Reactional Politics Fails to Solve United States’ Obesity Problem
According to the United States Census Bureau, the U.S. Population is over 300 million ("U.S. and World Population Clock"). With this increase in populous, there has been a significant increase in the number of obese individuals– with over 36% of adults in the U.S. effected (“Adult Obesity Facts”). Even though there are so many people effected by such a problem, the root cause of the problem remains buried and solutions to said issue are unnecessarily complex. With this being said, change is difficult, especially with so many people being effected. However, a solution to the U.S’s obesity pandemic is long overdue. One proposed solution gained considerable media attention. New
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However, there are a few intermezzos1. Even after recognizing such a problem, one must have the proper tools to fix the problem. These tools are developed only through education. Without knowledge of how to solve an issue, it is hard to even begin making a change. A critical flaw in the ban of certain beverages by Mayor Bloomberg is the clear lack of intention to attempt to educate his constituents; he would rather implement “draconian restrictions” (Tobin 1). Telling someone not to do something rather than educating them to make better decisions is a clear sign of hasty legislation. As stated previously, obesity is quite a complex topic, so what should the populous be required to learn in primary education? Students in primary education should be required to take a personal health course in order to graduate, in addition to a physical education class that tends to amount to nothing more than dodgeball. There are a few states that require a personal health course, but many that do not – including Arizona which mandate reads “Health education is not required for high school graduation” (National Association of State School Boards). What country expects its citizens to be healthy but does not give them the tools to do so? One may firmly believe that even with education, …show more content…
These efforts would be in vain if marketers were free to target people in an unfair way. Many advertisements are deceptive in the way that they refer to the healthiness of their product. Imagine a commercial for a certain popular beverage saying that you “feel so good after drinking it”. Clearly no one can imagine feeling good after consuming 200% of the recommended sugar for a day. Therefore, stricter marketing regulations should be required to prevent an unfair depiction of a brand’s products. All advertising materials for food items shall require the nutritional facts label be apparent as it is difficult to know the caloric value of most products in advertisements. It makes no sense for companies to show the nutritional information of their product at the bottom of a TV advertisement in fine print, in white letters, at the very bottom, and for only a few seconds. While this request can seem overstepping, it is quite reasonable in practice. Every food advertisement in video form will require the caloric label to be clearly present for five seconds and in print form be apparent to all readers. This also may seem like an infringement of the freedom of speech of these companies. This it is not. The same defense for clear labeling on food items is the same defense for their advertising. Everyone has the right to know what
Obesity is on the rise, and it is becoming more and more of a national health concern. It effects more than 1/3 of the population, and an additional 1/3 is overweight. With obesity becoming more and more of a problem each year, the American population is going to suffer from a catastrophic health emergency.
Obesity is a huge problem that needs to be resolved because it affects all people, unlike most issues. People of every gender, every age, and every race are at risk of being obese. Obesity rates in America have nearly doubled within the last twenty years. Something must be done not only to prevent obesity rates continuous rising, but also to dramatically increase the percentage of obese people in America altogether.
Obesity has been accepted in the American society as a norm. According to the U.S. office of the Surgeon General, in 1999, 6 in 10 American adults were classified as obese or overweight (McMurray, par. 5). In order for one to be classified as obese they’re body mass index (BMI) must be 30 or greater. The number of obese in America has continued to increase. It has been estimated by The World Health Organization that 300 million people will be obese by 2025 (Bailey 3). Since obesity comes with many health risks, many feel it should be treated as a disease.
Obesity in America is a very serious problem affecting many Americans currently and is a problem that continues to grow each year. “Over the past 40 years, the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled in the United States” (Wimalawansa). This issue is known to many but believed not be an issue to care much about but this is not true. Obesity in America affects everyone regardless if they are obese or not. In order to resolve the problem, we can slaughter all the adults that are currently obese in America.
There is no doubt that obesity has taken its seat as one of the top disease that strikes the world today. In America, obesity has now spread through the country leaving 2 out of 3 adults either overweight or obese, and worldwide 1.5 billion are overweight or obese (Overweight). The cause of this disease stems from multiple reasons such as the increase in modern food production, putting out ample amounts of food causing the prices for meat, groceries, and especially junk food to plummet. Subsequently, Americans especially were more inclined to purchase more food and showed an increase in the average American house hold food intake by 1,000 more calories a day (Dreifus).
The obesity epidemic is one of the most pressing issues at this point in both American society and U.S. public policy initiatives. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 35.9% of U.S. adults over the age of twenty are obese (CDC, 2013). The CDC further notes that 69.2% of U.S. adults twenty years of age and over are overweight (this percentage includes those who are obese). The obesity problem is not exclusive to the adults in the U.S. The CDC notes that 18.4% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 are currently obese (CDC, 2013). These statistics illustrate the severity of the obesity epidemic in this country, but what can be done to address or even correct this problem? Many people have proposed solutions, but few are as radical as the proposal from Michael Bloomberg (the New York City Mayor) in 2012.
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...
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:
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). This is where medical professionals need to bridge the gap of medical and social construction.
In a study from 2010, the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) found that the number one cause of death, killing 597,689 people each year, is heart disease. A major cause of heart disease is obesity, meaning that obesity kills many people in the united states each year. “In 1999-2000, 27.5% of men were obese, and by 2009-2010 the prevalence had increased to 35.5%” (Ogden, et al. 4). It is obvious that obesity is on the rise in our country. “the most recent national data on obesity prevalence among U.S. adults, adolescents, and children show that more than one third of adults and almost 17% of children and adolescents were obese in 2009-2010.” (Ogden, et al. 6). If the trends continue, obesity will become an epidemic, killing thousands of people. The CDC defines obesity as having a BMI (body mass index) of 30 or higher. In some instances, this can be misleading. For some people, say athletes that have plenty of muscle and not much body fat, their BMI can indicate they are overweight. Nevertheless, it is still a good indicator for the general public. And studies have shown, using the BMI system, that obesity in America is on the rise.
Obesity in America is a crucial problem. 75% of adults ages 20 and older are considered to be overweight, obese, or extremely obese (Overweight and obesity statistics). This epidemic has not only affected me, but it has affected my family. I have always been obese every since I can remember. This was an unhealthy lifestyle and something needs to change. Something needs to change not only for me, but for our country. Obesity in America poses many health threats to people of all ages. I have come up with a simple solution this is guaranteed to work.
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.
Obesity continues to be one of America's most mentioned topics in the media today. Often citing the increased incidence of disease because we American's are fat. Why, we eat out too often, we do not make the right menu choices, and most importantly--we are not active enough to compensate for the intake of high calorie foods consumed everyday.
I. Introduction: You’ve probably heard it a million times that obesity is an issue on the rise in America. Well, why if everyone knows that it is a problem is nothing being done to fix it? I’m here to propose a solution to this problem affecting over a third of the adult American Population.
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