Lifestyle Choice

Obesity has been on the rise in the United States since 1980. As of today, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of adults, along with one-third of children and adolescences, in the United States are considered obese. Obesity is becoming a serious issue in the lives of Americans. Obesity can be caused by a number of reasons such as an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, and sometimes medical conditions. However, with all of these conditions combined I’m here to show you you why I believe obesity is strictly a lifestyle choice, and how it can most certainly be prevented. Obesity has to start somewhere. But where do we begin?

Having a disease has often been used as a way for someone to explain their reason for being obese. Some people claim that they are obese simply because it is genetic. Let us examine just how well genetics might play a role in obesity. According to Alexandra Sifferlin, obesity is in fact being linked to the mutation of genes in a person’s body. One of these genes is Leptin, or the “obesity gene”, and is made by fat cells. High levels of Leptin in the blood tell the body that it is starving. People with a mutation in this gene, researchers have found, are not getting the signal to stop eating. However, Dr. Joseph Majzoub, the chief of the division of endocrinology at Boston Children’s Hospital states, “Thus far mutations in about eight genes are known to cause obesity in humans. But these mutations account for under five percent of the obesity in our society, and certainly are not, by themselves, responsible for the current obesity epidemic, since the mutation rate in these genes could not have changed dramatically during the past twenty years” (Sifferlin). Basical...

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...e to allow anyone to call my body a disease. I am fat.” (Kreiter). If people do not want obesity to be considered a disease because they are comfortable with being fat, then that leaves no other choice than to consider it a lifestyle choice.

Obesity in America has become an issue, and one that probably will not disappear any time soon. Obesity does not have to be a problem if people are willing to take the necessary steps towards living a healthier lifestyle. This include: having a meal plan and sticking to a healthy diet, and choosing to get in the necessary amount of physical activity and exercise in order to maintain a healthy physique. A healthier lifestyle will help get rid of some of the problems with heart disease, and diabetes. If people take action, it can help diminish the growing problem of obesity, and we can become a better society as a whole.