For the Love of Food : Who is responsible for weight?

The recent obesity epidemic in the United States has wide-ranging implications, and as more literature further validates this phenomenon, we can observe obesity’s real effects on the nation’s level of health and labor market outcomes. Economically, obesity drains valuable resources from the nation’s healthcare budget, decreases worker productivity through an increased number of missed work days, and forces employers to spend more on their health care plans for overweight employees. These factors prove that obesity forces taxpayers to forgo valuable income and consumption in order to subsidize higher medical costs and treatments for the obese. According to Baum and Ford, “currently about one in three [Americans] are overweight and one in five obese” (2004, p. 885). These statistics are worrisome to economists and employers alike, and they warn us that the current rates are unsustainable.

Food. Often a symbol of nurturance, wealth, relief of tension and comfort has now been distorted into the villain of a terrible condition, a condition that affects one out of every three adults in America (Raj). Society has taken advantage of the resources available such as the media and larger dinnerware pieces. Food has been used to lure people, not educated about the detrimental effects of overeating, into a marketing trap of “the bigger the better” (Young). Due to the epidemic rise in obesity among Americans, the NEH needs to fund education regarding portion sizes and obesity.

Introduction: 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).

“Many researchers have theorized that media use by children, excessive snacking during media use, food-marketing practices in food advertisements, cross promotions, food away from home, supersizing and increased portion sizes can all contribute to childhood obesity” (Kavas). Due to the epidemic rise in obesity, and for the safety of children’s health now and in the future, the NEH needs to fund education regarding the link between portion sizes and obesity. Obesity is a disease where there is an excessive or abnormal build up of body fat. It is a terrible illness and difficult to overcome. Obesity was once only a problem in high-income countries, but percentages have also risen dramatically in low to middle income countries.

Consensus Statement: Childhood Obesity. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 90(3), 1871–1887. doi:10.1210/jc.2004-1389 Wang, Y., & Lim, H. (2012). The global childhood obesity epidemic and the association between socio-economic status and childhood obesity. International Review of Psychiatry, 24(3), 176–188.

Fast food nation: The dark side of the all-American meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Obesity Epidemic. (2010). In Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices.

Obesity is a condition of being overweight and is defined clinically by a body mass index (BMI). (Prentice and Jebb, 2003). Body mass index is the weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared (NHS choices, 2012). The desirable BMI is in the range of 18.5 – 24.9, overweight is 25 – 29.9 clinically obese is 30 – 35.9 and morbidity obese is 36.0 and over (World Health Organization, 1998). The massive explosion in obesity rates worldwide has largely been responsible for the increase in diab... ... middle of paper ... ...NHS choices.

Pediatrics 2007; 120:S193–S228. National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Disease and Conditions Index: What Are Overweight and Obesity? Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health; 2010. "Obesity And Depression: A Guide For Parents."

Sadly “2 million” (Tanner 2005) of these children are at risk for type 2 diabetes. Obesity has become a burden to the United States economy and it is costing America “$147 billion” (Holden, 2010) a year. A child does not become overweight and obese overnight. America, Parents, society and the government are to blame for the obesity among American children. Obesity has been around for many years, but it has always been addressed has an adult problem.

Surgeon General Richard Carmona called attention to a health problem in the United States that, until recently, has been overlooked: childhood obesity. Carmona said that the “astounding” 15% child obesity rate constitutes an “epidemic.” Since the early 1980s, that rate has “doubled in children and tripled in adolescents.” Now more than nine million children are classified as obese. While the traditional response to a medical epidemic is to hunt for a vaccine or a cure-all pill, childhood obesity has proven more elusive. The lack of success of recent initiatives suggests that medication might not be the answer for the escalating problem. This argument considers whether the use of medication is a promising approach for solving the childhood obesity problem by responding to the following questions: 1.