...Obesity Epidemic Everywhere people turn weight loss is an issue. There are countless television commercials or advertisements speaking of ways to lose weight. The question is why have Americans become obsessed with weight loss? The answer lies in the fact America has become an obese country. According to an article published by Robert Pool, “Obesity and overweight now affect more than 50 percent of adult Americans.”[1] This is a staggering number. Everywhere people look or turn their see an overweight individual. Obesity has become an acceptable norm in today’s society. Canadian doctor’s Lau, Morrison, Shamara, and Ur concluded that “before the 20th century obesity was rare.”[2] Americans have become so obese that in “1997 the WHO recognized obesity as a global epidemic.[3] Because the number of cases of obesity are on the rise, obesity and weight loss have become a billion dollar industry. Obesity is an abnormal accumulation of body fat, usually 20% or more over an individual’s ideal body weight. Twenty to 40% percent over ideal weight is said to be mildly obese; 40-100% over ideal weight is said to be moderately obese; and over 100% ideal weight is said to be severely, or morbidly obese. Approximately 300,000 deaths a year are attributed to obesity. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. The money spent on obesity has increased in the last several years. Obesity leads to many different medical and physical problems. High...
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...Why is this generation so unhealthy? What is the reason for the insane amount of overweight young adults today? The obesity epidemic is directly affecting young people in America today. This generation is the first to experience growing up with it being “normal” to be overweight because it has become so common. American’s lifestyle has changed and so has eating habits. Many know what needs to be done: eat healthy and exercise. But it can be more difficult than just that. Educating people about how and what to eat plays an important role in this. Many people simply do not know how to eat right, or are unaware of what they are actually consuming. Also, every person has a different body type so different foods and exercise may work more efficiently...
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...Obesity in America Rough Draft Jeremy Stewart ENG 122 English Composition II Instructor: Jennifer Chagala October 02, 2014 Obesity in America It is a shame that more people die in the United States from eating too much food, while in other countries people die from not having enough. Obesity is a rising health epidemic across the nation, and it is a duel responsibility of the government as well as society to do all that they can, starting in the individual home to encourage healthy eating in order to reverse this development and preserve the next generation. Obesity has officially become an epidemic in America. It is debatably one the most noticed public health problems that America faces today. In 2009,...
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...The American Obesity Epidemic Obesity, a condition in which the body has an excessive accumulation of stored fat, is an epidemic plaguing the United States. A person is obese if their body mass index (BMI) is thirty percent or higher. According to recent statistics, more than 91.3 million Americans are obese. While not exclusive factors, diet, lifestyle, and education are causes that contribute greatly to the obesity epidemic, and can have severe consequences for not only the individual, but also for the United States. One of the main causes of obesity is improper diet. More than fifty-one percent of Americans eat processed foods that are high in fat, sugar, carbohydrates, and calories. These processed foods are typically packaged foods purchased at the grocery store, and foods purchased at fast food restaurants. Along with eating unhealthy foods, people in the United States tend to eat large portions. Numerous studies have proven that a combination of eating the aforementioned foods and eating large portions, contributes greatly to obesity. So why is it that more than half of the American population chooses to eat large amounts of food that contain such unhealthy ingredients? A majority of Americans turn to packaged foods and fast food restaurants due to their fast-paced lifestyles. Due to the decrease in unskilled labor, more Americans are in skilled professions that generally require more hours worked in a sedentary job with little to no exercise. If you combine...
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...Obesity, a condition of an excessively high proportion of body fat, is associated with elevated risks of cancer to occur throughout the body. Obesity is also a risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic illnesses. Americans currently have the cheapest food in history when measured as a fraction of disposable income. Along with the real decreases in food cost, per capita food availability has increased. Consequently, this smaller share of disposable income now buys many more calories, leading to the increase of obesity. The obesity epidemic has been fueled by historically low food prices relative to income. In the United States alone, an estimated 34,000 new cases of cancer among men (4%)...
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...Obesity: A Global Epidemic Introduction This analysis dives deep into the rising trend of obesity, and is designed to juxtapose the actions of McDonald’s corporation and the increasing trend of consumer preference of organic, healthy products. The market of food consumers is becoming increasingly health-focused although the simultaneous increases in obesity in almost all countries seem to be driven mainly by changes in the global food system, which is producing more processed, affordable, and effectively marketed food than ever before (Swinburn, 137). If fast-food chains such as McDonald’s ignore these changes in consumer knowledge and preferences, they will not survive the onslaught of other, new companies who now seek to bring fast, healthy food to the consumer’s table. Many of the labels that Label Print Technologies (LPT) produces are for smaller, organic food manufacturers who seek to bring a healthy product to their customers. The growth of the organic product industry has created large areas of growth in many different industries; the label industry is ripe for the picking and LPT is ready to act. Where once there were big manufacturers looking to have hundreds of thousands of labels produced at once, there are now smaller, health-focused companies looking for more intricately designed labels to adorn their high quality products, and not necessarily in mass quantity. Obesity is defined as fat accumulation that may impair health. The World Health Organization...
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...Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY 1 America’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Why It’s The Parent’s Responsibility Brian Rodgers ENG 122 Professor Higgins December 18, 2012 CHILDHOOD OBESITY 2 America’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Why It’s The Parent’s Responsibility As kids, most of us can remember an elderly adult harmlessly coming up and pinching our cute, pudgy cheeks. For something that at one time was considered cute, this act now represents a national epidemic threatening the health of our country’s youth. As the number of overweight and obese children drastically increases, new arguments are forming as to where the responsibility falls. Several states have begun developing laws that are including poor nutritional and lifestyle choices by parents in the category of neglect and abuse. As new studies and research pour in showing that obesity has a direct relation to multiple severe health issues, it has become increasingly common knowledge. With this era being deemed the “technology age”, finding this information is easy and accessible to just about every person in the United States. This new found access to information and the amount of information available showing obesity causes health problems and even death; parents have become responsible for monitoring their child’s...
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...The black plague has killed more than fifty million people. By conservative estimate, that would be one out of every ten American dead. But that was over six hundred years ago in Europe. Today is the modern world and many people have access to quality health care. America has abundance in food, so much so that people are dying from overeating. The scale of which can be considered unprecedented, very much like the black death. Many organization has called obesity an “epidemic” because a staggering one-third of American adult are obese. In a published study by RAND Health, obesity can be considered worse than smoking or poverty due to the magnitude of health problem it causes. People with obesity is linked to more chronic disease such...
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...The Obesity Epidemic; How Environment, Behavior and Policy Can Make a Difference. Beth Spangler, RN Environment and behavior are both out of control and have led to an epidemic of obesity. In the U.S. we see in every city, fast food availability on most every corner, making it a simple choice for a quick meal. If we combine that with increased technology of TV, computers, video games, all of which contributes to a sedentary lifestyle that has become the norm. What we have is a recipe for overweight and obesity. Policies must be made to intercede and change the direction of America’s spiraling weight and health problems. We must find a way to inspire people to make behavior changes within the current environment that are sufficient to resist the push of environmental factors toward weight gain. This will require conscious effort on the part of most people to make behavior choices that counteract the environmental pressure. (Hill, J.C., 2003) Many cities across America are adapting new policies to address the problems of environment and behavior. Policies for more nutritional education and increased availability of fresh healthy foods in schools are increasing. More parks and recreation centers are being built, especially in low income areas where they are few or absent. One of the national policies put into effect in the last few years, as part of the Health Care Reform Act, states “establishments with 20 or more locations nationwide must post calories in a clear and...
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...Introduction In this paper, I am arguing that the government owns the responsibility of putting an end to the obesity epidemic. First I will describe what the obesity epidemic is, secondly I will outline what research says about the causes of obesity, and thirdly I will talk about the individual agency of choice. What is the global obesity pandemic? According to the World Health Organization in 2008 (WHO, 2008), global obesity rates have doubled since 1980, reaching a record-breaking population of 1.4 billion overweight adults. This is 39% of the world’s population. At the more dangerous end of the spectrum lie over half a billion people who are clinically obese, capturing 13% of the world’s population (WHO). In fact, this issue is so vast,...
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...Obesity has become an epidemic in American Society. Since the nineteen eighties childhood obesity rates have tripled and have started in earlier in age. In high school students obesity rates have risen by fifteen percent. In four states obesity rates for adults have exceeded thirty five percent. Obesity is being portrayed as being beautiful, which people should be comfortable in their own skin, but the health effects that obesity causes is far from beautiful. Nearly seventy eight million adults and almost thirteen million children are obese in the United States. In the 1950's the percentage of obese adults was only ten percent, and has now risen to thirty five percent. An adult is averaged to weigh twenty six more pounds more than...
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...Childhood Obesity An American Epidemic By Annissia Y. Pate Is childhood obesity an American epidemic? The answer is yes. An epidemic is defined by a wide spread outbreak of a condition where many people are infected at the same time. Epidemic obesity is occurring all over the world. Children are eating less healthy foods and engaging in less healthy activities. Childhood obesity is not limited to any specific race or type of child, but obesity is affecting children in the United States. Today, American children are more obese than medical science recommends, and their body weight is still increasing. Childhood obesity has become one of the largest health concerns in the United States. According to the Center of Disease and Control, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Children are gaining weight due to lack of physical activity and types of quantity of food they consume. Kids today are content with sitting on the couch, spending countless hours, watching television and playing video games. We need to encourage children to get up and get involved in more physical activities. Lack of exercise is simply not enough for a growing child’s body to deal with increased caloric intake of today’s modern diet. Children must participate in gym class and make every effort to deal in sports after school. Parents must make a diligent effort to offer healthier chooses for meals. Fast foods, sugary drinks and processed...
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...There is an epidemic in America and it is called “Childhood Obesity.” “Obese,” from the Latin word “obesus,” means “grow fat by eating.” (Dalton, 2004) This term’s origin suggests that overeating is the major cause of the obesity epidemic. Teaching obese children to eat less is essential. But modifying behavior is no simple task, and eating too much is not the sole cause of obesity. Other factors play a role and must be understood in order to reverse this epidemic and produce healthier children. The growing number of obese children in America are victims of an epidemic just as surely as if they were infected by a virus. Americans tend to think of an epidemic as an outbreak of a contagious illness. But to physicians the sudden increase in obesity rates that have occurred in the twentieth century is every bit as unexpected as an outbreak of a new infectious disease and has triggered an alarm that might greet the rising of polio. Julie Gerberding, the director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the fall of 2003, declared obesity the number one health threat facing America. (Okie, 2005) The causes (nature) of this epidemic are complex and include genetic, biological and behavioral factors. These include, but are not limited to poor eating habits, overeating, the lack of exercise, family history of obesity, cardiac, endocrine or neurological problems, life changing events or stress, along with family or peer problems and low self-esteem or emotional...
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...Unfortunately, obesity’s prevalence is showing an exponentially increasing trend. In the United States, two out of three adults are overweight or obese; likewise, one out of three children are considered overweight or obese.1 The obesity epidemic is a cause of great concern for the nation’s overall health because it is the foundation for secondary diseases such as hypertension, high cholesterol, type two diabetes, and osteoarthritis. As obesity continues throughout a patient’s life, the secondary diseases are expected to increase in prevalence and severity. Many of the secondary diseases can be reversed with weight loss. It is important to distinguish the difference between patients who are obese and those who are overweight. Overweight...
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...The Obesity Epidemic Ever looked outside or even been in a store and looked around? Have you realized the problem many people face in our society today with obesity? Obesity is a widespread disease that is influencing many of the people in America. According to National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases states that about 35% of American’s face this problem daily and more are on the verge to being diagnosed with this (Information, Health 1). Treating this disease is harder than what it may seem. I, personally, know someone who is heavier and uses fad diets and temporary weight loss techniques, which helped that person, lose weight. Sadly, these are called temporary weight loss techniques for a reason; soon this person...
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