Good nutrition takes on major roles in the life of healthy individuals. This is common knowledge among most individuals. However, two-thirds of American adults are still overweight or obese mostly due to bad eating habits and lack of exercise. On the other hand, there is an accepted self image that is portrayed by the media and our society which may also lead to deadly problems. Ten to fifteen percent of Americans suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia which is also very unhealthy nutritional habits. All these things can lead or be the result of a bad self image which, consequently, may lead to death by malnutrition or suicide.
“The term “obesity” obviously refers to the fat content in the body (2).” There is no doubt that poor nutrition is prevalent in America today. In a study, sixty-three percent of men and fifty-five percent of women had a body mass index of twenty-five or greater. Any number twenty-five or above is considered overweight or obese (2). Obesity is a huge epidemic in America. There are so many health risks related to this disease. In a survey study, a group was asked health and nutrition related questions to test their knowledge and a large percent did not know that there was a link between cholesterol concentration and the likelihood of developing heart disease (3). This result is shocking to me, but many Americans are …show more content…
ed (or maybe just ignoring) about many health issues related with their nutrition because of what society and television advertisements makes to be “acceptable.” Some health issues and diseases associated with overweight and obesity includes: physically handicap, impaired glucose