The Causes Of Obesity In Canada

What makes people to become obese and sometimes live unhappy and sick? Nowadays, obesity has become a huge problem that effects people from all over the world. The number of Canadians affected by this trouble is rising so fast and causing a lot of bad effects on people’s health. The government is concerned about how fast obesity is spreading out, since it is costing lots of money. The causes of obesity are attributed to a diversity of factors such as poor diet and lack of exercises, and the consequences are huge to people’s health. The increase in obesity is caused by poor eating habits and lack of exercises as main factors contributing to many diseases, some of them irreversible and is compounded by inaccurate measurements methods. For these

First of all, “obesity is considered a problem since the high quantity of fat in the human body can lead to several health problems, compromising the proper functioning of important organs” (Graham & Wong, 2014, para.3). Graham & Wong, 2014, discuss that “the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers individuals with a BMI of 30 or greater to be obese”. Second, obesity in Canada has become epidemic. Recently, the number of obese people is growing so fast in children and adults (Graham & Wong, 2014, para.11). Graham and Wong, 2014, states that more than half of the Canadian population is considered obese and “levels of childhood obesity are expected to lead to the first decrease in life expectancy in over 200 years”. Finally, obese people could be affected by some diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, arthritis, reproductive disorders and others (Graham & Wong, 2014, para.3). As Renneboog, 2014, demonstrates “physically, excessive body fat puts mechanical stress on the body, which leads to conditions including sleep apnea, respiratory problems, osteoarthritis, and hypertension”. Accordingly to Hussain, Hydrie, Claussen & Ashgar, 2010, the obesity and diabetes type 2 are strongly related since obesity affects the body fuel metabolism, making people get sick. As Eckel et al, 2011, argue, obesity can cause diabetes more effectively depending on where

To begin, the principal method of measurement of the human body fat is the body-mass index (BMI) which is related to the weight and height values to obtain an average (Renneboog, 2014, para.6). The author still states that “these arbitrary designations do not take into account individual characteristics such as body shape or natural muscularity, nor do they apply to children or seniors” (Renneboog, 2014, para.6). However, BMI not always is accurate and presents some limitations in measurement of body fat, sometimes classifying people as obese when in fact they are not. Since BMI is not 100% trustable it is acceptable that “this is one factor which requires more attention in the use of the term “overweight” and “obese”” (Eaton & Clydesdale, 2014, para.10). Accordingly to Eaton & Clydesdale, 2014, “BMI has been used in numerous medical studies, but even the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States realizes its limitations to directly measure body fat or muscle”. Finally, “it is accepted that the most accurate way to measure body fat is to weigh a person underwater or in a chamber that displaces air” (Eaton & Clydesdale, 2014, para.3). According to this same author, “there is another accurate test to measure human body fat, which is called the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) test, uses X-rays to measure body fat” (Eaton & Clydesdale, 2014, para.3). The author