Obesity Annotated Bibliography

America's children are not getting enough exercise, and the health risks due to obesity are becoming epidemic in nature. Even First Lady Michelle Obama is supporting an initiative to help children become more active and to provide for exercise (at least 30-60 minutes per day) in all schools. Even limited amounts of exercise can have great health benefits. When humans exercise, the brain produces chemicals that help enhance mood, limit cravings for sugars, and contribute to healthier joints, muscles, the heart, and kidneys. In turn, this translates into more productive work time, the ability to sleep better, increase memory, and reduce dependence on medications. Children are so vulnerable to this health risk that if it continues, over 60% of graduating seniors will be clinically obese. Written by a medical journalist, the book is designed for the lay reader but has a number of documented scholarly sources.

The sociological aspect of obesity shown through the impact of families, the government and the economy. The rapidly growing, fast-paced, technological society creates an epidemic of sorts. Families pursue the use of technology, restaurants and fast-paced eating as well as single parenting and parental denial. The government sets a significant health care cost to obesity, which prevents a solution and increases risks. A non-stable economy brings about a society filled with unemployment or multiple jobs as well as both parents working to stay above absolute or relative poverty leading to distractions from a healthy lifestyle. Obesity is a concern, not just for an individual but also for

The more general research question under review is about obesity. My researchable question is the effects of obesity on health, what health concerns can happen due to obesity. It can be easily found and discussed the potential dangers of obesity. People should care more about this topic because people need to care about their health. Obesity is lowering our expected years to live which it should be doing the opposite because of all the healthcare and medicine we have now. It is prevalent in the younger population which is different than it has been in the past. This is a problem that could potentially affect anyone or anyone you know, that is why people should care about this topic, it is a problem.

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.

Obesity is becoming an epidemic in the United States among children and adults. Health experts fear that by 2030, 42% of Americans will be obese; that is up from 36% in 2012 (Hellmich, N. 2012). We need to understand how other views on health can influence your risk of obesity. Genetics and lifestyle affect obesity; social and physical influences affect obesity. We can look at how economics and access to healthcare contribute to the obesity rate. What role the consumer and food industries play in the role of obesity. Those are just a few ideas that will be explored throughout this paper. Risk factors such as age, sex, race/ethnicity,

Moran, L.J, Z. Sui, C. Cramp, and J. Dodd. "A Decrease in Diet Quality Occurs During

Socioeconomic status (SES) is considered to be one of the more influential factors for health. Generally, there is a negative correlation between SES and obesity: increase in SES is results in a decrease in likelihood of obesity. However, this does not applicable in all cases. There is indeed some interplay occurring between socioeconomic status, sex, race, and ethnicity. Other factors can contribute to this phenomena as well, which will be discussed in later

If there are siblings and one of them becomes obese, there is a chance of 40% of the other one becoming obese. In married couples, if one of them gets obese, there is a 37% chance of the other spouse becoming obese. If one or both parents are obese, the possibility of their child to be obese is greater. It was shown that what families do, who they spend their time with, what they eat and how their family structure is generally, affects the child’s diet. A child is to learn from their parents, if their parents are obese, that’s what they’ll probably

Obesity did not become an issue until the early 1990s. Ever since the 1990s obesity keeps turning into a bigger and bigger problem every year in the United States. People need to investigate why they are obese because there are different reasons for becoming obese.

The United States is the second most obese country in the world. Obesity is accounted for 10 percent of all deaths in the U.S. Obesity is becoming so sever that people are beginning to believe that it is a disease. The definition of disease is “ Disease decreases life expectancy and impairs the normal functioning of the body.” Obesity is reported as an “epidemic” because of the continuous increase in rates each year. Obesity is argued to be a preventable risk factor for other diseases and conditions, but in reality it is a disease. (ProCon)

Obesity is measured on a scale called the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale. The BMI scale uses the factors of weight and height to determine an individual’s BMI number. According to Joel Young, MD, an individual whose BMI is over 25 is considered to be overweight, and someone whose BMI is over 30 is considered to be obese. More than two-thirds of Americans qualify as obese (Young sec. 1). Being obese clearly has multiple negative effects on physical health. However, it also affects mental health. Though many people sometimes overlook them, the mental health impacts of obesity can be very devastating, and just like the physical impacts,

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/).

More studies are showing that today’s American population is more over weight than ever before, and as a result we have higher amounts of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity. Many are seeking quick, and easy fixes and are turning to the trendy low carb diets, such as the Akins Diet, to help reduce these health related risks and issues. However, as a result low carb diets have proven to have unwanted side effects, physical health problems, and lack of long term sustainability.

In the example of Obesity, an individual’s obesity can be wrongly viewed as their own personal trouble but when viewed at a broader spectrum, it is noted that there is a variety of social issues involved which transforms it from a personal trouble to a social phenomenon. In addition to Mills’ ideas, there has been a significant amount of research which suggests obesity is a social phenomenon.

It occurs when energy intake from drink and food consumption is more than energy usage through physical activity and the body’s metabolism over a long time, leading to the accumulation of excess body fat. Nonetheless, many complex societal and behavioral factors contribute to the sources of obesity. An estimated 25% of Women in the UK are obese, and this is associated with social inequality: the frequency of obesity rises with greater levels of destitution.