Introduction
For a long time, obesity has been one of the notable health concerns that America has struggled with during the last five decades .Obesity as a health concern is not limited to America alone, it is a serious concern among other affluent societies like European countries. A considerable number of Americans spend a significant amount of money trying to lose weight. Obesity become an important focus in the news items during the year 2002.According to research findings, the rate of obesity among the American was at an average of 12% in 1990 and this rate was at 23% in the year 2005(Menifield, Doty and Fletcher 83-8).
As obesity continues to persist as health concern within American communities, the question on who is most responsible for the wide-spread obesity has not been adequately answered. Considering that there have been concerted efforts to intervene on the rising cases of obesity like research funded through public funds to generate knowledge on the possible mechanisms of controlling weight, enactment of regulations to help consumers in making better food choices, and numerous programs to encourage active healthy lifestyles. This coupled with educational programs meant to increase the public awareness on how to diet properly, the issue of obesity is largely a matter personal responsibility.
Causes of obesity
DeBruyne, Pinna and Whitney (176) explain that the problem of being overweight or obese is mainly as a result of energy imbalance within the body. It is commonly believed that people who are overweight have taken in more energy foods but they do not make use of this energy, so the excess energy is stored in the body tissues in the form of fat. As a remedy to losing the excess fat, many fitness therapists...
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...er Education, Inc. 2008 Summer; 19(3):83-8.
Shils, Maurice and Shike, Moshe. Modern nutrition in health and disease. 10th Edition.Philadelphia.Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006.
Works Cited
DeBruyne, Linda, Pinna, Kathryn and Whitney, Eleanor. Nutrition and Diet Therapy 7th edition, California, Cengage Learning, 2007.
Harvard Health Publications. Healthy Solutions to Lose Weight and Keep it Off. Boston, Harvard Health Publications, 2009.
Ling, Peter. Trends in obesity research. New York. Nova Publishers, 2005
Menifield CE, Doty N, Fletcher A. Obesity in America. Abstract only. The ABNF journal: official journal of the Association of Black Nursing Faculty in Higher Education, Inc. 2008 Summer; 19(3):83-8.
Shils, Maurice and Shike, Moshe. Modern nutrition in health and disease. 10th Edition.Philadelphia.Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006.
Obesity is on the rise, and it is becoming more and more of a national health concern. It effects more than 1/3 of the population, and an additional 1/3 is overweight. With obesity becoming more and more of a problem each year, the American population is going to suffer from a catastrophic health emergency.
Throughout the United States of America obesity is becoming a massive epidemic. Developing over the last thirty years, obesity had increased in call areas of the United States. Being overweight and obesity is a relatively simple concept, some extra pounds, but the factors behind the widespread obesity America is facing are anything but. With rising health food costs, which make it harder for many of America to have access to nutritious and beneficial foods, and a variety of other factors, America’s obesity problem is just that: a problem. We foster a culture of obesity, which has many underlying themes, that is a driving force behind America’s widening waist sizes. This culture is prevalent throughout the country and we see it promote unhealthy
Wardlaw, G. M., & Smith, A. M. (2011). Contemporary nutrition (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Wardlaw, G.M. and Smith. Contemporary Nutrition: Issues and Insights. 5th Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill, pp 85, 2004.
Obesity has increasingly become a significant public health concern in the United States. In the past four decades, the numbers of overweight children, adolescents, and adults has shot to high margins, and the rise cut cross all ages, races, and ethnicities for both males and females. A recent analysis by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that 30% of the American adult aged over the ages of twenty, which is a representation of over 60 million adults, was obese. Still the same survey indicated 16% of those between the ages of 16years and 19 years, which is over 9 million children and teenagers, were obese. This has come with its share of repe...
Calioglu, Arpi. “Eating Healthy.” Total Health 17 (1995): 42. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Roesch Library, Dayton. 18 Oct. 2002 <http://library.udayton.edu>.
According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident is that food intake is higher than the calories burned in physical activity. Excess of energy from food is stored in the body as fat causing an increase of weight. During the course of the last 40 years, obesity has grown enormously in the United States and the rates remain on the rise (pgs. 272-273).
One hundred and forty-seven billion dollars. This is the estimated cost of obesity in the United States (CDC, 2013). Today, obesity is on trend to being one of the biggest public health challenges since tobacco (Perry & Creamer, 2013). In 2010 33.7% of US adults and 17% of children aged 2-19 were considered obese (CDC, 2013). While obesity is rising at an exponential rate, there is disconnect between how society views and defines obesity and the actual medical costs and future health risks the disease holds (ACSM, 2010). This is where medical professionals need to bridge the gap of medical and social construction.
Since 1916, the United States Department of Agriculture (the government agency responsible for all U.S. policy regarding agriculture, food, and farming) has revised their recommendations several times. Unfortunately, money talks and the USDA’s recommendations are based on outdated science and are influenced by people with business interest. Even so, its recommendations are considered almost “holy” by physicians, nutritionists, and dieters, but in reality, they are the root cause of the problem. A single visit to our local public school cafeteria and it will become clear that they do not have the best interests of the children at heart. What they are feeding our innocent children is preposterous. Doctors, the people we trust and expect to be “the experts”, do not know much about the subject of nutrition. A vast majority of medical schools in the U.S. require just 25-30 hours or less of nutrition training, and some do not require at all. So doctors must rely on the ...
According to reports from the Centers for Disease Control, during the past thirty years the average rate of obesity in the US adult population has risen from under 20% to 35.7%. Secondly, during the same period, childhood obesity has tripled to a rate of 17%. It has been currently found that in more than a third of all children and adolescents are now considered to be overweight or obese. These shocking statistics show that a high prevalence of obesity appears to have increased significantly in the United States. It also continues to be a major public health concern, the total medical costs of obesity within the United States were estimated at $147 billion in 2008, and it is believed to continue to increase with the rising cost of health care. Secondly, obesity is also now considered to have become a global phenomenon. The World Health Organization has stated that obesity is responsible for approximately 8% of health costs in Europe and approximately over 10% of total deaths.
Whitney, E., DeBruyne, L. K., Pinna, K., & Rolfes, S. R. (2007). Nutrition through the Life Span: Childhood and Adolescence . Nutrition for health and health care (3rd ed., pp. 301-329). Belmount: Thomson/Wadsworth.
Proper nutrition is important in maintaining a long and healthy life. Most Americans are rushed due to their busy work schedules, and do not take the time to plan their diets properly. Like me, most Americans are unaware of the importance of eating a healthy diet and consume too many foods without the proper nutrients. Throughout my life I have been fortunate. I have not had any major health problems, and have been able to consume most foods without having to worry about gaining weight. These last two years, however, I started to gain weight and have become concerned with my diet. Changing my poor eating habits has been difficult for me, however, having this assignment has taught me that it is not as difficult as I previously imagined.
Obesity is a public health issue due to the complications it leads to later in life. Obese individuals are more susceptible in obtaining health problems such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, therefore have a higher risk of mortality (WHOgoogle). Yet not only is obesity a problem of the individual but of society as well. In 2008 US spent an estimated cost of $147 billion on medical cost of obesity, almost a 70 billion dollar increase since 1998(CDC). Both the detrimental health issues it leads a too and the excessive amount of cost it causes, obesity is epidemic that must be addressed.
Over the course of the last few decades, the U.S. has seen a drastic rise in the spread of obesity. Through the rise of large-scale fast food corporations, the blame has shifted toward the mass consumerism of these global industries. It is, however, due to poor lifestyle choices that the U.S. population has seen a significant increase in the percentage of people afflicted with obesity. In 1990 the percentage of obese people in the United States was approximated at around 15%. In 2010, however, it is said that “36 states had obesity rates of 25 percent or higher”(Millar). These rates have stayed consistent since 2003. The obesity problem in America is
Murray, F. (1994). Weight Management: The Key to Disease Prevention. Better Nutrition for Today's Living, 56(7), 44.