Obesity : The Obesity Epidemic

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.

As per Healthy People 2020 most Americans do not consume healthy diets and are not physically active at levels needed to maintain proper health. As a result of these behaviors the nation has experienced a dramatic increase in obesity in the U.S with 1 in 3 adults (34.0%) and 1 and 6 children and adolescents (16.2%) are obese. In addition to grave health consequences of being overweight and obese. It significantly raises medical cost and causes a great burden on the U.S medical care delivery system ("Healthy People 2020," 2014, p. 1).

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.

In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous burden on both the health and healthcare of those affected. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. According to the Centers of Disease Control, as of 2013, 34.9% of our population is considered overweight or obese. America is the richest yet the fattest nation in the world, and our obese backsides are the butt of jokes in every other country (Klein, 1994).

Obesity is a threat to the health of this nation and is the root of many life-threatening ailments, including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and type 2 diabetes (“What are the Risks of Obesity and Overweight” 2012). These diseases severely decrease the the quality of life for those affected, with many of the victims suffering greatly until they are consumed by death. The treatment of these diseases is expensive and it does not cure the underlying cause nor does it ameliorate its grueling side effects. 17% of children aged between 2 and 19 are obese (“Prevalence of Childhood Obesity” 2015), creating a new generation of obese Americans. These children are being plagued by diseases that previously solely affected adults, namely diabetes and heart disease. Along with the children, the elderly and middle-aged are prone to obesity as well. 40.2% of Americans between the ages of 40 and 59 are classified as obese, along with 37% of people over 60 (Ogden et. al., 2015). The quality of life for these individuals is severely diminished, and it is

It is no surprise that obesity is becoming an increasingly prominent health concern. In fact, since 1980 global obesity has almost doubled. (1) “The percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12-19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.” (2) “35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese.” (1) To put these percentages into perspective, in 2008 the world population was at almost 7 billion, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight, roughly 500 million were obese. (1) Obesity can no longer simply be a concern; it is a

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 in the United States has been a serious problem affecting Americans and has been continually growing higher in numbers each year. American obesity has nearly doubled within the last 40 years and is now considered to be an epidemic that is affecting millions of people around the nation. According to the National institute of Diabetes and digestive and kidney Diseases, 31% of men and 35% of women are considered seriously overweight, along with 15% of children between the ages of six and nineteen are also overweight. The lack of physical inactivity and extreme poor dieting are catching up to almost the same threat as cigarettes and tobacco smoking. We as a nation are considered to be the fattest country in the world.

“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 has been a growing problem in the U.S. for more than a decade. Various reasons and theories are thrown around as to the cause of this severe problem by psychologists, dietitians, and professors trying to pinpoint a single cause. Due to America’s vast supply of resources, luxurious living standards, and moral of the country, there is no one cause for obesity contrary to advertisements offering a quick-fix drug. America’s obesity problem is rooted much deeper than just cheap fast food and poor choices. Medical conditions, influence of genes, unhealthy lifestyles, and mental illnesses are all contributors towards obesity in any one person. Obesity is a serious problem in America with multiple contributors and one lone solution

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

The World Health Organization defines being overweight or obese as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair an individual’s state of health. One asks themselves, how being overweight or obese can be measured? Measuring or classifying an individual of being overweight or obese can be done by measuring an individual’s body mass index or BMI. BMI is an index that classifies individuals to determine if they are either underweight, normal weight, overweight or obesity. BMI can be easily calculated by an individual’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of individual’s height in meters (kg / m^2). According to the World Health Organization, an individual is classified by BMI, in the following order: underweight = <18.5, normal weight = 18.5-24.9, overweight = 25-29.9, obesity = >30. BMI is useful to measure population because it is standardized in both sexes and all ages in adults. According to the WHO, overweight and obesity is the fifth leading risk global deaths. Being overweight or obese can lead to diabetes, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular diseases (heart disease, stroke) and certain cancers (endometrial, breast and colon).

The impact of obesity has long been related to morbidity and mortality. Hippoccrates confirmed this: “Sudden death is more common in those who are naturally fat than in the lean.” (Bray, 2003, para. 2). It is estimated that approximately 300,000 preventable deaths occur annually, which amounts to 1,000 deaths per day, due to dietary and lifestyle factors that lead to obesity (Hill & Trowbridge, 1997). Yet America is fatter today than in the time of Hippocrates. Obesity has become so prevalent that it is increasingly impacting us, not only as individuals, but as a nation. It costs us in many ways. It costs us personally by impacting us physically, emotionally, and through the side-effects of carrying excess weight. These costs, and the

A healthy body tends to lead towards a higher quality of life and lower medical costs. Unfortunately, the United States’ population is suffering from an increasing epidemic of obesity. Ever since the 1970’s, obesity rates have more than doubled within adults and children (“Obesity in the U.S.”). Obesity is starting to be seen more and more in society, but it all starts with the individual deciding whether to become obese or not. Society defines being obese as having an excess of body fat; or in other terms, defined by body mass index, BMI, which is calculated with each individual’s height and weight (Centers for Disease 2010). There have been many efforts by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for obesity that focuses on policies and environmental strategies to make healthy eating and active living accessible and affordable for everyone. The stories we tell others shape us by determining whether or not we want to live a healthy or obese lifestyle. Obesity should not become a common lifestyle throughout the nation. The epidemic of obesity has negative health issues that affect the lifestyles of adults and children, and the government has not done a satisfying job in reducing this health issues.

Obesity is a major problem that both the developed and developing countries are facing today. An individual who is considered obese has a disproportionately large amount of fat stored in the body, beyond the point of simply being overweight. Over the past years, obesity has continued to increase tremendously in the world, and has become a threat to the health of many. It has alarmed the whole world and there are plenty of statistics available that prove its epidemic level. As per Liu & Elmquist,” Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and obesity related illnesses have become a leading preventable cause of death. The global pandemic of obesity affects the health of more than 500 million people. Obesity poses a major risk for other comorbid diseases and has become a leading preventable cause of death in the United States” (2012).According to Bell and