The United States of America is one of the most advanced mass producing countries in the world. With vast technological and agricultural advances, physical activity and minimal production of crops has become obsolete. An epidemic as defined in An Introduction to Community Health by Mckenzie, Pinger, and Kotecki, is “an unexpectedly large number of cases of an illness, specific health-related behavior, or other health related event.” Diabetes, heart disease and cancer are all forms of lifestyle diseases, and each of these diseases of the human body can be caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices, particularly affecting those who are overweight or obese. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, obesity is defined as a condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body. Medically defined, it is an “abnormal accumulation of body fat, usually 20% or more over an individual's ideal body weight associated with increased risk of illness, disability, and death.” More than 35.7% of Americans are obese and the medical costs for those who were obese in 2008 spent $1,429 higher than those that were considered a normal weight. Obesity rates are also higher in different ethnic groups. Some of the leading causes of obesity that will be explained further include sedentary lifestyles, health conditions, and food chains. Although obesity is an issue that is currently rising due to our country’s advances, it is completely curable and avoidable if people were further educated about this problem. To medically diagnose an individual as overweight or obese, one must first have an understanding in nutrition and science as to what considers a person being obese. To measure whether or not someone is obese, one must first ... ... middle of paper ... ... an 86% risk of them becoming obese. If people became more aware of what and how much they are consuming on a day to day basis, eating out occasionally is acceptable behavior, but making a habit if ingesting these unhealthy harmful foods certainly effect ones health in the long run. In conclusion, each of these issues discussed has lead the United States of America into a difficult and possibly deadly path of obesity. Obesity is one the major health issues Americans face today. If people are simply more aware of the medications they take, diseases they acquired, their daily meal choices, and overall willing to change their lifestyles and chose to partake in a more physically active lifestyle, obesity in the U.S. can become an issue that is obsolete. With more recognition of what we as a nation in our everyday lives, can live longer, healthier, and prosperous lives.
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.
In “ how obesity became an epidemic disease” J. Eric Oliver discusses the negative impact the perception of obesity as a disease can have on the American people. Oliver begins by explaining the advent of the description of obesity as a disease and explains the fallacies in the argument that supports this description. The author argues that the data was misleadingly presented in a biased way to suggest that obesity is a spreading epidemic rather than a consequence from personal lifestyle choices. Oliver then delves into the ever-changing role of the CDC, explaining that many aspects of the human condition have slowly been medicalized and deemed diseases in need of a cure. According to the author, it appears that the inflation of the severity of obesity is often due to the commodification of the health care system promoted by the weight-loss industry and the need for passing the CDC budget through congress. The author argues that there is no clinical evidence linking some of the most abundant diseases in America to obesity.The author then makes the
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.
About 2.8 billion adults every year die of obesity (Diet). Rachel Epstein wrote the book “Eating Habits and Disorders” which talks about obesity being a disease. Obesity is a condition with extra body fat which often starts to form in childhood (Epstein 25). While obesity for some adults can be life-threatening (Epstein 25). It can also form psychosocial problems (Epstein 25). Being obese causes a risk in diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, kidney trouble and more (Epstein 25). Being obese during pregnancy can cause many problems for the mom, and for the baby (Epstein 25). Any of these things could cause many problems either in the future, or in the present (Epstein 25). The worse the eating habits, the harder it is to cure (Epstein 25). The government needs to do more about obesity because obesity rates are rising, many kids are being victims of obesity and they don’t even know it, also Medical Care is taking a big part with the growing obesity rates.
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).
Is obesity really a serious health concern or is the “epidemic” merely a result of highly fabricated, misleading ideas of politicians and the media? The article, Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic? By W. Wayt Gibbs featured in the May 23, 2005 edition of Scientific America, raises this question. Most health experts and average people believe that obesity is one of the most prevalent health concerns today, resulting in increased risk for other major health issues; such as; heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and the chance for early loss of life. However, other researchers are suggesting that the consequences of being overweight are being blown out of proportion. Naturally, they do acknowledge that obesity rates are increasing and being overweight can play a role in other health conditions.
Obesity has increased rapidly throughout the years, especially in the United States. As of today, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of adults in the U.S are considered to be obese. We all know that obesity is becoming a serious issue in the lives Americans. The effects of obesity can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and in serious cases, death. So the question we can all ask is, “What is the cause?” The cause of obesity can come from, but is not limited to, some of these things: eating habits, lack of exercise, or a medical condition.
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).
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.
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.
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...
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.
We live in a lazy nation and one that suffers from many health related issues associated with obesity. “Obesity is a national health crisis…”(Freedman 1). People are not very understanding of the effects of obesity. “ Health risks of obesity… cardiovascular disease, asthma, high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, uterine an...
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
dietary habits are also linked to health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, strokes,