Obesity in the U.S.

Obesity in the U.S.

The United States is ranked as one of the most obese countries in the modern world. Obesity is a national epidemic because of an alarming annual increase of overweight population over the past decade. Unless action is taken immediately, there is no chance of a slowdown in a foreseeable future. A craze for fast food is swiftly sweeping over the country, resulting in a consequential poor nutrition trail. Recent surveys indicate that corporations specializing in fast-food production encourage the target market segment to regularly consume given amounts of junk and unhealthy food by offering enticements such as child toys (Ogden et al., 2012). Even worse, computers, television, and video-games are technological necessities clouding the importance of regular body exercises. While the crisis spread like wildfire, ways to curb its harm exist.

Obesity puts the victims in danger of developing acute illnesses. Obese children, for instance, have unhealthy weights that escalate their chances of poor blood quality, weak lungs, and diabetes. However, not all is lost as these diseases can be prevented through a balanced diet program and healthy physical activities.

Body Mass Index

An individual is considered obese if his/her BMI is 95^th percentile or more for their age. The majority of US citizens fall under this category because sugary food consumption habits and poor exercise strategies (Ogden et al., 2012). Baked goods, fast foods, and vending machine snacks are high in calorie. Therefore, consuming them regularly sounds an alarm for a drastic weight increase. In the United States alone, more than a third of teenagers are daily fast food eaters. Resultantly, each of them gains an extra 6 pounds of weight per year. A five-fold increase in fast food consumption since 1970 demonstrates the extent of health risk the U.S. population is exposed. An average US citizen spends more than three hours a day watching a television program.  Such valuable time could be spent instead in outdoor activities like exercising. 

Experts link obesity to depression, low self-esteem, or occurrence of dramatic events in life. Deaths of family members or divorce can result in overeating hence leading to obesity. In addition, inadequacy in financial resources inhibits poor people from affording nutritional diet and subscription to an exercise facility. Metabolic disorders are genetic and can be passed from one generation to the other. Similarly, children can inherit obesity from their parents. There is an 80% chance of obese parents conceiving an overweight child (Luppino et al., 2010). Besides, children often inherit the parent’s lifestyle. Other causes of obesity include steroids, psychological medications, and hormonal imbalances.

Some of the diseases that overweight or obese people in America have to contend with include asthma, hypertension, and type II diabetes. Kidney disease, cardiovascular ailments, and fatty liver diseases are also common. Others are osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and cancerous diseases.  Devastatingly, obesity can result in death at an early age. In fact, up to 300,000 deaths annually are traceable to obesity (Ng et al., 2014).

Preventing Obesity

Prevention of obesity is possible though it is imperative to follow the necessary steps closely. First, a healthy diet and appropriate intake of calories should be routine. Eating fast foods should be phased out gradually as dietary food is embraced. Using food as a reward or punishment is common in the United States. Therefore, parents should avoid the practice because children can have a negative view of nutritious food. Lastly, the government should educate the public on the long-term effects of fast food.

Unfortunately, obesity is a serious societal dilemma that is common in the America. The devastating effects of its dramatic increase within a few decades are evident. If precautionary measures are not taken, obesity will continue to pose a health risk in the U.S.

References

Luppino, F. S., de Wit, L. M., Bouvy, P. F., Stijnen, T., Cuijpers, P., Penninx, B. W., & Zitman, F. G. (2010). Overweight, obesity, and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Archives of general psychiatry, 67(3), 220-229.

Ng, M., Fleming, T., Robinson, M., Thomson, B., Graetz, N., Margono, C., ... & Abraham, J. P. (2014). Global, regional and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults 1980-2013: A systematic analysis. Lancet (London, England), 384(9945), 766.

Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2012). Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010. Jama, 307(5), 483-490.