Obesity: A Public Health Problem

Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide and its prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate (Barness et al, 2007). For thousands of years obesity was rarely seen, it was not until the 20th century that it became common, some much so that in 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally recognized obesity as a global epidemic (Caballero, 2007).

Obesity or overweight has become, a common factor for millions of people in America and other countries. Since the 1980’s the number of obesity or overweight adults and children has more than doubled. Today nearly one third of 2.1 million people are either overweight or obese. Here in the

It is no doubt that obesity exists worldwide, but it is a very prevalent issue in the US. This pandemic has certainly risen in focus in the past decade, with a rate of obese children that has quadrupled since the 1970s. Though this issue seems quite new, obesity exists in every generation, and the adults in the current generation are living with thirty-four percent of their fellow adults obese. This amount may seem high, and

“Obesity is a disease that affects more than one-third of the U.S adult population (approximately 78.6 million Americans). The number of Americans with obesity had steadily increase since 1960, a trend that has slowed down in recent years but show no sign of reversing”.

Obesity is becoming an increasingly significant health concern in the United States, nearly to the point of epidemic proportions. To be considered obese, one’s body weight must be at least 20% over their ideal body weight; unfortunately with this definition, over 30% of all Americans are obese. Alarmingly, approximately

Obesity has been measured or defined in various ways. Many researchers have differing opinions on the origins and effects of obesity. The rapidly increasing rates of obesity are often linked to a high calorie diet and little to no physical activity. Although obesity is seen as a disease that affects a person’s weight, it actually affects a lot more than that. Obesity can affect individuals in both adolescence and adulthood, their families, and the healthcare system. From an outside viewpoint, obesity looks like a disease that careless, inactive people develop. Not always is this the case. Obesity is not a disease that affects solely the weight of a person. To be considered obese, your BMI (body mass index) would have to be 30 or higher. Almost 70 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese. Not only does obesity affect the weight of a person, it can also lead to increased risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep apnea, and many other things. Questions posed on this dreadful disease by many people are on the origin of the disease, the effects and exponential growth of the disease, and the actions that are being taken to help provide a healthier environment for Americans and to establish programs and preventative methods across the country to help fight the ever increasing obesity rate.

Although many individuals are uncertain about the increasing statistics associated with obesity, more than seventy percent of men and virtually sixty-two percent of women within the United States adult population are overweight or obese (Wilmore, Costill, & Kenney). Obesity refers to the condition of having an excessive amount of body fat. If an individual’s amount of body fat becomes too excessive, he/she is at a much greater risk of developing life-altering diseases such as heart failure, hypertension, type II diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, etc. (Wilmore, et al., 2008).

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 in the United States is at an all time high and will continue to rise. Adults aren’t the only one’s getting fat. The outbreak is now spreading to children at an alarming rate. Today I will give you three main point concerning obesity. For my first point I will tell you how big of crisis obesity has become in America. My second point explains what some of the major causes of obesity are and my third point is about the major risk factors of being obese.

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide. It is currently plaguing both adults and children in the United States. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that

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.

Obesity is a major health challenge in the United States. The World Obesity Federation reports obesity has become a major growing health problem since infectious diseases and nutrient deficiencies began to fade in the first half of the 20th century (WOF, 2015, para 1). Obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare today. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention report more than one-third of adults in the United States are obese and childhood obesity is at 17 percent. Health information and education are needed to promote a healthier society. This discussion will examine influences, initiatives, developed outcomes and progress and the current status as it relates to obesity. Obesity is more than

To understand the full extent of the obesity epidemic, one must first understand what the term obese indicates. A person whose BMI, or body mass index, ranges above 30 is considered obese. The healthy BMI range for a normal person is between 19 and 24 (CDC). When an individual consumes more energy, or calories, than they use, the excess calories are stored in the body as fat and thus causes weight gain. Over time, without “both reduction of calorie intake and increased activity”, a larger amount of fat is stored and as a result obesity occurs (Diet and

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