Obesity is an epidemic in America, greatly impacting youth, the health care system, and economically vulnerable populations. Among all of the high-income countries in the world, obesity rates remain the highest in the US. According to Harvard, US obesity rates have more than doubled since 1980, although they have remained the same since 2003. (Harvard School of Public Health) Approximately 31.9% of children and adolescents from the ages of 2 to 19 are obese or overweight (NPLAN), while roughly 69% of adults fall into the category of overweight or obese. (Harvard School of Public Health) With obesity rates this high, America is facing a huge crisis that could become greater in the future. In order to understand the issue of Obesity in America it is important to evaluate the extent to which the problem effects large populations of children and adults and how the fast food industry has served as one of the major causes of this epidemic. About nine million children are obese among those who are more than six years of age. (Alderman, Jess, et al.) In order to diagnose a child with obesity, one must calculate the child’s body mass index(BMI). The child’s BMI, which is factored by weight and height, is compared with children of the same sex and age across the country on a specific chart. A child is considered obese if they have a BMI higher than 95% of the population. Since 1980, the amount of overweight children has multiplied, and among adolescents, the number has nearly tripled which will most surely increase the likelihood of health problems leading in adolescents and into adulthood. Children are "gaining weight to a dangerous degree and at an alarming rate" regardless of gender, race, socioeconomic status, or geographic location... ... middle of paper ... ... Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Harvard School of Public Health. "Adult Obesity." Harvard School of Public Health. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN). "Model Healthy Food Zone Ordinance." NPLAN. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. NBC News Dateline. "Dirty Dining?" NBC News. NBC News, 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2014. Trust for America's Health, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "Fast Facts: Economic Costs of Obesity." F as in Fat. Trust for America's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Trust for America's Health, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation "Interactive: Adult Obesity in the United States, 1990-2012." F as in Fat. Trust for America's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Obesity is a rising problem in the United States. With obesity rates on the rise something must be done to prevent this massive issue. There are ways to help including educating at young ages, improving nutrition facts at restaurants, and providing more space for citizens to get physically active.
Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.
There is an alarming rise in childhood obesity throughout the United States, making it an epidemic in our country. Obesity has become a threat to the health of many children. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. 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.(Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015)
Tom Harkin, US congressman from Iowa, says that obesity now contributes to the death of more than 360,000 Americans a year. The incidence of childhood obesity is now at epidemic levels. Alarm bells are going off all over the place, but our government has basically done nothing. The obesity rate has risen to epidemic proportions in the United States. Communities across the country, recognizing obesity as an issue of serious public health concern, are looking for innovative ways to halt the increasing rate of obesity (Davis 260). The rising prevalence of childhood and adult obesity can be explained in part by changes in our environment over the last 30 years; in particular, the unlimited supply of convenient, highly palatable and energy-dense foods, coupled with a lifestyle typified by low physical activity (Farooqui 5-7). Childhood obesity in America is a growing epidemic--because of advertisement of fast food, lack of physical activities, and parental control--that has lasting psychological effects.
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...
With the continued growth of fast food restaurants, low priced food, and fast friendly service, these restaurants have become very appealing to the average consumer. With this increase in popularity, there has come many problems for these companies associated with the fast food industry. These stores are being blamed for the rise of obesity and other health issues in America; leading to many wanting a ban or probation on these fast food restaurants. The Government has stepped in on this issue and is trying to coming up with solutions for this so called “epidemic”. “One ordinance has passed by the Los Angeles City Council that bans the issuance of permits relating to the construction of any new fast food restaurants in South Los Angeles, California to promote healthy eating choices” (Creighton, 2009, p. 249). This law stops fast food restaurants from building any new stores in South Los Angeles. This law tells people that the “government is better at making choices for people than the people are for themselves” (Creighton, 2009, p. 249). It is like the government is treating their citizens like children making decisions for them, because they do not know better. Fast food restaurants should not be blamed for the consumers’ health problems, because it is the consumers’ choice to eat there, and these restaurants are not as bad as anti-fast food activists make them out to be.
Today, 78.1 million American adults and 12.5 million children are obese. Obesity in America is a unstoppable epidemic. Since the 1960s, the number of obese adults have doubled and the number of obese children have tripled. Because of America’s obesity problems, Surgeon General David Satcher issued a report saying; "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight," said that obesity "have reached epidemic proportions" in America. Obesity in America has no doubt reached epidemic proportions. Since 2001, America has been the most obese country in the world. This essay discusses what obesity is and how it is affecting today’s America by answers the following questions:
The American diet has changed dramatically in the past couple centuries and so has the restaurant industry. The result of this change in Americans actions and diets is a rising obesity rate among children. In the 1970s, the childhood obesity rate was five percent of children (2-19 years old). The obesity rates doubled in the 1980s and by 2008 16.9% of children were obese (Grossklavs and Marvlesin). The percentage of obese children has more than tripled in the last 40 years. The growing epidemic is dangerous and alarming. There are many factors that contribute to the dramatic rise of obesity children. As obesity has grown, so has the fast food industry. “Between 1977 and 1995, the percentage of meals and snacks eaten at fast food restaurants doubled,” (...
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.
The percentage of obese Americans rose 21 percent from 1980 to 2013 (“Prevalence of Overweight”). That equates to a .62 percent increase annually. In 1990, not one state in the U.S. had an obesity rate of over fifteen percent, by 2010 not one state had an obesity rate of under twenty percent and almost a quarter of the states had obesity rates over thirty percent (“Obesity Trends”, 2). Obesity rate percentages between men and women have risen at approximately equal levels. Among American women, those with a college degree are less than half as likely to be obese. While obesity levels rose equally across all economic levels in the U.S., those in lower income brackets are almost twice as likely to become obese (“Adult Obesity Facts”). Obesity is becoming more prevalent in our youth. Among six to eleven year olds the obesity rate rose from seven percent to eighteen percent between 1980 and 2013. Among twelve to nineteen year olds the obesity rate rose from five to almost twenty one percent in the same time period ("Childhood Obesity Facts")
Childhood obesity is an increasing problem here in the United States. According to Schuab and Marian (2011) “Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions” (P.553). The prevalence of child obesity and overweight has increased over the last 30 years all over the United States, becoming one of the biggest public health challenges (Moreno, Johnson-Shelton, & Boles, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to give a background of the obesity epidemic, a review of current policy, and make a policy recommendation.
It has become common today to dismiss the topic of obesity due to the fast food diets. In discussions about obesity, one controversial issue has been the effect fast food restaurants have on health. Many people today do not want to realize how badly fast food affects the human body. They also do not want to accept the fact that obesity has become such a major problem in today’s world. “Today, one in three adults is considered clinically obese, along with one in five kids, and 24 million Americans are afflicted by type 2 diabetes, often caused by poor diet”(Moss 477). On the other hand, companies president 's argue that it’s not their fault that people are becoming obese and developing other health issues due to their products. These companies
Food advertisements, soft drinks, the growth of fast food restaurants, and the increase in portion sizes at cheaper prices are the changes that negatively influence the United States in term of health problems. Over the past few decades, obesity has been the main nutritional problem and has become one of the most critical health concerns in America. According to recent statistics, approximately one third of American adults are obese in which they have a body mass index (BMI which can be calculated as an individual’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) of 30 or higher. Obesity does not only shorten people’s life expectancy in the future, but also burdens the national medical spending which is nearly $147 billion every year. Around the world, over one billion adults and more than 10% of children are considered to obese. As the World Health Organization predicts, the number of obese children will increase to 700 million and nearly 2.3 billion adults by 2015. In addition, childhood obesity is correlated with a higher probability of becoming obese adults, premature death, and disability (Kaltra, De Sousa, Sonavane, & Shah, 2013).
Obesity is a big social issue in America. Due to the popularity of fast food and other unhealthy foods, more and more Americans are developing health diseases and disorders. We should be getting the correct daily nutrition amount, but because of our fast paced lifestyles we sometimes do not have enough time. Fast food restaurants make it possible to grab a meal and go. We often do not pay attention to the nutrition amount, but are simply looking for a quick bite to eat that will fulfill our hunger. Fast food is assisting in the increase of obesity in America (“Phrase” par.2).
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