Obesity : Obesity Causes And Solutions

Obesity has become an epidemic across the United States. Americans have continued to gain weight, increasing the amount of people that are considered obese by millions every few years. More and more experts have come to a consensus: weight needs to be addressed and changed in America. Many experts, however, have not found a way to completely solve this problem at large. In the article, “Rethinking Weight”, senior writer Amanda Spake directs attention to the barriers our society has built for obesity treatment. Through this attention, it becomes evident these barriers have developed from the changing ideals in our society. Roberta Seid, a lecturer at the University of Southern California, argues in “Too “Close to the Bone”: The Historical Context for Women’s Obsession with Slenderness” how our body ideals have changed the way our society views obesity. Both authors emphasize the problem our society faces with obesity becoming an epidemic, and how that needs to be changed so our society can live happier and healthier lives. Although both authors are achieving the same point, Spake concludes that obesity has stemmed from pharmaceutical problems and biological factors, while Seid holds that obesity has come from the changing fashion and body ideals in our society. By reading both articles in conjunction, it becomes clear that the root of this problem is our societal issues, obesity has become an epidemic because of the way our society neglects obesity from all aspects.

America, like any other country, has its assortment of problems: immigration, debt, or foreign affairs but one issue that is rather hard to overlook, literally, its obesity epidemic. The extra pounds have become a sight all too common in America’s society, “men are now on average seventeen pounds heavier than they were in the late seventies, and for women that figure is even higher: nineteen pounds.” (Kolbert). Obesity does not just affect adults in this way either, the kid population has been getting bigger, according to the numbers on a scale “the proportion of overweight children, age six to eleven, has more than doubled, while the proportion of overweight adolescents, age twelve to nineteen, has more than tripled.” (Kolbert). This issue has been a major concern to doctors and scientists for decades and in recent years, has even has the American Medical Association recognizing obesity to be a disease (Pollack). That is a highly debatable statement because obesity itself is a preventable lifestyle. Obesity is avoidable and curable to all (or at least most) of its sufferers. For some citizens, obesity is not a choice, rather genetics, but for the majority of the population, obesity is caused by an unhealthy diet and lazy lifestyle, and for these certain individuals, through a lot of work and discipline, the return to a healthy lifestyle is not as impossible as it may appear.

Today’s children are at risk to be the first generation in the modern era to have a life expectancy less than that of their parents (Lemonick, 3). This is because of obesity. In the last thirty years, the rate of obesity among adolescents in the United States has quadrupled, and the anatomical health repercussions are being felt (“A Comparison” 16). Ailments like heart disease and diabetes, that have a direct correlation with obesity, are all on the rise. The issue within society is that few people recognize that obesity is the root of these problems (Ward-Smith, 242). For this reason, Americans have allowed themselves to create a lifestyle where obesity will continue to exist. With a fast paced culture that demands results instantly, society

For years cartoons have depicted obese kids rolling down streets, however, this may become an unfortunate truth. The issue of the obesity epidemic in America has become an enormous issue. Obesity, which is the accurate term to describe being above overweight on the body mass index (bmi), is an epidemic with many causes that can have staggering effects. Industries have found ways to market their food products in order to gain money, uncaring of the trouble and harm they may be causing to others. The obesity epidemic has become a very controversial political topic being discussed nationwide. Despite how bad things have gotten there are ways to fix this broken country.

The readings for this week’s response paper consist of the second half of the book Fat-Talk Nation: The Human Cost of America’s War on Fat by Susan Greenhalgh. Unlike the first half, the second half of the book gives a broader look at the American weight obsession. Skinny shamming, the obsession with “normality”, health risks and relationship issues caused by the American public’s obsession with weight are all addressed in the last chapters (Greenhalgh 2015). Overall, the book does a good job of addressing the aspect of weight through biocitizenship. As the author states throughout, individuals are pressured into achieving a certain weight in order to fit into the mainstream culture’s ideal of a “healthy body” (Greenhalgh 2015). This is achieved through media,

The question of how the obesity epidemic has evolved over time is best answered by examining the topical literature—not necessarily critical analyses of anti-obesity propaganda, but the propaganda itself. The difference in content is similar to the distinction between primary and secondary sources. Although authors and critics like Deborah Lupton and Natalie Boero can connect concepts between the literature on a wider scale, the actual documents generated by anti-obesity groups and fat advocates provide the best context and examples of the trajectory of the supposed crises in the present day. Here we examine two such documents, one from the Mayo Clinic’s weight loss plan, “My Weight Solutions,” and the other from a writer in support of the fat advocacy movement, Health at Every Size (HAES). Both texts are guidelines for personal health in relation to lifestyle and whether weight plays a role in health; there are similarities between them, as well as stark contrasts. However, it may come as a surprise that there are more similarities than not. Both documents are written with a goal in mind—that is, encouraging readers to engage in healthy lifestyle choices. There is a significant focus on the individual and on realistic behavioral, and therefore psychological, strategies within both documents. Although both documents relate to concepts in Lupton 's Fat and Boero’s Killer Fat, the focus of this analysis will be on the primary documents themselves. The key difference between

They argue that many public health campaigns have made the problem of obesity worse by minimizing how difficult it is for individuals to lose weight. This book challenges governments to abandon top-down planning solutions in favor of bottom-up innovations to confront the obesity crisis. From XXL, the section that speaks of all the risk involved with being obese is the perspective used in this report. It recalls various facts helpful to readers so they can understands what is behind the struggles of obesity. These facts include the approximate death a year in the United States, the various illnesses and disabilities of obesity, how bullying affects the obese individual, etc. XXL is a great source of information for anyone looking to research

Much has been written to explain the medical aspect of obesity but little attention has been paid to understanding the sociological aspect of the epidemic. This research attempts to understand the sociological aspect of obesity by examining the socio-cultural, gender, and psycho-social effects and includes the different perceptions of the epidemic as well as what is deemed acceptable in the society we live in.

In recent years, obesity rates continue to grow in the United States, not just overweight, socialization difficulties, but it is a society that is developing a new medical condition. However, a worrying number of overweight Americans living with this abnormal condition does nothing to fix their obstacle, satisfies with light diets, and few minutes a day of exercise. ''While the number of obese adults has doubled since the 1980s, extremely obese adults has quadrupled, currently affecting one in every 50 adults, an estimated 300,000 people in the United States die annually from obesity-related diseases'' (O’Donnell, par.4). Unfortunately, years ago obesity were not an overwhelming problem in proportion, as now, each person has to prevent the number of calories to consume a day to be in the healthy average. Across the country, obesity is an epidemic that affects the quality of life, because unbalanced diets cause our body’s improper nutrition and deficient the essential vitamins and minerals our bodies require. Obesity should not be seen as an epidemic, instead as a medical condition that can be solved and controlled through the following years.

Since the 1980’s scholars and medical professionals have branded obesity as a disease of epidemic proportions in order to instill fear into the substantial overweight population of America so that they may begin slimming down, whether through professional, unconventional, unreliable, or sometimes unsafe methods. Constant negative portrayal of excess body fat has led society

Obesity basically means having too much body fat. Not being overweight for your height, having too much muscle, or water in your body. What exactly is obesity? “Obesity is a condition that is associated with having an excess of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Obesity is classified as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater. BMI is a tool used to measure obesity. Obesity increases your risk of developing related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea, to name a few. Many individuals are affected by obesity and are not aware of it” (O.A.C, 2016). Causes of obesity vary from person to person, but most are from the same reasons. Taking in more calories than your body can burn leads to obesity because your body stores the unused calories as fat. Typical causes are eating too much food than your body can use, drinking too much alcohol, and not getting enough exercise. Many obese people who lose large amounts of weight and gain it back think it is their fault. They blame themselves for not having the willpower to keep the weight off. Many people regain more weight than they lost. Today, we know that biology is a big reason why some people cannot keep the weight off. Some people who live in the same place and eat the same foods become obese, while others do not. Our bodies have a complex system to help keep our

This essay discusses how social constructions have an effect on obesity and what combination of causes and contributing factors it includes can lead to obesity. `Obesity is the term used to describe someone who is overweight and unhealthy. Obesity shortens life by an average of 10 years. It is very common in the UK and results from a study back in 2014 showed that a whopping 65.3% of men and 58.1% of women are obese here. (UniversityOfBirmingham,2016) Being over weight is generally associated with being lazy and unpleasant. There are a lot of media groups that have influenced our society’s perception on obesity and many factors that lead to the disease. Obesity can be life threatening and can be the start of lethal conditions such as diabetes,

Obesity refers to the condition of having an extra amount of body fat. Obesity is caused by eating too much and moving too little. When an individual’s amount of body fat becomes too high, they are at a greater risk of being affected with life changing diseases such as heart failure, hypertension, type II diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, and others. This shows that people should become more physically active and attempt to make healthier choices because their life depends on the decisions, they make.

The everyday routines of life can and will be more difficult if encumbered with obesity.

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