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Problems Causing Obesity
Obesity is a medical disorder that involves accumulation of excess fat in the body to the extent that it may cause an adverse impact on human health. This in most cases tends to reduce life expectancy or increase problems concerning health. Studies have indicated that obesity is a great risk because it causes immense damage to an individual’s health. Obesity may lead to several diseases such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, and diabetes amongst others. In a majority of affected individuals, fat accumulation may spread around the body or become concentrated on the stomach, hips or thighs. In order to determine the healthy range in a person, the body mass index (BMI) is always applied as a way of determining an individual’s weight (Finkelstein & Zuckerman, 2008). Obesity is a dangerous health problem because it is associated with a good number of various diseases that may even lead to death, for instance, an obese person is likely to encounter cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, sleeping difficulties, and some types of cancer.
Importance of body mass index is that it helps health providers in comparing a person’s weight and height in order to know whether a person is healthy, obese or thin. For instance, a person is known to be healthy or in a normal range, if the body mass index ranges between 19.0 and 25kg/m. On the other hand, an overweight person has a body mass index lying between 25 and 30. However, a person with a range over 30 or even 40 and above is considered to be suffering from obesity. In particular, an individual having a body mass index that is 40 and above is said to be morbidly obese and he or she is at a great health risk. According to statistics, more women than men are noted to be obese. Obesity affects body image hence, influencing self-esteem, which may lead to depression and social anxiety in psychological terms. The common problems associated with obesity comprises of breathing difficulties, troubled walking, or even running, too much sweating, knees and back pains among other health problems. In addition, obesity results into high blood cholesterol and /other mental conditions. Therefore, it is necessary that relevant solution be put in place to help reduce on the growing rate of the problem in the United States of America.
Causes of the Obesity Problem
Various conditions have been identified as causative factors of obesity amongst the global populace. For instance, overeating or too much consumption of food that in most cases does not match with the physical expenditure of the food consumed in a day. This implies that any time a person consumes food with more calories than he or she is able to burn, then the chances of the person becoming obese are very high. Research shows that human bodies require calories in order to sustain life and also be active physically (World Health Organization, 2011). Nevertheless, to keep weight, people require making a balance between the energy consumed and the energy used. “Thus, consuming more calories than one is able to utilize affects the energy balance hence leading into weight gain and obesity” (World Health Organization, 2011). However, it is important that various factors be also put into consideration when dealing with issues causing obesity amongst the majority populace other than focusing on food intake and expenditure alone.
In the United States of America, obesity is blamed on the environmental conditions. These factors involve lifestyle behaviors, which include the eating behavior of a person and the level of physical activity. In many incidences, Americans have the habit of eating out and consuming large quantities of foods especially high fat fast meals attributable to their busy schedules. This shows that they always accord preeminence to taste and convenience as opposed to nutrition. Therefore, because of the busy schedules, most people residing within the American nation have less time in engaging in physical exercises. They consume plenty of fatty foods and utilize less of the consumed food leading to the development of obesity. Additionally, most people in the United States hold a high preference to driving rather than walking to work. In fact, a majority of the places lack sidewalks and have vending machines with high calories and fatty snacks within the workplace hence promoting obesity (World Health Organization, 2011).
Another cause of obesity in the country is social factors, which include poverty, and lack of enough or adequate education. In most cases, processed foods tend to be affordable in terms of their prices, accessibility and preparation requirements than the alternative healthier foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Thus, due to inadequate monetary assets towards purchasing healthy foods, a majority of residents opt for cheap foods that are full of fats thus contributing to the growth of obesity in the country. Other factors causing obesity may include inability to access safe recreational places or even afford the cost of gym membership (Smith, 2009). Therefore, social factors such as poverty are the major causes of obesity, although research shows that even individuals with high-income levels are also being affected by obesity. This may be attributable to lack of time for physical exercises.
Obesity has also been categorized as a genetic ailment. Research reveals that some genetic disorders of overweight are transferred from one generation to another making it difficult for such people to control obesity since biological compositions and information translates to an obese structure. According to studies, genes affect various weight related processes in a human body including metabolic rates, blood glucose metabolism, storage of fat, and hormones amongst others. Young children whose mothers are overweight are noted to be very inactive thus tend to gain extra pounds every day as they develop. Lack of early or proper interventions leads to obesity. In addition, children with normal weight whose parents are obese are likely to have a lesser metabolic rate than normal weight children whose parents are non-obese, which can result into problems in terms of weight in their adulthood. Therefore, this shows that a predisposition to obesity can also be inherited genetically.
Research also evidences that obesity is caused by family influences. For instance, a child is likely to become obese because of the behavioral patterns exhibited by the parents especially in terms of shopping styles, cooking patterns, food consumption and physical activities (OECD, 2005). These patterns are noted to be very significant owed to the fact that they have an effect on a child’s energy balance and subsequently their weight. Therefore, the family’s lifestyle and diet patterns are major contributors to the present obesity problem in children. This is particularly noted within the rising affluence reflected in the society. Currently, most children lack enough physical exercises because of the technological development that has resulted into the computer games, appealing television shows that actively act as constraints towards any form of motion and lacking physical exercises. “Most families like to shop for sugary meals mostly for the children when they go for picnics instead of preparing healthy foods that consists fresh fruits and vegetables” (Smith, 2009).
Therefore, the preceding discussion reveals the conditions that increase an individual’s chances of becoming obese including social factors, environmental issues, wrong diets and fatty foods, lack of physical exercises, influence from family behavioral patterns, lack of enough knowledge concerning the importance of consuming healthy foods and lack of daily physical exercises (OECD, 2005). However, these causes can be overcome, avoided or reduced if each person develops a positive attitude concerning health through responsible actions including eating habits. Each person can take full responsibility of guarding his or her health in order to avoid the obesity condition.
Solutions to Obesity
Obesity presently is viewed as a complex problem due to the various causative elements including physiological, behavioral, social, economic incidences, and environmental factors. Therefore, to reduce or eliminate this problem, a multiphased approach that aims beyond food consumption only would be best in handling the given condition. This may actually require stringent practices including the consideration of balanced and nutritious foods in all forms of purchases, turning off computer games and televisions at home, and promoting family physical activities.
In order to reduce or eliminate obesity especially in the US warrants the creation of health associations and programs. For instance, health associations should collaborate with food and beverage companies so that they creation of a constructive agreement mandating improvements in snacks and beverages contents, particularly those sold to schoolchildren. This could include a reduction in harmful contents, make improvements in terms of nutrients levels, and manufacturing low-calorie beverages in learning institutions (Bagchi, 2010). Through this collaboration and agreement, young children are able to mature and have healthy lives with lessened likelihoods of acquiring obesity.
Schools should promote physical education programs as part of the learning schedules in order to help reduce obesity in children. This can be achieved through the provision of quality physical education such as running, cycling, swimming, skating, among other physical games. Therefore, to ensure that schools adhere to this program, fitness should be integrated with teaching in accordance to the Kids Act to be established by the government (Bagchi, 2010). Through this Act, schools will be required to give a full report concerning the quality and quantity of physical education they offer as a way of providing children with the opportunity to participate in physical activities. Research shows that schoolchildren in elementary classes require an average of about one hundred and fifty minutes of physical education per week, while high school and middle class children require about two hundred and twenty-five minutes per week.
On the other hand, adults should also be motivated in addressing the issue both at home and at workplaces. It has been noted that most American citizens or adults rarely participate in daily physical exercises. Therefore, to enable them adopt the physical program, the work schedule should incorporate thirty-minutes of physical exercise in all working days, as this will help in reducing the risk developing obesity to a good number of individuals (Emmis Communications, 2011). By reducing obesity risks, it implies that there will also be a reduction in various diseases caused by obesity such as cardiovascular ailments, diabetes and heart attack. Adults can also avoid obesity through developing a community setting that promotes more walking, and cycling to help people avoid sedentary lives. Therefore, for better results concerning obesity reduction, awareness programs should be put in place so that people may be educated or enlightened on issues concerning the same such as its short and long-term consequences and risks.
The awareness program should target diverse audiences ranking from children to adults. Thus, it should be established in learning institutions, workplaces, in community settings and households. Some systematic changes such as sustainable policy, environmental changes and comprehensive edicts should be encouraged by integrating them towards the creation of extreme strategies that affects the health and security of an economy. Thus, maintaining a healthier and productive country can be achieved by keeping the commitment of upholding such measures. Community based programs are the best solutions in reducing or eliminating the problem of obesity.
Consumers’ act as the most significant individuals in the need for the provision of durable solutions to obesity since they make personalized daily choices with regard to food and lifestyle. Individuals should start addressing weight gain on a personal level by aligning to healthy feeding patterns, largely emanating from a variety of healthy food choices. “Consumers are highly motivated by taste, quality, convenience, and price thus creating a gap between attitudes and actions that need to be considered, especially by food processing and preparation industries (Kelly, 2006)”.
Such industries should offer reliable information to consumers concerning nutrition to enable them make a responsible decision in terms of dietary combinations. Food producers should be honest and provide relevant information that promotes education in nutrition at all levels. The producers could do this by collaborating with science-based communities and the government so that they are able to satisfy the needs of the consumers through healthier products.
Best Solution
The solution concerning consumer responsibility is important and good primarily by the fact that only an individual possesses the ability to offer effectual control and management of own feeding patterns. This implies that every person bears the liability of ensuring that foods consumed are healthy in terms of nutritional computations. Additionally, an individual holds the responsibility of ensuring that some preset period is created for physical exercises despite the busy work schedules. Thus, this demonstrates that holding other factors, as significant causatives of obesity may not be particularly rational because unless people value their own health nothing will. Currently, there is accessible and affordable information concerning healthy lifestyles. Therefore, each person has the duty to ensure that he has the right information that can help in achieving balanced diets and physical exercises, both in the family level and at the work places.
Opposing Views to the Causes of Obesity
Obesity in the United States of America has been blamed on environmental factors such as the lifestyles and improper feeding behaviors that involve the consumption of fast food and an unrelenting form of ignorance towards physical exercises due to busy working schedules(Bagchi, 2010). This may not be true in all situations because some people do not become obese because of environmental factors. Obesity can be dealt with if individuals become more concerned with their health. This is because most people develop obesity because of too much ignorance especially in terms of what is to be consumed. Thus, the claim that environmental factors cause obesity may not be applicable. Therefore, it is important that individuals become more responsible in controlling their eating habits especially in the consumption of fast foods and also participate in physical exercises even for thirty minutes.
Concerning the family influence, every person has the right to make own choices as shaped by own subjective standpoints. This is quite applicable to mature individuals. Therefore, it is relatively irrational to hold family members, especially parents as having sole liability towards obesity. A person can take the responsibility of his her own health by refusing to be influenced by family preferences such as eating habits and exercising acts. This thus implies that family cannot be rated as a strong cause of obesity because it can be controlled by mature individuals. For instance, children can chose to play outdoor games that involve physical movement rather than staying indoors watching TV or playing computer games (Mooney, 2001).. Therefore, all those causes of obesity can be eliminated if only people developed a positive attitude towards work and thus prevent obesity for the benefit of the future generations. For instance, individuals should aim at eating balanced meals all the time, make daily physical activities as part of their lives, and taking full responsibility of their own lives.
By overcoming the obesity problem, a good number of diseases that may lead to death could also be reduced at higher rate. For instance, recent research shows that a majority of people in the United States are suffering from cardiovascular diseases due to unhealthy feeding. Such incidence can be avoided greatly simply by living a healthy life. However, it is good to note that one may also contract the outlined secondary ailments even with the healthy practices due to biological aspects like genetic materials. Nevertheless, despite the fact that genetic factors cannot be changed, at least something can be done to avoid prolonging or increasing the problem. Therefore, holding the view alone does not prove as a strong rationale for obesity. Obesity is a curable disease if taken seriously by the government and the people themselves. For instance, the government could provide awareness programs concerning obesity and its consequences. This will enable people to be aware of the outcomes of becoming obese hence be motivated to work against it.
References
Bagchi, D. (2010). Global perspectives on childhood obesity: Current status, consequences and prevention. London, UK: Academic.
Emmis Communications (2011, May/June). Play Hard, Work Hard: Cutting physical education in order to boost test scores has the opposite effect, studies show. The Alcade, 99, 23.
Finkelstein, E., & Zuckerman, L. (2008). The fattening of America: How the economy makes us fat, if it matters, and what to do about it. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Kelly, E. B. (2006). Obesity. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Mooney, L. A. (2001). Understanding social problems. Scarborough, OT: Nelson Thomson Learning.
OECD. (2005). Health at a glance: OECD indicators 2005. Paris, France: OECD Publishers.
Smith, P. K. (2009). Obesity among poor Americans: Is public assistance the problem?Nashville, TN: VanderbiltUniversity Press.
World Health Organization. (2011). Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. Obesity and overweight. Retrieved from
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