Obesity Epidemic

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• Obesity Essay

  ...Obesity is an epidemic that affects millions of people in the United States everyday. It is a lifestyle disease that affects individuals of all races, age and gender. Childhood obesity has been increasing rapidly over the past few years. The problem with obesity is that it makes individuals highly susceptible to diseases like diabetes and hypertension. Seventeen percent of all children in the United States suffer from obesity today. Obesity is generally caused when the calories eaten exceed the calories our body dissipates. This occurs either when high calorie food is consumed or due to lack of physical fitness. In order to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle a balance of proper food and physical fitness is important. However, in the sedentary lifestyle of modern day America, we have less time to exercise. Therefore, making a healthy choice in what we eat is important to maintain a healthy standard of living. The rise of fast food chains like McDonald’s, KFC and Taco Bell may have contributed partly to the problem of obesity. However, critics who believe that these chains of restaurants are the main cause of obesity in America today are highly mistaken. The problem of obesity is caused, not due to the chains selling unhealthy food but by people choosing to purchase and consume these unhealthy foods. The lack of education regarding what people...

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• The American Obesity Epidemic Essay

  ...The American Obesity Epidemic Obesity in America is on the rise now, with 72-million people contributing to this new “epidemic.” People need to start taking care of their bodies or they could possibly lose their lives to the leading cause of death in America—heart disease. Believe it or not, this epidemic isn’t just effecting the human population. Twenty-five percent of cats and dogs are now heavier than they should be. With excess weight usually comes many kinds of physiological, behavioral, social, environmental and economic problems. Childhood obesity rates have nearly tripled since the 1980’s, and current research shows that almost one-third of children over two years of age are already overweight or obese ("Obesity In America: What's Driving The Epidemic."). To put a stop to this epidemic, we need a solution that goes far beyond simply eating less. This obesity epidemic is responsible for more than one hundred sixty-thousand additional deaths each year in America now. Currently, 72% of men and 63% of women are overweight (White). So why is it that the U.S. has become so big in the last twenty years? The obvious, almost trivial answer is that we eat too many high-calorie foods and don't burn them off through exercise ("Adult Obesity Facts."). If only we could change those habits, then this...

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• Obesity Epidemic Essay

  ... Who’s to Blame for the Obesity Epidemic? Rasmussen College Author Note This research is being submitted on December 11, 2013 for B371/GEB3110 Section 03 Research and Report Writing - 2013 Fall Quarter Is obesity a disease that our food culture and sedentary lifestyle created? According to the results from the 2009–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), it was indicated that an estimated 33.0% of U.S. adults aged 20 and over are overweight, 35.7% are obese, and 6.3% are extremely obese. That is total of almost 41 million women and more than 37 million men aged 20 and over. In the early 1900s, only one in 150 people were obese. (Adult obesity facts, 2013) In less than 40 years, obesity in America has increased by over 50%. That means there are two out of every three American adults that are overweight or obese. (Obesity in America, 2012) It is also important to know that according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008. The medical costs alone for people who are obese were $1429 higher than those who were at a healthy weight. (Adult obesity facts, 2013) Our food culture and sedentary lifestyle has proven to be the main reasons why so many Americans are overweight or obese. Why is this happening? What are we...

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• Essay on Obesity

  ... OBESITY. . Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals. There are different types of public health related problems, Public health surveillance has led to the identification and prioritization of many public health issues facing the world today, including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, obesity, waterborne diseases, zoonotic diseases, and antibiotic resistance leading to the reemergence of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. The focus of public health intervention is to improve health and quality of life through the prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions, through researching of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. Promotion of hand washing, breastfeeding and delivery of vaccinations. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that overweight and obesity may soon replace more traditional public health concerns such as under nutrition and infectious diseases as the most significant cause of poor health. Obesity is a public health and policy problem because of its prevalence, costs, and health effects. Obesity...

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• Essay about Obesity

  ...Susan M Obesity: Is it a choice? The topic of obesity within the United States, let alone the world, has been a dispute for years. In the United States it has been debated in many levels from controlling what foods restaurants can serve to initiatives within the government driven by presidents, presidential candidates, and even first ladies. There is an overwhelming statement that something needs to be done, but the problem is not what, but how. Many debate that obesity is not an effect of choice but due of genetic make-up. Other’s say that many people do not even get to have a choice and are ultimately doomed to having nothing to eat but processed fatty foods and being overweight. The essays, Can’t Blame the Eater, by David Zinczenko, and Kentucky Town of Manchester Illustrates National Obesity Crisis, by Wil Haygood, both illustrate how people, from adolescent to middle-aged adult, have no option but to eat unhealthily due to the overbearing presence of fast-food restaurants. Instead of blaming the individuals for making unhealthy choices in their diet, they blame the businesses that only provide the food. The rates of obesity in the United States have caused concern for many people and many organizations. First Lady Michelle Obama founded an organization that specifically targets obesity rates in...

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• Cholera Epidemic Essay

  ... Cholera Epidemic Epidemics have played an important role in modern European history. In particular, epidemic diseases have been a frequently repeated feature of human history up to the present day. A classic example of such a disease in Europe during the 1800s is cholera. This disease caused profuse diarrhea, severe dehydration, collapse, and often death. As cholera travelled throughout towns and cities, it took advantage of overcrowded housing conditions, poor hygiene and insanitary water-supplies. Studies suggested that these conditions might almost have been designed for it. Furthermore, cholera affected the poor more than the well-off and the rich due to lack of sanitary attention. This led to the judgement of the poor and how people blamed them for causing the disease of cholera. However, when it spread to the middle classes, they needed to address a different cause for cholera. Cholera spread in a series of a waves or pandemics. The disease made isolated appearances in Europe and was regarded as the classic epidemic disease of the nineteenth century. Still, three major questions are to be addressed about cholera. First, was the psychological and social impact of cholera powerful enough to enable the absolute numbers of people affected and was its impact minor compared to tuberculosis? Second, did cholera epidemics play a part in the major political disruptions of the nineteenth...

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• Essay on History of Obesity

  ...Body, Mind, & Health 27 June 2013 Prevention Over Treatment for Obesity Obesity is an important issue because of the staggering proportions that this disease has reached. Doctors are prescribing patients to lose weight, exercise, eat healthy, and in extreme cases, go under the knife, but none of these recommendations are making a dent in lowering the rate of obesity. Rather, the number of people obese in the United States steadily increases at an alarming rate. But why? This paper explains the medicalization of obesity throughout history. After the medicalization of obesity, it becomes clear that treatment measures dominate preventative measures. Our fixation on treatment is evident when looking at popular culture and the evidence supporting the rise of obesity is explained through the statistics on epidemiology. This paper suggests that practice of prevention for overweight and obese individuals needs to be implemented in American Society rather than continuing to emphasize treatment measures if public health officials want to see a decline in obesity. History of Obesity Clinical medicine changed in the nineteenth century when German laboratories identified the fat cell and then in 1846 when Arthur Hassall’s published The Microscopic Anatomy of the Human Body in Health and Disease, in which he described the structure and growth of fat cells. In his...

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• Obesity in America Research Paper

  ...Obesity has become rampant among Americans. It is one of the leading causes of health issues. It isn’t skipped through generations. Obesity affects both the old and young. What is obesity?  According to (OAC, 2015):   Obesity is a condition that is associated with having an excess of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Obesity is classified as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater. BMI is a tool used to measure obesity. Obesity increases your risk of developing related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and sleep .Obesity is a complex, multifactorial, and chronic disease that requires a comprehensive medical approach to care. It is the second leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., and is associated with a large number of co-morbid conditions. Care should therefore not be seen as simply having the goal of reducing body weight, but should additionally be focused on improving overall health and quality of life,  to name a few. Many individuals are affected by obesity and are not aware of it.   The number one position statement made by OAC is: Obesity is a complex, multifactorial, and chronic disease that requires a comprehensive medical approach to care. It is the second leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., and is associated with a large...

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