Obesity Epidemic: A Case Study

Fed up is a documentary that investigates the recent obesity epidemic; the obesity epidemic is considered “recent” because there has been a steady rise in obese and overweight Americans since the 1980s. This film formulates its analysis of United States’ obesity epidemic by denouncing US politics and the food industry for their immensely adverse influence on America’s overall health. Moreover, there was also an emphasis on the science of obesity and childhood obesity.

The film Fed Up is an American made documentary that examines the obesity epidemic, as well as, the food industry in an effort to uproot the underlining causes of exponential growth rates of obesity in America. The main objective behind the documentary is to educate and expose the current threat of obesity and the associated health complications in an attempt to motivate viewers to reevaluate and alter their current food choices. Fed Up utilizes data gathered through various professional interviews conducted with medical and food industry personnel to propose and support various claims. The film also includes personal stories provided by various children who are confused about and struggle with their obesity as an effective way to establish

Obesity has always been a topic that many have had due to the increase attention it has received. Across America, there has been a lot of attention on the obesity epidemic. In America and the inner cities, more people are eating meals away from home in addition to consuming larger portions from fast food restaurants. At this rate, gaining weight is the likely outcome. High energy dense food has become convenient and affordable. Fast food is almost everywhere in America and, contributes to the growing obesity epidemic. Access to healthy foods are either expensive or have a limited access to it. For example, soda is everywhere for low costs, but coconut water is expensive or not found easily depending on the demand for it. Our environment

Fed Up is a documentary about the obesity epidemic. Specifically, the government and big food companies role in it. The beginning of the film informs viewers of how they can make healthier food choices -That lots what we think we know about healthy eating isn't necessarily true. Then the focus shifts, and begins to criticize the lack of action taken by food companies. Regarding the issue, big food companies are hypocritical and have self-serving interests. They attempt to keep up sales by teaming up with their critics, deceiving the public, and raising other issues to avoid the ones at hand. In other words, propaganda. Big food companies use the propagandistic device card stacking to deceive and manipulate consumers.

The obesity epidemic and our nation’s health as a whole have many factors that include socioeconomic status in particular. Socioeconomic Status and Childhood Obesity will always shape our nations vision and mission with what we do with healthcare. Healthcare in America is in a major reconstruction faze, and is in much need of it, obesity and socioeconomic status are going to be the major contributors to this reconstruction.

The Walt Disney production “Wall-E” is a portrayed image of what our world could soon become. If you aren’t familiar with what the film is about, it is about obese humans relying on technology to do everything and anything for them. They weren’t concerned with their health at all, ordering jumbo soda and super-sized meals of fast food, for every meal. As Wall-E broads the ship and knocks some humans out of their delusional life style, they begin to realize something is seriously wrong with their health. Maybe it was because they couldn’t walk or maybe it was the realization that they couldn’t do anything for themselves. To make sure this doesn’t happen to the people of our world today, there is

If a person was given two plates in front of them, one with the chocolate cake and the other one with celery sticks, which one would be? My guess is that chocolate cake would be gone faster than the celery sticks. It is been heard that “you are what you eat” and that is fairly true. The food a person puts in their mouth affects the way they look. A very striking epidemic in America is the way people eta and how that effects them. It is becoming a great concern about the way people eat and how little to no exercise they get. Nearly 1/3 of adults are considered overweight or obese. The question is how does a person become that way in why haven’t they done anything about it? Obesity has become a national epidemic regarding social economic status along with the personal choice of living an inactive lifestyle and begins with children’s mental stability.

Obesity has started to rise not only in America, but also worldwide. America has begun consuming more fuel, more electronics, and most importantly, more food. Not just any food though. Americans are eating unhealthy foods and eating them more consistently. This means our energy intake has increased while our output has decreased or stayed constant, leading to an increase in weight for both adults and children. Obesity can lead to an increase in all kinds of health-related illness. Obesity is one of the highest causes of preventable deaths, only second to smoking. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, known as NHANES, is carried out by the Center for Disease Control to estimate obesity using BMI, or body mass index. In 1960, the data from NHANES showed that only 13.4 percent of Americans were obese and 0.9 percent were extremely obese. In 2010, NHANES showed that 36.1 percent were obese and 6.6 percent were extremely obese. This is equivalent to a 170 percent increase in obesity and a 600 percent increase in extreme obesity (Fryar). This increase in obesity can be attributed to increased portion sizes, advertisements, and technologies that have created an inactive lifestyle.

Obesity in the United States is an epidemic of growing proportions. According to the Center for Disease Control more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. ("Adult Obesity Facts", 2014). Obesity is defined as a body mass index or BMI, over 30. A person’s height and weight are used to determine BMI but does not measure how much body fat a person has.

Obesity has always been a problem since the beginning of civilization. Indulgence and scarcity are the primitive examples of how such a problem had formed. Now, obesity’s causation had evolved to more than just the simplicities. The U.S. is today’s modern examples of the modern epidemic. It’s become such an issue, to the point where the government is taking certain measures and employing programs to combat obesity. However, their methods are proven ineffective due to socioeconomic division among the poor who are unable to afford to change their lifestyle.

How many times a day do we spot an obese person walking down the street? And how often do we see an obese person overcome this difficulty? Obesity is an epidemic that affects people worldwide not only in the United States. “According to the world health organization, the obese population of the world as a whole is approximately 1 billion people” (Suestalts). Here, in the United States obesity rates are on what seems to be an unstoppable incline. “Recent statistics show that from 1980 to 2000 obesity rates more than doubled” (Suestalts). The most common causes of obesity are overeating, physical inactivity, and genetics.

Since the 1960s, the United States has experienced an uptick in the amount of patients living with chronic diseases such as type II diabetes, coronary artery disease, and obesity. Currently, diseases such as obesity overwhelm the US healthcare system, which incurs major financial cost and negatively affects an individual’s quality of life. Particularly, the growing epidemic of obesity is affecting millions of people. Distressingly, the current generation of children is cited as the first generation that will not outlive their parents. Childhood obesity is defined as a child’s weight that is disproportionate to their height. More specifically, the body mass index for the child’s age must exceed the 95th percentile. In the past, obesity in the pediatric population was seldom seen. Accordingly, healthcare policies written by lawmakers and endorsed by healthcare providers must be implemented in hopes of winning the war waged against childhood obesity. Most importantly, this report will analyze Alabama Public Schools Policies and Implementation which is grounded on the Federal Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. Additionally, this report will examine the historical, ethical, and political foundation of Alabama’s policy. In conclusion, this essay will reiterate the policy’s effectiveness and its impact on the nursing profession.

There’s an appalling epidemic in today’s society sweeping across not only the United States, but all across the globe. This horrible epidemic isn’t the bird flu, or any type of sickness, rather obesity. Today, obesity rates are at an all time high in America. This disease, obesity, is being passed down the family both genetically, and by the terrible eating habits developing in the US. Kids growing up in this generation are facing frightening issues such as increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., the list goes on. Zinczenko proves this in his text Don’t Blame the Eater, when he says, “Before 1994, diabetes in children was generally caused by a genetic disorder - Only about 5 percent of childhood causes were obesity-related, or Type 2, diabetes. Today, according to the National Institute of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in this country.” (Zinczenko 463) The sad part about it, is these kids more time than not, are born into these types of situations. There’s no surprise that obesity rates in America are directly correlated with the increasing amount of fast food chains popping up on every street corner. These fast food restaurants are masters of the art of advertising, and are using it as the strongest way of increasing sales. This is very dangerous because not all advertisements are true, despite what the common American might think, and it can be used to sway people’s thoughts

Over two-thirds of adults, or nearly 69 percent are considered overweight or obese. Of those, more than one-third are considered to be obese, while more than 1 in 20 are classified with extreme obesity.1 The main causes of these overwhelming rates of overweight and obesity are all too familiar: an unhealthy diet, a sedentary lifestyle and to a lesser extent perhaps genes play a role as well. In recent years, however, researchers have become increasingly focused on a potential additional contributor to the obesity epidemic that lives inside us all: billions and billions of gut microbes or microbiota.2

Published as a commentary in this month’s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dr. Bray and colleagues present a provocative thesis that links the U.S. obesity epidemic to the introduction and widespread use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as a sweetener of most beverages and processed foods. HFCS was introduced to the food processing industry in 1970 and is now consumed by all Americans at an average of 318 calories per capita per day, making up about 16% of the calories in the U.S. diet. Commonly found in most soft drinks, fruit drinks, canned fruits, dairy deserts, and baked goods, HFCS has unique properties that could contribute to weight gain. About half of its composition is fructose, which is rapidly emptied from the stomach, thereby