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obesity and its effects on society
obesity and its effects on society
obesity and its effects on society
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Obesity is a well documented problem in the United States. Every year, billions of dollars are spent on this epidemic and the plethora of diseases and issues it causes. This has been shown to be a problem at the state as well as the national level. In order to better understand the impact it has, we will discuss the issue of obesity as a whole, the problems associated with this disease, the costs of those problems, as well as possible solutions to this growing problem in our country.
For the purposes of this paper, it is important to give reference points with regards to certain key definitions. The generally accepted way of defining obesity is in the National Institutes of Health Weight Classification system. This system relies on the use of BMI as computed using the weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared. The following cutoff points are given for the defined words: underweight- BMI < 18.5 kg/m2; normal weight- BMI 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2; overweight- BMI 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m2; and obese- BMI > 30.0 kg/m2. These benchmarks will be the defined values for the given words throughout this paper.
According to a brief prepared by Dr. Eric Wright for the Indiana Center for Urban Policy and the Environment in May of 2006, nearly 97 million adults in the United States are obese or overweight. That number had doubled in the previous 30 years and is predicted to continue that upward trend. This means that nearly 2 out of every 3 adults in the US are obese or overweight. The surgeon general, Dr. Richard Carmona reported in 2003 that 1 out of every 8 deaths in the US is caused by an illness that is directly correlated to obesity. Obesity is caused by a number of different factors, the main ones being: inacti...
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...s, Blacks Had 51% Higher and Hispanics Had 21% Higher Obesity Rates." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC. Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
Finkelstein, Eric A., Ian C. Fiebelkorn, and Guijing Wang. "Obesity - State-Level Estimates of Annual Medical Expenditures Attributable to Obesity[ast][ast]." Nature Publishing Group : Science Journals, Jobs, and Information. Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
Carmona, Richard H. "The Obesity Crisis in America." Office of the Surgeon General (OSG). Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
Paddock, Ph.D, Catherine. "Medical News Today News Article." Medical News Today: Health News. Medical News Today. Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
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.
Center for Desase Control. Center for Diease Control "U.S. Obesity Trends". 21 July 2011. 18 November 2011.
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.
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).
In 1990, obese adults made up less than 15 percent of the population in most U.S. states. By 2010, 36 states had obesity rates of 25 percent or higher, and 12 of those had obesity rates of 30 percent or higher. (CDC) Today, nationwide, roughly two out of three U.S. ...
The obesity in the US has drastically increased in the last few decades due to an increase in the consumption of unhealthy foods and reduced physical activity levels. Nearly 78 million adults and 13 million children in the United States are dealing with the health and the emotional effects of obesity every day. Because obesity has massive implications in regards to the health of our society, this issue is cited almost daily in the news, on radio and televisions, journals and magazines. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (CDC) more than thirty percent of our adult population is diagnosed as obese, and there are several hundred of thousands of deaths each year that are associated with diseases caused by obesity as a primary contributing factor.
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:
Hellmich, Nanci. "U.S. Obesity Rate Levels Off, but Still an Epidemic." USA Today. Gannett, 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
...9). Different in prevalence of obesity among black, white, and Hispanic adults-United States, 2006-2008. Morb. Mort. Weekly. Rep. 58, 740-744.
...se Control and Prevention. Department of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Extreme Obesity Among Adults: United States, Trends 1960–1962 Through 2007–2008. By Cynthia L. Ogden, Ph.D. and Magret D. Carrol, M.S.P.H. N.p., 6 June 2011. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
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.
Ogden, C.L., Carroll, M.D., Kit, B.K., Flegal, K.M. Prevalence of Obesity in the United States, 2009-2010. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief, January 2012.
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.
Wellman, N. S., & Friedberg, B. (2002). Causes and consequences of adult obesity: health, social and economic impacts in the United States. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, 11(s8), S705-S709.
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