Obesity in America Concept Paper
James Smith October 19th 2011
Creative Writing Concept Paper
Obesity in America
In America, the amount of people who suffer from obesity in the last 40 years has increased significantly. It has become such an issue that, in 2001, the surgeon general declared obesity an epidemic in the country. Even though the amount of children and adults that are obese has seemed to level off, the numbers of overweight and obese people are still very high. Just about 1/3rd of children are considered to be overweight or obese and just about 2/3rd of adults are obese or overweight. These weight issues in adults can lead to health issues such as diabetes and heart problems. Many people put the blame on the individual person themselves, saying that it is about their own personal responsibility and commitment to keep their weight in order but the issue isn’t to be blamed on that alone. The environments we live in promote large portion sizes and junk food, rather than promoting the eating of fruits and vegetables. In 2009, nine states had adult obesity rates of 30% or more, which was triple of the rates in 2005. There were no states with that high of a rate in 2000. There are a total of 72.5 million adults who are obese in the country which is over a quarter of the adult population. With the growing number of obese comes a growing number of obesity related medical problems. Obesity has been linked to such things such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. The Congressional Budget Office has also reported an increase of health care spending in adults in the past two decades but it was even faster among the obese. The CBO stated “Spending per capita for obese adults exceeded spending for adults of normal weight by about 8 percent in 1987 and by
Creative Writing Concept Paper
Obesity in America
In America, the amount of people who suffer from obesity in the last 40 years has increased significantly. It has become such an issue that, in 2001, the surgeon general declared obesity an epidemic in the country. Even though the amount of children and adults that are obese has seemed to level off, the numbers of overweight and obese people are still very high. Just about 1/3rd of children are considered to be overweight or obese and just about 2/3rd of adults are obese or overweight. These weight issues in adults can lead to health issues such as diabetes and heart problems. Many people put the blame on the individual person themselves, saying that it is about their own personal responsibility and commitment to keep their weight in order but the issue isn’t to be blamed on that alone. The environments we live in promote large portion sizes and junk food, rather than promoting the eating of fruits and vegetables. In 2009, nine states had adult obesity rates of 30% or more, which was triple of the rates in 2005. There were no states with that high of a rate in 2000. There are a total of 72.5 million adults who are obese in the country which is over a quarter of the adult population. With the growing number of obese comes a growing number of obesity related medical problems. Obesity has been linked to such things such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. The Congressional Budget Office has also reported an increase of health care spending in adults in the past two decades but it was even faster among the obese. The CBO stated “Spending per capita for obese adults exceeded spending for adults of normal weight by about 8 percent in 1987 and by
Cited: Greenblatt, Alan. "Obesity Epidemic." CQ Researcher 31 Jan. 2003: 73-104. Web. Mantel, Barbara. "Preventing Obesity." CQ Researcher 1 Oct. 2010: 797-820. Web. Bailey, Ellen. Griswold, Ann. “Obesity: An Overview.” Point of View: Obesity 2011: p1-1, 1p. Web