Obesity Is A Global 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).

“ In its purest form, demography focuses on the three forces that influence population size: fertility, mortality, and migration” (pg 35). Demography can help project the future effects of obesity because it relates greatly to the mortality aspect of demography because it is a risk factor for several diseases. The chapter discusses many aspects of obesity including measurement, overall trends, age, gender, race, and geographic location Body mass index which is weight divided by height is the most common way obesity is measured because of how easy it is to calculate and is used to determine if someone is classified as obese. However, BMI is not considered the most accurate measurement of obesity. A BMI of 30 is considered obese and the percentage of American adults that fall under this category has been increasing since the 70’s. People are generally more overweight then the past and the heaviest have gained the most. Rates of obesity have also been increasing in children as well. BMI increases with age and children who are obese are very likely to stay that way as

From the data we can see the average BMI and the percentage of obese individuals increased with income for men while it decreased for women. For example, for men the prevalence of obesity increased from 19.48% for those with an average household income of less than $10,000, to 26.09% for those with $80,000 or more; while for women with similar income groups, we find a substantial decrease in the obesity rate from 26.71% to 17.38%. from the data we can extrapolate that the mean BMI and the overall prevalence of obesity are relatively higher among men than women. For men, the mean BMI and the overall prevalence of obesity are 27.57 and 24.83%, respectively. The corresponding values for women are 26.29% and

An individual is often labeled “obese” when his or her weight is greater than what is considered to be healthy for his or her given height. The individual’s body mass index (BMI) is a reliable

Affecting over 36% of the population, obesity is a rising epidemic within the United States. An estimated 75% of adults over the age of twenty are classified as overweight or obese (Kolata, 2016). The disease affects women more significantly than men, with a greater prevalence within African American and Hispanic ethnic groups. Extreme obesity (BMI >40), affects six percent, and growing, of the American populace. This rise in obesity correlates not lonely with a lower life expectancy but also a rise in numerous other non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, pulmonary ailments, cardiovascular diseases, and mental health issues. Although the obesity epidemic is seen mostly within developed countries, such as the United States, the non-communicable disease is showing advancing prevalence and incidence rates worldwide, including low and middle income countries. The World Health Organization estimates one billion people are classified as overweight or obese (Kapil, 2016). In addition to the plethora of additional health care problems, obese patients are often hard to treat as the health care system does not yet have the equipment to detect, measure, or treat possible underlying problems. The treatment of obesity and related conditions is currently estimated to reach $100 billion within the United States (Kapil, 2016). Accounting for more than 100,000 premature deaths each year, the disease is the second highest noncommunicable and preventable disease

Besides, studies have shown that “The obesity epidemic ranks among the leading causes”. (WHO, 1998) are “poor diet and physical inactivity were the second leading cause of death in the USA in 2000 and may soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of avoidable death” (Mokdad et al.,2004). “Obesity is a complex medical condition, which has social and psychological dimensions and some major economic aspects.” (WHO, 2000). “It affects people of all ages and socio-economic groups, and of both genders, and is not restricted to developed countries” (WHO, 2000). From

The prevalence of obesity in the United States has doubled over the last two decades (Pomerantz et al, 2010) and tripled over the last three decades (Taylor et al, 2006); similar trends are also occurring worldwide (Sabharwal and Root, 2012).

In order to help those who are considered obese, we must first assess their BMI. The HEDIS outcomes measure for adult BMI assessments is “the percentage of adults 18–74 years of age who had an outpatient visit and whose BMI was documented in the past two years” (NCQA, 2015). Without proper documentation of an initial BMI as well as follow-up BMIs, we cannot track a patient’s progress or give them the proper guidance and resources necessary to become healthy.

According to the U.S news, obesity percentage in America is 32.8%, which makes our country takes the cake as the most overweight country. Nevertheless, the massive obesity rate in the citizens of America leads to a rise in numbers of people affected by the disease as well. “People who shrug off weight gain do so at their own risk -- risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of

I was shocked when I read in our text that obesity in the United States (U.S.) has increased in one decade from 12% to 70% (Knickman & Kover, 2015, p. 125). Obesity is linked to many preventable chronic diseases and pushes health care cost between $147 billion and $210 billion per year (The State of Obesity, 2015). Even though the metric for obesity, the body mass index (BMI) is an old metric for judging health, the data is staggering and needs to be addressed.

The emergence of obesity is attributed to sociological, genetic, economic and political causes. Obesity has made its way into

During this period, a continuous reduction in underweight with a simultaneous increase in obesity has been reported (Trishnee & Jeewon, 2014). In the United States (US) alone, medical costs related to obesity have risen from 78.5 billion a year in 1998 to 147 billion annually in 2008 (Trishnee & Jeewon, 2014). If current trends in obesity prevail, total healthcare costs attributable to obesity could reach up to the range of $861 to 957 billion by 2030 in the US (Trishnee & Jeewon, 2014).

It was merely a decade ago that the obesity epidemic was thought to only be a minor problem and had only alarmed a small number of endocrinologists interested by the size of the situation (James, 2008). However today, the problem of obesity is vast with more awareness of its presence by doctors and individuals alike. In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, “More than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese (CDC, 2014)”. These numbers are outrageous and eye opening, leaving millions looking for a solution to this troubling epidemic. Obesity is not simply a cosmetic flaw as some might think, but is actually a very dangerous state of being for any individual to sustain long-term. Mentioned further in

Obesity is a condition in which the over accumulation of adipose fat tissue causes the weight of a person to increase abnormally. Their weight exceeds by 20%, as a factor of their ideal body weight. According to recent analysis, statistics show that more than one third of the world’s population is targeted by obesity. Research shows that overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. Obesity occurs greatly amongst adults who are 18 years or older. An estimated 600 million adults were obese out of the 1.9 billion that were overweight, around the world in 2014. One in three adults in Mexico, New Zealand and United States are obese, and one in four adults in Australia, Canada, Chile and Hungary are obese. In contrast, rates of obesity are much lower in Asian countries, where approximately 2-4% of adults have obesity. In countries such as Mexico and the United States, Latino and Africans have the highest rates of obesity amongst all the individuals. However, along with adults, statistics show that the rates for obesity are also high among children within and below the age of 5. As calculated in 2013, the number of children across the world that were either overweight or obese was 42 million. Since then, the rates have increased by 30% more in in low- and middle-income countries than in developed countries. Due to the fact that this condition continues at higher rates across the world, several organizations, such as the World Health Organization, are working with and

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