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CAUSES OF OBESITY essay
CAUSES OF OBESITY essay
childhood obesity: causes and solutions
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Obesity, also often referred to as being excessively overweight. An abnormal accumulation of body fat over an individual’s ideal body weight. Obesity has been associated with U.S. for many decades, but the cause of it is still unknown. There are many factors such as genetics, various combinations of hormonal, metabolic, and behavioral factors that play a role in obesity. In most of the cases, it is still hard to determine the exact causation of obesity. This epidemic has been increasing throughout the industrialized world. In less than 40 years, the prevalence of obesity in the U.S. has increased by over 50%, so that two of every three American adults are now overweight or obese (Obesity in America, 5). Most obvious consequences of obesity are diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, but cancer, arthritis, and depression are other serious factors to health. All in all, obesity and over weight account for nearly one of every 10 American deaths, and they also drain our society of $223 billion a year (Obesity in America, 5). Obesity is something that is present and dangerous, but people seem to overlook it.
There are many factors that can lead to obesity. If a pregnant woman has high intake of insulin, or gains excessive weight while pregnant it can cause a child to be born larger than their gestational age, which in the long run cause of obesity. Also, over feeding babies can cause them to develop early onset of obesity. This preset obesity effects child development and growth for the rest of his/her life. Children of obese parents are about 13 times more likely than other children to be obese, which links obesity to inheritance. An unusual high number of fat-cells appear to be inherited (Yates, 1909). Also, eating habits, physic...
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...ody fat percentage than men do. On the other side of that, women tend to watch more what they eat and how much they consume, where men just eat what they want and when they want. With waist sizes expanding for the last 40 years, American finally started realizing that this is not a healthy life style and changes have to be made. In the last few years this phenomena of organic foods, healthy eating, and exercise has sparked. More people are consuming healthier choices of food, exercising more and trying to keep a healthy weight. The age ranges from young children being taught at school and by parents about a healthy lifestyle, to working adults taking stairs and having salads for lunch, to senior citizens taking longer walks and playing tennis. It looks like America has finally woken up from this nightmare and has begun taking positive steps towards healthier living.
What causes obesity? Overweight and obesity result from an energy imbalance. This involves eating too many calories and not getting enough physical activity. High calorie foods are more easily available today than ever before. Americans have also never had a less active lifestyle.
Obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. Obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths1. The prevalence of overweight, obesity, and extreme obesity has been increasing worldwide in the last decades, not only adults but starting as early as in childhood and adolescence1,2,3. More recent estimates suggest that body weight gain will continue to increase, particularly in the younger people4.
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...
Recent data shows that close to 80 million American are obese. Now, considered a chronic disease, obesity is associated with various health conditions and increases one's risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, asthma, osteoarthritis, gall bladder disease, sleep apnea, and some cancers. Aside from these medical issues, obesity also raises psychosocial as well as economic problems.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services there have been a notably large number of deaths due to obesity since it leads into other diseases like heart disease, type two diabetes and high blood pressure. Over weight and obese people in general
Although many individuals are uncertain about the increasing statistics associated with obesity, more than seventy percent of men and virtually sixty-two percent of women within the United States adult population are overweight or obese (Wilmore, Costill, & Kenney). Obesity refers to the condition of having an excessive amount of body fat. If an individual’s amount of body fat becomes too excessive, he/she is at a much greater risk of developing life-altering diseases such as heart failure, hypertension, type II diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, etc. (Wilmore, et al., 2008).
Genetics plays a major role in obesity; inherited genes sometimes contribute to the accumulation of fat in the body. Over 200 genes have effect on the weight having repercussions from physical activity, food choices and metabolism. Therefore, genes may increase the vulnerability of a person to become obese. Family eating patterns and social tendencies can also trigger obesity. Moreover, environmental circumstances such as availability of food high in calories and fat and the increase of the portions and combination selections in meals contribute to the development of fat accumulated for years in the body (Whitney & Rolfes, 2011, pg. 277).
Common causes of obesity can be excessive caloric intake, thyroid disorders, lack of physical activity, genes, medicines, emotions, smoking, age, and pregnancy. The combination of calorie restriction and exercise seems to be more effective rather than either one alone. Sticking to a weight
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.
Amongst one of the bigger health issues in United States children is obesity. Obesity is a condition in which a person has accumulated an excess amount of body fat that it has become detrimental to their health. To track this health professionals use the term “obese” when a person has a body mass index (BMI) of over 30. Although BMI should not be the only determining factor of whether or not you child is obese as it only takes into account of height and weight, it is one of the better known systems of telling whether or not a person is overweight or obese (Nichols). Obesity comes with a range of other health conditions that can include but are not limited to cancer, diabetes, and depression. Not only do children and teens who suffer from obesity acquire many health diseases, they also tend to get failing grades and are bullied amongst peers. Most Americans correlate being obese with having an unhealthy lifestyle, but according to a 2006 Fox News article there may be other factors that attribute to obesity that include smoking, medicine, pollution, technology and lack of sleep. (“10 Causes of Obesity Other Than Overeating”). One part that does although indeed play a role in to child obesity rates is economics.
Childhood obesity is on the rise in many countries today. There are numerous causes of obesity in America, and the majority of them can be eliminated simply by household teachings. In her book Fed Up! Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity, Susan Okie explains how childhood obesity is taking over, “The growing numbers of obese children in the United States and in many other countries are victims of an epidemic just as surely as if they were infected with a virus.” The leading causes of childhood obesity include lack of exercise, poor diet, and genetic factors.
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.
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.
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.
According to the National Institute of Health, the most familiar causes of obesity can be categorized into four causes; lifestyle, environmental, hereditary and medical causes2. However, the main cause of obesity worldwide is still unhealthy diets.