Health Risks and Obesity

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Recommended: Short and long term consequences of obesity

Obesity has become the silent killer in American society. It is a risk factor for numerous chronic diseases including the four leading causes of death. Obesity can be linked to stroke, heart disease, cancer and diabetes, all serious health problems that can be fatal. Obesity is linked to 300,000 deaths annually in the industrial world (Flamholz, 2001). Often in society and in the medical community there exists a lack of understanding that obesity is in fact a disease and needs attention, otherwise the rates of many diseases will continue to climb.

Obesity has moved to almost epidemic status in America. There are an increased number of people in America that are obese. The percentage of people that can be defined as obese, those that are 20% above ideal weight, has jumped 30% in the last ten years (Rosenbaum & Leibel, 1998). With this increase in obesity America has seen an increase in all related diseases. Adult onset diabetes is now affecting younger and younger children is one example. Poor eating habits and lack of knowledge have helped to create these problems. Some of the other causes have to do with society itself. The structure of modern American society helps to create these problems. With people working longer and longer hours convenience food is often bought instead of healthy food. People often spend most of their workday sedentary and never have the chance to exercise. Advertising that people see tells them to consume high calorie foods. Then the next advertisement tells them how to purchase an ease fix to their obesity problems without having to do the difficult thing of changing lifestyles.

The link between cardiovascular disease and obesity has been well established. This major cause of mortality in our socie...

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...(1997). Socioeconomic inequalities in morbidity and mortality in western Europe. Lancet, 349, 1655-1659.

Marmot, M. G., Bosma, H., Hemingway, H., Bruner, E., Stansfeld, S. (1997). Contribution of job control and other risk factors to social variations in coronary heart disease incidence. Lancet, 350, 235-239.

Rosenbaum, M., Leibel, R. (1998). The physiology of body weight regulation: relevance to the etiology of obesity in children. Pediatrics, 101, 525-539.

Smith, G. D., Neaton, J. D., Wentworth, D., Stamler, R., Stamler, J. (1998). Mortality difference between black and white men in the USA: contribution of income and other risk factors among men screeened for the the MRFIT. Lancet, 351, 934-939.

Troiano, R. P., Flegal, K. M. (1998). Overweight children and adolesents: description, epidemiolgy, and demographics. Pediatrics, 101, 497-504.

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