When one hears the word obesity thoughts that may come to mind are overweight, big, or even unhealthy. "Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30" (Obesity). Anyone any age can be obese. The good part is that it is reversible and there are many ways you can not be obese anymore. Obesity can happen to anyone for many reasons and it can be reversed many different ways. More and more Americans are becoming obese every single day. “More than half of Americans are overweight, including at least 1 in 5 children. Nearly one third are obese” (Wooten). It is also becoming more and more popular for children to be obese. Childhood obesity is a serious and common disease that is increasingly becoming more popular. Adults need to be role models toward their children and educate them about obesity. It is only getting worse and more common and it is a very serious disease that has a lot of negative effects that come along with it. Some parents or people do not understand why or how their children become obese. There are many explanations for this. One can simply be consuming too much food into one’s body. Today's culture promotes eating habits that contribute to obesity. People may serve large portions and foods that are most readily available instead of choosing foods that are most nutritious. Cooking with butter, chocolate and other high-caloric foods is a normal part of the American diet. Also, food is often used as a reward in this country. Children are treated to sweets for cleaning their room, and the team is taken for pizza or ice cream after the game. Seldom is eating only when hunger is present (What Causes Obesity?). Also not exercising is an issue. If one does not get any exercise the fatty acids from the food consumed just sits in the stomach and builds up more fat. Parents need to encourage their children to get involved in extracurricular activities. Luckily, schools have Physical Education classes that students take part in. However, some schools don’t require their students to participate in their P.E. classes as much as other schools. For example, one school may require their students to attend P.E. class everyday for a half hour or more, and another school may require a half hour of P.E only twice a week. However, the senate passed a bill this past year that required Florida elementary school students to have 30 minutes of continuous exercise daily (The Associated Press).
Studies have linked obesity to many things from ear infections, to pollution, to air-conditioning, to socializing with obese people. The reason Americans are obese is because of the increasing luxury available to them. Obesity is a rising problem in the United States, and with all the privileges given to its citizens, the country has become increasingly lazy. With portion sizes rising and physical activity decreasing, it is easy to see how obesity rates have skyrocketed.
As stated by Grellier & Goerke (2014), analytical essays explore all perspectives of a topic; whether it be positive/negative or possibilities/difficulties. Also, an argument is generally not required as comparing and contrasting points is the main focus of the essay. Obesity (Student n.d.) will be analysed and critiqued based on conventions of good academic writing.
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).
The official definition of obesity, is having a BMI of greater than 29.9. (Obesity and overweight). For example for a 5’10” male, a weight of 160lbs would yield a BMI of 23.0. Perfectly within the BMI range of healthy weight, 18.5- 24.9. But if that 5’10” male weighed say 230lbs, they would have a BMI of 33.0, and would be considered Obese.
Obesity is a chronic, metabolic disease caused by multiple and complex factors, including increased calorie intake, decreased physical activity and genetic influences. The exact level of obesity is determined by reference to the Body Mass Index (BMI). A score of 30+ on the BMI indicates obesity. A score of 40 indicates severe obesity. Caused by a complex variety of factors, obesity is a major risk factor for serious health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer Childhood obesity has been rising at the same rate as obesity in adults. It is estimated that approximately 1-25% of children between the ages of 6 to 12 are overweight (Strauss 2845-2848). About 80 percent of overweight teenagers will remain overweight as adults. The increase in adolescent obesity (about 40 percent during the last 15 years) will have serious consequences in the future. Diseases Caused By Obesity: Being overweight predisposes a child to heart disease, gallstones, adult onset diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and full-blown obesity later in life. Obese children have more problems and upper respiratory diseases. And that is only one side of the story. They often suffer major social and psychological problems. The rapid increase of serious depression, eating disorders, drug use, and suicide among teenagers is frightening (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 1st Jan 2001, Obesity In Children And Teens, http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/79.htm). Factors Causing Obesity: There are many underlying factors that may contribute to childhood obesity including genetics, diet, physical inactivity, psychological problems, and other health issues but one of the major factors contribut...
"The increased prevalence of overweight and obesity particularly among children and adolescents is a severe public health problem" (Bray, 2005). According to our text, health education and health promotion are recognized increasingly as ways to meet public health objectives and improve the success of public health and medical interventions around the world (Gollust, 2014).
Although inherited conditions have been linked to childhood obesity, they are rare. However it has been noted that children with obese or overweight parents are more than likely to be obese themselves, the reason for this as described by Heaton-Harris (2007) is because of the length of time it takes to break a bad habit. Unless the parents are correctly informed of healthy diets themselves the problem will continue from an ill-informed childhood into adult hood. Other probable causes are numerous ones. Fast food and processed foods becoming more read...
Parents have always known about obesity and what the affects obesity has on people. Although parents have known about this preventable disease, they are just now becoming more aware about what is happening to their own children. Now they want to start pointing fingers as to why these young children are becoming obese; nobody wants to take the blame for putting these young lives at risk. “Greenbalt states in his article that obesity is becoming an epidemic that there is about 300,000 children each year that die because they are overweight....
Society should consider the physical and emotional problems of obesity in our nation. “Obesity is defined as an excess proportion of total body fat (Mayo Clinic).” American society has become increasingly obese, “characterized by environments that promote increased food intake, unhealthy foods, and physical inactivity (cdcinfo@cdc.gov).” Our nation increasingly has become consumers of a fast food diet. It is so simple to just pick up food on the go and not deal with the hassle of cooking and cleaning up afterwards. What are nation needs to acknowledge is the health risks they will obtain if they do not acquire a healthy life style.
“More than one third of America’s population is obese, which is about 35.4% including: men, women, and children” (www.cdc.gov). Unfortunately, this statistic is 100% true. America is hungry, constantly. This definitely shows that the land of liberty is growing in the midsection; no, not the Midwest, on the bellies of the people who live throughout the nation. America has a typical hierarchy of factors who rule the over the obese population. Junk food, lack of mobility, and undereducated knowledge of a healthy lifestyle, often contradict the fate of an obese person.
There is a variety of reasons why children become overweight and obese. Genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating, and not enough care from parents are the most common causes of this problem. From sociological researches, obesity in children mostly occurs in low-income families or parents with little to no education. Only in some instances, being overweight can be caused by hormonal problems or some other health issue.. Also, children who have an overweight family are in increased risk of being obese, as they share the same family behaviors, including eating and activity
Many folks who become obese are people who abuse the calories their body needs on a daily diet. As stated in “Overweight and Obesity Statistics”, everyone body needs a certain amount of energy from foods to have a proper balance. If the calories you have eaten sum up to the amount of calories you have used or have not burnt, you will start to have a problem if this eating habit continues. You will now be in the stage of overweight, if you do not burn the extra calories you consumer. In March 2004 the CDC publishes a study showing that poor eating habits and lack of exercise were the second leading death in the Untied States (“Chronology”). For example, one major reason why people become obese in America is because the environment is full of fast food restaurants. If you look to your left you will see McDonald’s, you look to your right, and you see Jack in The Box, you look behind you and there is Carl’s Jr, and if you look in front of you and you see a Burger King. According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, “17% of children and adolescents (aged 2-19) are obese. The prevalence of obesity in America has risen dramatically over the past two decades and continues to increase” (qtd. “Weight Control and Diet”). You see these places all over the place and not to mention food advertising is a big cause for obesity. According to What Causes Overweight
Twenty-two point six percent do not participate in physical activity during their free time. (National Centers for Disease Control, 2003) In the past thirty years, the percentage of overweight children has more than doubled in the U.S. The number of overweight teenagers has almost tripled. (National Center for Health Statistics, 2004) A study of children from three different elementary school, participating in after-school programs found that the children participating in activities outside of school were less likely to be overweight at the follow-up and were better accepted by their classmates. (Applied Developmental Science, 2005) My daughter is able to remain lean because she runs and lifts weights daily. She has not gone up in size since she started playing softball a couple years ago, she has only grown in height. My son did not play baseball last year, so we were not as busy during the normal baseball season and as a result of the extra, unused time, he put on a little weight. When he began football this last season, I noticed him struggling to keep up with the team while running laps and was slower than the year before, he even went up a pant size. I also noticed my daughter Molly getting a tummy over the summer and gaining a pant size, going from a six to an eight. Now that she has been back in dance
Obesity, also referred to as being overly overweight, is a condition caused when one eats excessive amounts of food leading to storing more calories than one burns. These calories are stored as fats1. Obesity can develop from several causes and is usually influenced by genetics.
Obesity and overweight have became a global problem in the last decade, according to the World Health Organization back in 2005 approximately 1.6 billion adults over the of age 15 were overweight, at least 400 million adults were obese and at least 20 million children under the age of 5 years were overweight. Experts believe if the current trends continue by 2015 approximately 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. The scale of the obesity problem has a number of serious consequences for individuals and government health systems. Obesity is a concern because of its implications for the health of an individual as it increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions. Being obese means having so much body fat that your health is in danger. However, being fat is simply not an opinion. Having too much body fat can lead to many diseases. Obesity and overweight have become a global problem in the last decade.