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.
There are many causes that contribute to these high rates of obesity. The most serious one is the modern, fast way of life. Adults in America today, especially the ones who live in big cities, are lacking free time (Schor) and as a result they are not able to prepare the good old home-made meals as often as they used to. Instead, they prefer eating ready made food or at least make sure that their freezer has enough room for microwave-ready meals. Food of this kind is known for its poor nutritious value but also for the great amount of calories it offers.
Another cause of obesity is the side effects of the evolution of technology. People depend more and more on technology in order to complete many of their daily tasks: they drive almost everywhere, they rely on home appliances to do work related to their homes, they spend many hours on a monthly basis in front of their computers and TV sets, etc. This dependence on technology affects in a negative way the physical fitness of Americans, since they do not exercise or get physically active as much a...
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Lemonick, Michael D. “How We Grew So Big.” 7 June 2004. Time Online Edition. 4 Apr. 2008.
Schor, Juliet B. “ The Overworked American.” 1991. Kunz Center Book Reviews. 4 Apr. 2008. < http://users.ipfw.edu/ruflethe/american.html>
United States.Department of Health and Human Services. “Obesity Costs Billions of Medical Expenses.” Office of Enterprise Communication. 24 Jan. 2004. USA. GOV. 4 Apr. 2008.
United States. National Institutes of Health. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Obesity Education Initiative. September 1998. 4 Apr. 2008.
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 today is a widely spread nutritional disorder that can affect anybody at any age across North America, majority of the reason being because there are so many fast food restaurants at just about every corner. With its low prices people are not going to be making the right decisions in what type of food they consume in their diet. Some examples of the junk food would be: Microwave dinners, snack foods like potato chips, which have high calories. It is not necessarily junk foods that make people obese and fat. Too many carbohydrates and foods with lots of starch in an individual’s diet can also cause them to gain undesired weight. It is not always someone’s dietary decision that makes him or her obese. Genetics play a monumental factor in a person’s weight. For example, if a child is born with two obese parents there is an 80 percent of a chance that the child can be born or become obese later in his or her life. Pregnancy can make the mother gain about 20 pounds after giving birth. Another said cause of weight gain is when the energy intake is more then the energy outtake in the body. That is not always the case.
Obesity has been a growing problem in America. With the leading cause of it is in our diet and the kind of foods we part take of everyday and they lifestyles that we all choose to live. The everyday habits and practices, that have been imbedded our every day routines. The American routine has become so lazy and self reliant on getting what we want and need at an instant that it has caused us to be over weight. We have all become so used to getting instant gratification, that it has been imbedded in our head that, why work for to get our food when we can go to a restaurant of our choosing and just pick out food. Especially with such a fast growing society that we live in everything moves so fast, We are all expected to keep up with
Obesity remains an extremely serious issue worldwide. Once considered a problem for wealthier counties, overweight and obesity are now dramatically increasing in low and middle income countries (WHO, 2011). In American, the rates of obesity continue to soar. CDC (2009) recognizes obesity as a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other health problems. According to NHANES over two-thirds of the US are overweight or obese, and over one-third are obese (CDC, 2009). Treatment for this illness varies; it may include the incorporation of diet, exercise, behavior modification, medication, and surgery. Since there is no single cause of all overweight and obesity, there is no single way to prevent or treat overweight and obesity that will help everyone (CDC, 2009).
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.
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 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:
Since the 1960?s obesity in America has more than tripled regardless of sex or race. Today 30.5 percent, or 69 million, American Adults are considered obese (?AOA Fact Sheets? np). In addition, 13 percent of children aged 6-11 years old are considered overweight, and well on their way to becoming obese. Obesity causes over 300,000 deaths a year and costs the country $117 billion dollars, prompting health care providers and the government to label it an epidemic (?Overweight and Obesity?? np).
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).
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.
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.
Metcalf, T., & Metcalf, G. (Eds.). (2008). Perspectives on Diseases and Disorders: Obesity. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Cengage Learning
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.