Obesity in America
The obesity epidemic seen in the United States became a global concern since it had been so for over fifty years. Many individuals fail to see health-related problems that obesity causes and how to prevent them; moreover, people are rarely taking the initiative to live a healthy lifestyle. A lot of food producing companies of variety and unique technology continue to mass produce food products which cause an individual to have an increase in their body weight as seen in their difficulty to wear their daily clothing or perform worse than they used to. Other than that, people make their busy schedules as an excuse for being obese or their gain in weight. It continues to be suggested that every individual should take the initiative to live a healthy life not only in terms of diet plans but also other factors such as sleep, drink, etc. It had also been noted that over 66% of the adults in the United States are noted to be obese or are in danger of being obese (Healy, 2017). To better comprehend the controversial epidemic of obesity in the United States, it is vital to critically analyze the effects obesity and preventive measures which people can use to avoid the disease.
Ironically, though most adult Americans are obese, they actually stress about weights as portrayed in social media where people would normally “fat shame” someone for being too fat. So many products and advocacy groups have been made solely for health and diet concerns in the United States alone for their citizens to be in top-notch form but unfortunately, effects have been seen to be inversely proportional to that of the goal(s) for a healthy lifestyle. Companies tend to produce diverse types of unhealthy products which people consume more since they are readily available. Fewer Americans prefer to cook a healthy meal for themselves. Moreover, with the advent of more advanced technologies, citizens of the United States tend to discover products which ended up increasing their weights instead of their lifespans, thus creating problems for themselves.
Obesity, in general, is a very serious issue since it can lead to a handful of dangerous diseases such as diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and therefore, it is high time that people should put more emphasis on living a healthy lifestyle rather than finding a more convenient way to shorten their lives by eating mass produced food which they think are healthy but are actually not. As stated by experts, obesity is a rather common issue and can be prevented. It is associated with health risk factors for developing non-communicable diseases which can signify partial or complete disability and death (Ofei, 2007). Simply put, obesity is seen as a non-threat by those who continue to eat and consume foods and other products which should be done in small or monitored portions as seen by adults who just laze around, eating nachos with more cheese on top, therefore kids tend to emulate this behavior. Densely oil coated foods coming from fast food chains or restaurants eaten and the production of new consumable commodities end up rendering the citizens to make a bad decision and continue to increase the obesity epidemic (Dawes, 2014).
As obesity continues to worsen in the United States. Americans tend to opt for dangerous health practices by eating fast food as better alternatives to save time and be more productive in the workplace as seen by adults and kids likewise who would rather order a big chunk of meat (burger) than cooking in the household to be served fresh vegetables and fruits as well as other protein containing food. If obesity is not stopped nor prevented soon, then apart from the explosive results in statistics, more people will suffer the consequences of having their physical, mental, emotional, and social health affected in a negative aspect.
Obesity can be rooted from many possible causes. One such cause of obesity is the attitude of people to personally avoid diet and would rather live with stone cold pizza than eat homemade food. Obesity can also be linked with the laziness of people or rather, make their busy schedules as an excuse for not taking care of themselves as seen by how they continue to gain weight on a dangerous pacing in their work offices. Obesity may also be linked to numerous cases of depression, such as stress eating or binge eating food since it can also be seen in students who stress over exams and refuse to sleep. Therefore, they would consume high volumes of food instead of sleeping or when they binge eat due to not messing up their sleeping habits. It is also noted that obesity is (as stated earlier) definitely associated with high risk of acquiring diseases such as DM2 or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, cancer (such as ovarian cancer from PCOS), neurological diseases as well as cardiovascular diseases. Medical doctors continue to discover more and more dangerous side effects of obesity, especially among the young ones such as increasing rates of Diabetes type II (Reiter, 2017).
As companies continue to produce unhealthy foods and drinks to be consumed by the mass, advocacies had initiated their move by going against the system and promoting a better lifestyle for a better and healthier America. As stated by Ofei (2005), prevention is the primary solution in reducing and controlling of the obesity increase, especially for people in America. Medical consultations will help enforce better environment for citizens and help them adapt to their diet plans as well as joining or following health programs set up by the World Health Organization in their goal to in preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases produced by obesity.
In conclusion, though obesity continues to be an epidemic, every American should take the initiative to promote better health care since the road to a healthier life is not a simple one but through religiously following their diet regime and a good support system, they will be able to achieve a perfect and healthy lifestyle. This causes not only a better life for the person in a physical manner but also in a mental, emotional, and social manner through the feeling of satisfaction that they were able to achieve their goal to live a healthy life.
- Dawes, L. (2014). Childhood obesity in America. Harvard University Press.
- Healy, M. (2017). As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up. Retrieved on January 30, 2018 from http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-en-fewer-americans-diet-20170308-story.html.
- Ofei, F. (2005). Obesity – A preventable Disease. Ghana Med J, 39(3), pp. 98-101.
- Reiter, A. (2017). Rates of new diagnosed cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes on the rise among children, teens. Retrieved on January 30, 2018 from https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/rates-new-diagnosed-cases-type-1-type-2-diabetes-rise-among-children-teens.