugar is 8x more addictive than cocaine. Extremely large amounts of added sugar are found in carbonated soda beverages and while drinking soda in moderation is all right, drinking these sugary beverages can put one at risk of many health issues. Another cause of obesity is unhealthy lunch options in schools. In World War II potential military recruits had to be turned down for the army because they were malnourished. In response to this issue President Truman
Obesity in the United States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 35.7% of American adults as obese and 17% of American children. Obesity is obviously a big problem in America. One of the major causes of Obesity in America is the high consumption of junk food. In order to combat America 's obesity problem, junk food must be made less appealing to the public. Lack of exercise and genetics also result in the build of fat on an individual. The high consumption of junk food is one of the major causes of the high obesity rates America faces. The increased availability and relatively low costs of this junk food make it appealing to the masses. One may ask, is Obesity really a disease? If so, what can be done to solve the problem? I will explain the arguments for, against, and under certain circumstance(s) and conclude with my preferred position on rather Obesity is a disease.
Eight obesity-related diseases account for seventy-five percent of all health care costs in the U.S. These problems, which are directly tied to obesity, range from diabetes, stroke, and the leading cause of death in the United States, heart disease. One in every five American deaths are related to obesity. It is the second leading cause of preventable death, with nearly three hundred thousand people perishing every year to obesity-related diseases. Obese individuals not only feel the effects of their addiction physically, but financially as well. Adults who are considered obese spend forty-two percent more on healthcare costs than those who are deemed healthy. As U.S. citizens’ waistlines have expanded over the years, so have their portion sizes. Today, the average restaurant meal size is four times larger than it was in 1955. Hamburgers have expanded by twenty-three percent, while soft drinks have increased in size by fifty-one percent. As a result, the percentage of obese adults has more than doubled from 13.4 percent in 1962 to 35.1 percent today. The correlation between the disease epidemic and health care spending is connected by the United States’ lack of diet
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
A problem that continues to exacerbate each year is the rising amount of overweight and obese Americans. This does not come to a surprise considering American’s love for fast food and a living in a society which promotes physical inactivity. According to an article written by Jan Simmonds, “If you are more than a few pounds above your ideal weight, you are overweight. But if you are more than twenty percent above your ideal weight, you are obese.” This means that a person’s weight endangers their health which leads to other complications. The causes of obesity range from genetics, to combinations of hormonal, metabolic, behavioral factors, and changes in society.
Obesity is an epidemic that affects individuals worldwide. Unfortunately, more children are facing issues with obesity than ever before, leading to major health issues including diabetes, hypertension, and elevated cholesterol. The CDC website defines childhood obesity as a “BMI (body mass index) at or above the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex”("Defining Childhood Obesity," 2015, p. 1). It is important that parents understand that how the health of their child can affect the rest of their lives. The President-Elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics states that “to recognize obesity as a disease does help because it allows us to determine the chronic disease model and address obesity with community-level interventions, healthy interventions, and family interventions”(Devereaux, 2014, p. 288). This paper will examine an online website that is dedicated to the well-being and overall health of children. It will also analyze the mission, usability, and credibility of the online resource.
In addition, Obesity has cause many deaths in the United States that could been prevented by eating healthy foods and non-sugary drinks.
Obesity is a public health and policy problem. It brings with its numerous health effects. Overweight and obesity are the result of caloric imbalance. Obesity runs in families tend to have similar eating and exercise habits. Some evidence shows that if you are overweight, you are more likely to develop health problems. For example, diabetes, cancer and stroke.
Obesity has become a huge problem in the United States, and has affected almost everyone’s lives in some way. Obesity is not something people should take lightly, but many do. Obesity is very dangerous and can shorten a person’s life by years. Both David Zinczenko and Radley Balko agree that obesity is dangerous and has emerged as a huge problem. However, the two differ on why this problem has occurred and how it may be solved. Zinczenko believes that fast food restauraunts are at fault for the many unlabeled obvious health hazards. While Balko goes in the complete opposite direction, he says that obesity is our own fault and is causing healthy people to
Obesity is a growing disease within our ever quickening, largely sedentary society. The American Obesity Treatment Organization reported the current obesity problem in the US as 72 million people dealing with this disease and associated risk factors. Obesity is a disease that affects both adults and children. The CDC lists related risk factors of this disease as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, Type-2 diabetes, sleep apnea, and stroke ("Adult Obesity Facts"). Obesity is highly prevalent in Florida with rates as high as 25-30% (“Obesity Prevalence Maps”). As a nation, the goal set by Healthy People 2020 is to reduce the rate of obesity to less than 15% and as the data and statistics clearly show Florida is nowhere
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