The Obesity Epidemic in America Paper Example

Introduction

Obesity is continuing to be an epidemic in the United States. Some too many people do not find the seriousness of this issue and fail to take into account how serious it is a health threat. Although the whole subject of obesity has gained a huge coverage and audience, it seems that no one is willing to try and change his/her life altogether (Bellisari, 2013). In recent times, advances in technology and many eating places has caused people to notice that there is some change in how they look, their waistlines and general well being. It is rather unfortunate that these people claim that they have no way of changing their appearance and instead blame their state on having no time due to their busy schedules which means that they do not have time to exercise. Today, the obese population in America has over 78.1 million adults and 12.5 million children. It is important that people change their perspectives on obesity and focus on living a healthy life (Batsis & Bynum, 2016). This paper aims at understanding the effects of obesity in America and finding solutions to alleviating this problem.

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Obesity has been defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2016) as generally having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. Obesity is then further divided into different classes of obesity; class 1-obesity, having a body mass index of between 30 and 34, class 2 obesity having a body mass index of between 35 and 39, and the class 3 obesity which is also called severe or extreme obesity. Class 3 obesity is having a body mass index of 40 or higher (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (U.S.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), 2016).

It is important to note that the definition of obesity is different in children (persons between the ages of 2 and 19). The definition according to the CDC is based on the CDC growth charts. Children within the 85th percentile or above are described as overweight, those at the 95th percentile or above are identified to be obese, whereas, the children at 120 percent of the population or over are defined to be extremely obese (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (U.S.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), 2016).

Obesity Numbers

The National Health and Nutrition Examination conducted a survey to identify the population that is obese in America. The study came up with the following statistics. These statistics have been categorized on the basis of gender, ethnicity, and age (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (U.S.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), 2016).

The statistics based on gender had the following findings: For men, the study identified that 38.7% were overweight, 35% were obese (including extremely obese), and 5.5% were extremely obese. In the case of women, 26.5% were overweight, 40.4% were obese (including the extremely obese), and 9.9% as being extremely obese (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (U.S.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), 2016).

The sample done based on the ethnic backdrop had the following figures; 48.1% non-Hispanic blacks were obese, there were 42.5% obese Hispanics, 34.5% non-Hispanic whites, and 11.7% non-Hispanic Asians. On the basis of age, the obese were split among different age groups. 20-39 had 32.3% being obese; 40-59 had 40.2% as being obese, and 60 years and over had 37% of their numbers as being obese (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (U.S.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), 2016).

In 2016, a study was conducted on children to identify the obesity rates in children. The statistics were then published in JAMA. The research took different measurements among 40780 children aged between 2 and 19 in the years 2003 to 2004. The findings found 17% as being obese, and 5.8% were extremely obese. These statistics can be broken down further into smaller age groups. The ages between 2 and 5 years had 9.4% as obese and 1.7% as being extremely obese, ages between 6 and 11 had 19.6% as being obese and 4.3% as being extremely obese, and between the ages of 12 and 19 had 20.6% as being obese and 9.1% as being extremely obese (Batsis & Bynum, 2016).

Reasons for the growing rates of obesity

From the statistics above, we can see how much obesity is affecting the population. It seems that it is getting worse with people and individuals eating themselves silly (Batsis & Bynum, 2016). In fact, it is becomingly increasingly difficult for children to distinguish between unhealthy food and healthy snacks. However, it is important not only to blame eating as the only cause of obesity as other factors cause obesity to grow at an ever-increasing rate. The main reason is the environment which has made food easily available and unhealthy food cheap, social engagements that promote and encourage overeating, restaurants and hotel competitions involving bigger servings of food, and worst of all, technology has caused the population to be lazier and engage less in physical activities (Bellisari, 2013).

Side effects and diseases associated with obesity

Many side effects are linked to obesity, the worst being that it leads to death. Studies by the American Obesity Association (2006) have identified that obesity is among some of the leading causes of avoidable and evadable deaths in the United States alongside smoking. In fact, obesity has become such a menace that insurance companies are offering packages on obesity prevention as well as treatment. Other than that, the Centre for Disease Control found that obesity is associated with increasing the risks of acquiring type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases (Skinner, Perin, & Skelton, 2016). Worse still, in recent times, the healthcare practitioners have discovered that there is a growth in the number of children aged ten years and below getting type 2 diabetes. The number is more in the children who are obese and overweight. Obesity also leads to low self-esteem among people which in the end leads to stress, depression and may eventually lead to death (Wexler, 2016).

What Should America do?

To fight the obesity epidemic in America, children should be taught how to engage in healthy diets when they are young. Educating children about healthy living, giving them healthy food, and educating them the benefits of consuming healthy foods at a young age will have a profound effect now and in the future (Bellisari, 2013). Without that, it is certain that these children will grow to follow in their parent's footsteps which are the main reason for the growth of obesity among the children. There should also be a do what I do attitude, rather than a do what I say attitude in parents. The parents should wake up and be good examples for their children by engaging in healthy eating and living healthily. The best way of attacking obesity is from home (Skinner, Perrin, & Skelton, 2016).

Conclusion

In conclusion, obesity has become a subject of concern for all the wrong reasons. For one, the numbers are not dwindling but are rising ever so rapidly. Globally, according to the World Health Organization (2018), the obesity numbers have tripled. In America particularly, the population has not yet fully grasped the seriousness of the issue. The numbers as shown in the study are sad and damning and something different needs to be done to deal with the problem. The study has identified that it is possible to help the situation by starting teaching about healthy eating to children at a young age. I fully support the recommendation, and it is also advisable to make unhealthy food more difficult to access and making them more expensive. Furthermore, the relevant stakeholders should put their heads together to ensure that these recommendations and many others are implemented to reduce the epidemic of obesity in America.

References

Batsis, J. A., & Bynum, J. P. (2016). Uptake of the centers for medicare and medicaid obesity benefit: 2012-2013. Obesity, 24(9), 1983-1988.

Bellisari, A. W. (2013). The obesity epidemic in North America: Connecting biology and culture. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (U.S.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.). (2016). The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from the National Center for Health Statistics. Atlanta, Ga.?: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

North American Association for the Study of Obesity. (2006). Obesity. Silver Spring, MD: NAASO, The Obesity Society.

Organization, W. H. (2018). World Health Statistics 2018. Geneva: World Health Organization.

Skinner, A. C., Perrin, E. M., & Skelton, J. A. (2016). Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity in US children, 1999-2014. Obesity, 24(5), 1116-1123.

Wexler, B. (2016). Weight in America: Obesity, eating disorders, and other health risks.