Reducing The Spread Of Obesity

A number of recognizable key factors are responsible for the rise of the health club phenomenon. The most notable factor was the growing concern of people’s overall health and well-being. Awareness about the impact of obesity-related diseases on the quality of life and available health resources was heightened, especially following a statement issued by the Surgeon General’s office, which estimated the annual mortality resulting from obesity complications to be over a quarter of a million. Further research at the time showed about 6 in 10 American adults were overweight or obese, with only 4 in 10 adults falling within the healthy people indicator bracket. Between 1964 and 2004, 28 Surgeon General’s reports had been issued, all of which described the epidemiology and health consequences of unhealthy behaviors.1.

According to statistics from the Center of Disease and Control (2013), over 35.7% of Americans are obese. The obvious cause for such a huge amount of fat comes from bad eating habits and not enough physical activity. These problems occur because of the direction of the American culture. With America in an era of recession, many have relied on welfare and lost all hope, which has led them to not being active at home. The activities come from another part of America’s culture, electronic devices. People are less enthusiastic to exercise, because of TV and checking social media has been a must to do. Organic foods are for the human body, but also expensive in the United States. Many people can’t afford to purchase organic food, so they find the quickest and easiest solution which is fast food and microwaveable dinners. A person might ask, why should people care about the obese people and their lifestyle? Obesity is filled with statistics of death and disease. 18% of American deaths from 1986 to 2006 are caused by obese symptoms to adults between the ages of 40 and 75 (Masters, Reither, Powers, Yang, Burger & Link, 2013, pp.1900). Although there are not any recent statistics, Masters and his partners promise (2013, pp.1900) that there has not been a fight made to lower these results, which means obesity is still a big problem in American deaths. Even for the people that live and breathe today, obesity is still a major problem in today 's

Environment factors, including sedentary lifestyles, high energy intake and social aspects enhance the risk for obesity. A recently published evaluation of the Framingham Study provides an interesting alternative explanation for the worldwide increase in the prevalence of obesity, by demonstrating that the chance of a person to become obese is significantly higher when a friend, sibling or spouse are obese (Christakis and Fowler, 2007). Thus the social net work could be a relevant factor in the obesity epidemic.

I will be the first to admit, I was not a lean child by any means.

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.

Nguyen and El-Seraq (2010) report that obesity is “a complex interaction between the environment, genetic predisposition, and human behavior” (p. 4). According to Glassman, et al. (2013) there are a number of factors that can lead to obesity, including heredity, gender, race, emotions, inactivity, and diet. Cristakis and Fowler (2007) found that social networking between family members and friends can also influence becoming obese. If one or more family members or friends are obese, chances are greater that others within the group will be obese. This can lead to entire

It’s almost impossible to hide from the news and discussion about the obesity epidemic that’s taking both lives and shattering the quality of life world wide. It’s in the papers, on television and being blogged about on the internet almost endlessly.

Increasingly high obesity rates among the U.S. population have both personal and societal ramifications. For the individual, increased body mass has been linked to a myriad of health issues including heart disease, Type II diabetes, high cholesterol, cancer, strokes, kidney & liver disease, and hypertension. (Wilmore, et al., 2008) On a societal level, the Center for Disease Control estimates that obesity related medical care costs reached a staggering $147 billion in 2008 with obese patients costing $1,400 more per patient than those that fell into a "normal" weight rage (CDC). Obesity-related diseases may also contribute to millions of lost workdays and higher insurance premiums (CNBC).

The issue of obesity has been ongoing in the American society for over a decade and there is much that can be done to fix it. As the great businessman Richard Attias said, “Obesity is a problem that nearly every nation in the world is facing, but there is much that we can do to fix it” (Attais). With very little progress being made to stop or slow it down in the present time, the focus should be shifted towards the future. America’s younger generation should be taught about health, nutrition and preventing major weight gain. Adding lessons and classes to the American public school system that pertain to these subjects would greatly benefit our society in the future. Educating students about nutrition and physical activities will make them more aware about their health and staying healthy. This will cause students to be more proactive by eating healthier and exercising frequently. As a result, there will be a decrease in obesity in our society as the younger generation grows up.

the rates of obesity continue to rise at alarming rates in the U.S. Yet the causes of obesity are more than just a net sum of biological and dietary factors. Indeed, a complex nexus of social relationships and normative social cues moderate the association between obesity and the risk factors of obesity (Weinsier et al. 1998; Bloomgarden 2002). Research points toward an individuals’ social environment affecting one’s health behaviors (Berkman and Kawachi 2000). Therefore, it is increasingly necessary to use widen the understanding of what shapes a social environment, to examine critically the environments in which people live (MacIntyre and Ellaway 2003). For instance, Boardman et al. (2012) found that schools policies and context matter significantly for how school-aged children assess their own objective BMI. Denney, Krueger, Rogers, and Boardman (2004) found that BMI varies across sex and racial

In 2006, Dr. Schwartz, director of the Rudd center of food policy and obesity examined the influence of obesity on a non-selective study cases health and social life. Schwartz proposed an online free survey to obtain statistics about obesity and its major effects. “The present study examined the strength and limits of anti-fat bias among a large community-based online sample that represented a wide range of body weights.” Out of 4283 participants from different ages, sex and races, only 1500 weren’t obese. The study also showed that obese people are more likely to be unemployed, they are also more likely to have heart problems and diabetes. Another research, sponsored by The New England Journal of Medicine,

For example, inappropriate or unhelpful advice from medical providers and lack of physician referral/recommendation impact veteran’s diabetes self-management behavior, which can further influence diet choice (Nelson, Mcfarland, & Reiber, 2007). Lack of social support from friends, family, medical providers, homeless shelters, and VA facilities are also reinforcing factors that influence veterans diet choice (LePage & Garcia-Rea, 2008). Studies have shown that having social support can be helpful for encouraging and facilitating healthy eating behaviors (Martin et al., 1994). Another study cited by Holtz et al. (2014) provides evidence to show that social support over the Internet improves weight loss among veterans. Likewise, users who participated in a weight loss intervention via online forum reported receiving encouragement and motivation posts from other users, and as a result, this increased physical activity and diet choice (Holtz et al., 2014). With this in mind, it is important to note that while social support have been proven to improve diet choice, negative aspects of support such as nagging, unhelpful advice or a tendency to treat individual as ill or invalid can have a negative impact on F&Vs consumption among veterans (Ko et al., 2011). Moreover, a study conducted by Nelson, Mcfarland, and Reiber (2007) reveals that low perceived

It is now important to apply the social models and evaluate their effectiveness in explaining the increasing prevalence of health conditions associated with the obesity epidemic.

As many countries succeeded in fighting obesity, applying the same strategies used by those countries may solve obesity problem in the United States. To fight obesity, we have always tried the same methods which includes raising awareness, clarify the side effects of fast food and making cheap food easily reachable to everyone. No matter how great those ideas are and how wide they are applicable, obesity still concerns 70 % Americans. As a result, thinking outside of the box and applying several new ideas may help us improving overweight and obesity, at least childhood obesity. As obesity occurs in America generally for kids and teenagers, we should try to fix the problem from its origins. In other words, kids should be aware of the quality of fast food and should be offered an alternative daily healthy meal. Various nations have banned fast food advertisement in parks, public schools and kid’s TV channels. They are applying the “zoning” strategy which force kids indirectly to access healthy food. Based on the center of Science and Public Interest,

The social impact of being overweight and obese is very serious and can be detrimental to a person’s feeling of self-worth. Many people who are overweight become the targets of bias and stigma, and are vulnerable to negative attitudes in many different settings. Some areas of vulnerability are “places of employment, educational institutions, medical facilities, mass media, and interpersonal relationships” (Obesity, Bias, and Stigmatization. (n.d.). According to the American Heart Association, “nearly 78 million adults and 13 million children in the United States deal with the health and emotional effects of obesity every day” (Understanding the American Obesity Epidemic. (n.d.). The solution to obesity may seem easy to solve by simply taking