Obesity

Obesity Takes Over
Obesity is a growing worldwide problem causing “over 400 million people to become obese” (Obesity). The numbers will keep climbing to be about “700 million in 2015” (Obesity). As the numbers keep growing in both adults and children, people will remain obese until they can make their life healthier. Throughout the United States, obesity has affected a large number of people from lack of exercise, consuming too much food and causing various types of health problems. People have been eating too much food then their bodies can handle. On average, an obese person will eat “18% more food, which is 960 more calories daily than an ordinary person” (Obese). For them to sustain normal energy, they need to consume 1,680 calories and to maintain daily activities they need 1,280 calories” (Obese). With people eating more, more food is being produced (including fast-food outlets and drive- thru) increasing the portion size. This is affecting schools, homes and workplaces. At schools, they are providing students with vending machines and other sources of food containing high calories. “Moderate evidence demonstrates that the school food environment influences dietary intake and potentially promotes unhealthy eating habits that favor the development of obesity among students” (Branca). Then at homes, if parents are obese there is a high rate that the child will be obese too, due to parents over feeding their children. “In addition, evidence shows an increased risk of obesity developing among children in families where the parents show poor control of dietary intake, there are fewer or infrequent family meals, television is watched during meals, there is frequent snacking or the mother undergoes episodic weight-loss dieting” (Branca). Also at workplaces, you experience a lifestyle change and may gain some weight due to these new lifestyles. “Modern urban habits of working longer hours under increased job stress or during a tight economy also contribute to poor eating habits, as people may choose less expensive or faster alternatives to more healthy foods prepared at home” (Obesity). People do not exercise enough to keep a healthy weight. For people to know if they do not exercise enough a device called body mass index (BMI) is used to calculate the fat of the body by dividing pounds over height in inches squared. “The healthy range of BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. BMI values between 25 and 29.9 generally indicate that a person is overweight. Values above 30 generally indicate obesity” (Obesity). To help decrease people’s body mass index, corporations are starting a bunch of ways to keep people active. Coco-Cola and Pepsi are funding playgrounds and fitness centers at elementary schools to get more children physical active” (Soft). Diet pills do not contribute to helping you maintain a healthy weight. When people take diet pills while being obese they lose weight but they do not exercise. When they get to a weight they are happy with they will stop taking these pills and “in two years, up to 85% will have gained the weight they lost back. Then in five years the body will rise 90% fat” (Obesity). This process keeps repeating over and over because all the person wants to do is be healthy. They do not understand they are not helping their body. The obesity of people has caused their bodies more health problems than they would have if they had a healthy life. “Obesity has been traced to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, infertility, snoring, menstrual irregularities, high rates for certain types of cancer, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease and gallstones” (Obesity). In 2011, the CDC linked deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) to obesity. Smoking and immobility following accident or surgery are other known risk factors” (Obesity). With more people becoming obese and more of them having health problems, the money spent for medical bills keeps rising. “In 2005, more than $75 billion in the United States was used for medical costs relating to obesity patients. Then in December 2010, about $270 billion for health care, disability and loss of productivity was spent for obesity in the United States” (Obesity). The money spent on health care is going to keep rising yearly due to the rapid speed of the increase of obese people developing health problems.
Obesity affects a lot of people throughout the United States. The number of people suffering from this will keep growing until people can learn how to maintain a healthy diet. People who are obese suffer with it due to lack of physical activity and eating too much for their body, which causes health problems that can be severe. Obese people do not look at how much food they put in their body causing them to put in more calories than needed. Also from the above statement, from them not exercising and just having the extra calories keep growing due to no physical exercise. They also can gain calories by taking diet pills that can be harmful to their bodies. By people having all these calories inside them they can develop many health problems that cause people to live unhealthy lives.