Obesity: Public Health Complications

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Public Health Problem
Obesity is a major contributing risk factor for health complications, regardless of any individual’s age. While obesity is determined by an individual’s weight at a particular height, it constantly changes throughout some person’s life as they age. All three factors play an important role in determining the means of obesity. With children, age is a more sensitive factor for a predicted ideal weight. When height and weight are combined on a professionally designed chart, it provides an estimated ideal weight based on age for a given child. For adults, height and weight are the two major factors taken into consideration when predicting an ideal healthy weight. Ideal weights for adults are looked at in a broader age range. If the individual’s actual weight exceeds the ideal weight by 10 to 20 pounds, the individual is considered over-weight. The term over-weight is considered an early stage to obesity. Should the person’s actual weight exceed the ideal weight by 20 or more pounds, then the individual is considered to be obese. Standard BMI (Body Mass Index) charts, do not take muscle mass or bone density into consideration when prescribing ideal weights. …show more content…

One leading factor in health complications for both adults and children around the world, is obesity (CDCP: Overweight and Obesity, 2015). It is one of the easiest contributing risk factors to control but seems to be among the top deadliest diseases. When children are enduring obesity at an early age, they are experiencing a lesser quality of life due to increased health complications. Those complications can result in worsened morbidity and even early mortality due to limited accessibility to physical activity opportunities (CDCP: Overweight and Obesity,

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