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Fat Changing Social Norm

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Fit is the New Fat: How an Unhealthy Society is Changing Social Norms
There is a health epidemic in America. Among adults age 20 and older in America, 154.7 million are overweight or obese (AHA 2013). Obesity leads to a host of health related problems and unfortunately is has become a social norm in our country. Fat jokes are no longer socially accepted, and there has been a move to have these people embrace their bodies. People embracing themselves in and of itself is a wonderful thing, however overweight and obese people should be encouraged to live healthier life styles not to embrace their unhealthy one. These are just two ways society is subconsciously encouraging an unhealthy America.
Obesity in America
More than two-thirds of U.S. adults …show more content…
The areas that fat is stored affect the health risks that are related. Women with a "pear" shape tend to store fat in their hips and buttocks. In contrast, women with the "apple" shape fat store around their waists (Figure 3). A waistline greater than 35 inches potentially leads higher risk of weight-related health problems (Overweight, obesity…, 2012). According to Robert Eckel, MD and president of the American Heart Association, "A big waistline puts you at increased risk for many health problems…diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke". When fatty acids drain through the liver in excess they trigger the increase of LDL and triglycerides (Davis, 2014). Fats cause clotted arteries in the body and can lead to heart disease. Also, women are approximately 500% more likely to die of heart disease if they have a big waist and a high level of fats in their blood than their healthy female counterparts (Davis, 2014). Women are at 33% higher risk of breast cancer if they have surplus abdomen fat. Additionally, several types of cancer like breast cancer, uterine cancer, cervix cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer, and pancreas cancer have all been linked with obesity (Davis, …show more content…
As individuals in the healthcare profession, it is important that nurses take a proactive approach in intervening to reduce the obesity of everyone in this country. Also nurses should help instill the acceptance of healthy and fit individuals among those that they interact with. Nurses can encourage overweight and obese patients to start a safe weight loss plan. They should start by assuring their patient that the weight took time to go on so it will take time to come off, but with perseverance and dedication weight loss and more importantly fat loss can be achieved. A nurse can come up with an intervention that includes the following: A slow and safe weight loss goal of 1 to 2 pounds per week, a lower caloric intake full of healthy nutritional foods, an increase of physical activity and incorporation of daily exercise. Normally to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day and any more of a deficit than that can be too large of a deficit (Davis, 2014). Healthy and nutritional eating can be done by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, incorporating whole grains, and opting for lean proteins over their fatty counterparts. Finally according to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, an active lifestyle can lower your risk of early death from a variety of causes. There is also confirmation that consistent physical activity may also lower your risk of: heart disease, stroke, high

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