Policies to Combate Obesity Essay

Understanding the effects of poor and efficient eating habits and how to manage your health is crucial to the existence of a healthy population in the America. To understand these approaches, one has to understand some of the poor eating habits witnessed on most people in the United States. Paula (2015) states that only ten percent of the entire American population follow a daily diet consistent with the federal nutrient recommendations. Other than following the required nutrition, most people prefer meals rich in trans-fats, salt, saturated fat, and sugar and ignore fruits, vegetables, and fiber. The increased preference of poor nutrition contributes a total of four out of six in

Genes control almost every aspect of human life, and when it comes to weight there is no exception. Little is known, however, how much of an individual’s genes actually control the weight of certain individuals. Body fat can vary from person to person, yet some people have always carried more weight than others. Often times, when one person is overweight in the family, most of the other individuals in the same family are overweight as well. However, more than just genetics can go into being overweight, and a person’s genes are not the end all be all of obesity. Many times the environment surrounding people who are obese contributes to the overall weight of the individual, and when obesity promoting genes are mixed

Childhood obesity has reared itself as a hot-button issue in the United States – perhaps among them most salient public health challenges of our generation. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years (CDC), and in only rare exceptions does the evidence point to any foreseeable decline in such an aggressive trend. In terms of policy perspective, childhood obesity features three important characteristics of worthwhile analysis – market failure, government failure, and tangible cost-benefit calculations for various alternatives of addressing the problem. Market failures abound in public health and specifically childhood obesity, first and foremost with the

Although the "sizism" movement may have surfaced from the personal problem of an outspoken person, this movement is a political issue that needs to be addressed accordingly. Obesity is not only attributed to physiological but environmental factors as well. Americans are larger than they were 40 years ago (i.e. weigh more, are fatter, and less fit). "Approximately 55% of American adults are overweight" (Fattening 1). Many Americans resolve to lose weight, through do-it-yourself, non-clinical, or clinical means, yet there is no method that offers long-term weight loss. America's quest to increase self-esteem and attractiveness has created profits for the weight-loss industry while 22.5% of Americans remain clinically obese (1).

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

America has always been known as the country with the most powerful military in the world. Not only are we known for that, but we are also known to have the problem with obesity in the Unites States. Obesity is when an individual gains a lot of body fat and leads to other health problems. Individuals that gain a lot of body fat are due to unhealthy foods. Since the 1970’s many women had entered the workforce, this cause women to spend less time to prepare food for both the husband and kids. Food industry started to realize this was a good time to make money so they produce unhealthy foods. These products products were fill in with unhealthy chemicals. 70% of people in America are obese. The solution to solve this problem or to reduce the percentage rate of obesity in America is industries around the

Obesity has rapidly emerged as a serious health issue in America. The cause of obesity results from America’s social injustices. Today, food advertisements are in all places promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. Considering the great expense of healthy foods, low income families can barely afford fruits and vegetables. These two factors contribute to the increasing obesity rate in the United States. Unfortunately, it has taken an excessive amount of Americans to become obese for America to become aware of the issue and take action. Although obesity is still an increasing problem, America is fighting to reduce the number of obese citizens. As a result of low income and the media advertising unhealthy lifestyles, America is in the midst of an obesity epidemic.

164). In fact, a lot of other factors were considered in the rise of obesity,such as age group, education, water-consumption, and more. Although added sugars are a huge part of obesity, researchers have been able to link many other factors to the rise of obesity and as such, added sugars may not be the only factor in reducing obesity for every person.Like obesity, added sugars have a direct link to the increased development of diabetes. The increase of added sugars within chosen society trends, have escalated the prevalence of diabetes within the United States. Researchers believe that, “sugar-sweetened beverages are the primary source of added sugars in the U.S. diet” (Malik, Popkin, Bray, Després, Willett, & Hu, 2010, pg. 2477). In addition to added sugars within sugar-sweetened beverages, any item containing added sugars can lead to an increased risk of developing diabetes.However, “while experimental and observational studies suggest that sugar intake is associated with the development of type 2 diabetes, independent of its role in obesity, it is unclear whether alterations in sugar intake can account for differences in diabetes prevalence among overall populations” (Basu, Yoffe, Hills, & Lustig, 2013, pg. 1). While diabetes does have a direct link tothe increase in added sugars, other factors such as total calories, obesity, age

The obesity epidemic is rapidly advancing in the U.S., leading to physical and mental health problems as well as having financial impacts. Although there are existing federal programs and policies that address the obesity problem, these policies do not seem to account for the urgency of the current situation. It is essential to examine new policy strategies to combat the growing threat of obesity. Policy strategies explored in this paper include implementation of federal subsidization of healthy meals and taxation on fast food.

You have chosen an interesting topic to address for your policy statement. Obesity is indeed a major health problem that stemmed from our foods and sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks and fruit juices.1 This is also contributing the increase in obesity in children and the prevalence of childhood diabetes. It is interesting to note that while sugar consumption has increased exponentially, milk consumption among children and young adults has dropped 38 percent.1 It is obvious that the food and beverage industry is not focus on healthy calories.

Richard puts more information and facts and statistics about the effects of how sugar is bad and leads to obesity. Not only is sugar affecting your health physically, but also mentally. “Industry groups that make sweeteners have spread misinformation and launched a sketchy public relations campaign to downplay serious health risk”.

In our world today, time and money are becoming more scarce for the general public. For this reason, many Americans find themselves eating fast food or simply have an inadequate daily diet. Thus causing an increase in obesity rates nationwide. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey concluded that 2 out of every 3 adults in the United States of America are obese (NIH, 2010). With that being said, many Americans find themselves testing and attempting various ways to lose that excess weight. Some look for the quick fix (pills, teas, remedies, etc.) which majority of the time doesn’t work. Others go for the best way which is to simply eat

The fight against obesity has been increasingly tough as of lately. In most aspects, it might even seem like the United States is losing the battle. Greatly impacting the outcome of the battle are factors like chain restaurants, corner stores, supermarkets, farmers markets, as well as mobile vendors. Recognizing how a community's food environment influences its public health is vital in assuring healthy growth. Cities and counties around the country have sought to encourage and monitor the quality and quantity and to promote healthier options of what people eat in their communities, by implementing various regulations and incentives. There is a range of recommended policy options for increasing access to healthy foods and decreasing the predominance

Doctors say that including some added sugar in our diet is fine. But the truth is that most people consume too much added sugar and they have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, dental caries, and unnecessary weight. Excessive body weight increases the risk for the most chronic diseases. Did you know that an average American is consuming almost 66 pounds of added sugars every year? This is a very important matter and this problem must be addressed!

Fast food is responsible for the increase of obesity rates in Western nations. In order to curb obesity rates, government regulation from the local level is necessary. The fast food corporations are responsible for the obesity epidemic because they make false health claims about their food and market heavily to children. But critics of regulation state that individuals, along with their food choices are responsible for the obesity epidemic. But regulation proponents believe that fast food needs regulation because of high obesity rates in poor inner city neighborhoods. In order to curb current obesity rates, local governments must intervene by implementing fast food regulations.