Obesity in Ameirca

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.

“My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of obesity” may be a more accurate depiction of the song “America” in today’s society (Fen). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34.9 percent of adults in America were obese in 2011-2012, and the number of young people who are overweight has tripled since the 1980’s. Obesity is an epidemic that not only causes many health problems, but also puts people at a much higher risk for several other dangerous health issues. Obesity is affected by and effects many different aspects in one’s life.

The American culture/media consistently promotes weight loss; the idea of being thin is associated with success, while being over-weight is associated with being weak and lazy. Individuals who suffer with issues of obesity are often discriminated in areas of educational and workforce environments.

Obesity is an epidemic that plagues our nation. No minority or group is excluded from being affected because of the way we choose to live. We as a nation are fat, and decadent in the way that we live our lives. How many times do you eat fast food a week? How often do you actually eat a well balanced meal? If I had to guess not often, but you are thin so you believe that you are healthy. During the past forty to sixty years obesity has grown exponentially. In our country nearly one third of adults are considered obese. Obesity has become such a problem in our country because of our avoidance of exercise, cost healthy food, and the incorporation of numerous fast food chains across our nation.

One of the most commonly discussed issues of America in the last few decades has been obesity. It remains one of the biggest problems in American society and requires a careful, systematic but also immediate solution. Obesity is a term used to describe body weight that is much greater than what is considered healthy. Today, 65% of adults in the U.S. are overweight and half of those are obese. The rates for children are smaller but they are not satisfying either: 15% are overweight and another 15% are headed that way (Lemonick). Besides the aesthetic problems for many people that this condition creates, it is most importantly known as the main cause of serious health problems as well.

The biggest question in our society lately has been the question of what causes obesity especially among that poor and minorities: is it genetics? Or maybe the environment you live in? According to Paul Kocken, an expert in health promotion, obesity in minority and social disadvantage groups may be an issue because of the lack of resources available. While on the other hand, according to pediatric nurse specialist Janice Long, race/ethnicity in terms of genetics may be attributed to higher risks of obesity in children. Environment and genetics are both reliable options when it comes to a blame for obesity however one of these options may have a stronger pull over the other.

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 become a definition of American culture. Obesity is having so much excess fat on the body that it poses medical risks (George L. Blackburn). Not only is there a difference between overweight and obese, but classifications of the grades of obesity: for instance, obese, morbidly obese, and super morbidly obese are some of these classifications. More than one billion people worldwide are obese. With 300,000 Americans dying each year fr...

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:

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...