Reasons Why the US Citizens Are Rapidly Becoming More Obese Essay

Introduction

Obesity is one of the significant challenges that the United States has to combat. People are currently more obese that they were a few years ago. There are some reasons that the American population is increasingly becoming obese.

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Lack of Exercise

The advent of technology has made the American population more sedentary than in the past. People are spending a lot of their time behind computers either at work or when at home. The internet has made it easy for people to communicate from different locations further reducing the need to get up and go to meetings. Additionally, that has been a growth of service industry such as drive-through restaurants which makes it easy for people to buy either their lunch or dinner and makes them unwilling to cook. Children have also been given access to computer games which reduces the need to go out and play games that will require physical activities.

Low Income

Americans who fall under the lower income struggle more with obesity than those from a high-income bracket. Since healthy and fresh food is expensive, people from low-income families prefer packaged and fast food. The distance that people live from healthy foods also plays a critical role in the rise of obesity. There is a large number of people who live far from areas where they can get healthy food. As a result, people are forced to eat packaged food which usually has high calories and is not suitable for an individual's health. The financial responsibilities also make it hard for people to buy fresh and healthy food. Cooking takes time, and those people who have tight work schedules may find eating fast food easier and convenient. Additionally, people from low-income families tend to have limited information about healthy food. They may also not exercise a lot because of lack of money for a gym membership or due to lack of safe outdoor space.

Stress

Stress either at work, social life or academically plays a vital role in the rise in the number of Americans with obesity. When individuals are in a stressful condition, the body reacts by having a fight or flight response. Such a response makes a person feel hungry leading to more food intake. Additionally, the body which is under stress will store more fats as a way of fending off the attack that it feels. There are also other people who turn to food as a source of comfort when they are under stress. The stressful situation also affects people from low income more than those from high income because of the financial challenges that they face. It can also be hard to get a specialist to help with weight loss because of lack of funds to access such a service.

Lack of Enough Sleep

Sleep plays a crucial role in the fight against obesity. People who spend late hours either on the phones working, studying or playing video games disrupt their sleep cycle. Sleep deprivation may lead to an increase in the stress levels which will, in turn, lead to a need to eat more as a way of relieving the pressure. Poor sleeping patterns also affect the hormonal balances and their functions. Lack of enough sleep may also affect a person able to exercise because of lack of energy.