The Power of Obesity
The power is with the power, and people are power themselves (Blaisdell, 2012), and this comes as no secret in the American culture and society today, obesity is now a reality that ought to be fought will all available resources, laws, change of behavior etc. 33.8% of American adults and 17% of the American children are considered to fall in the bracket of obese (Kam 980). This data continues to grow and in turn a worry for the entire community. With increasing health-related problems more so the health linked issues, the problem of obesity is becoming a need for all aspects of the community, church, government, and private institutions to fight its spread and related menace.
The Changing Way of Life
The continued development in different fields in the modern century can hardly be ignored. More so with reference to food production, communication, urbanization, healthcare service provision among others. This has in turn been an inevitable change in the globe more so impacting the way people interact and relate to nature and their day to day habits. It is well notable the people’s way of life has changed from the traditional way of doing things such as cooking, types of food consumed etc., some of the factors that have affected the rate of obesity among the American community. Obesity is a genuine health condition that shouldn’t be ignored whatsoever, as there are many projects being directed to bring issues to light and help individuals beat the issue of weight. Truth be told, wellbeing warnings are seen giving talks on corpulence and exhorting individuals what ought to be eaten and what ought not to be eaten. Despite the increasing cost of healthy eating, the desire to avoid the problem can be a personal decision. While obesity is regarded as a lifestyle issue, people should, in turn, take control of their life, in an effort to control obesity-related problems, people should have more access to better eating habits and lifestyle. Accordingly, when discussing determination in a nation like America, where the issue is particularly intense and basic, we have to consider the most likely explanations and variables of corpulence so as to concoct a successful wellbeing system to manage this issue in the United States.
The Influence of Education and Information
Over the decades' education and information related to how to avoid obesity and approaches to reduce the wait, recorded types of food etc. Has been identified and passed to the congregation. However, the epidemic has continued to affect with almost every community in the society, increasing the number every population-related issue. In an effort to ensure more success with fight angst obesity-related problems, the government has focused on information on how individuals can keep individuals at bay. This is also regarded as a focus towards a change of individuals’ way of life, an approach which would help reduce obesity causing factors and their fat intake. According to Allender (8) obesity is lifestyle related problem and turn the focus would be related to change the current people’s lifestyle, and adopt a healthier style in their life’s.
The American Reality
Regardless of whether we like to let it be known or not, weight is an issue for Americans. The personal satisfaction and the condition of the strength of Americans are much lower than it ought to be. Some may contend they attempt to carry on with a functioning life, doing sports and take an interest in network exercises, yet regardless they have weight issues. This is the situation for some Americans who overlook that alongside changing their way of life, setting off to an exercise center and running in the mornings, they have to cardinally change their dietary patterns, devour all the more crisp and sound characteristic sustenance, quit eating low-quality nourishment, reduce their bits considerably and begin eating shrewd. The growing rate at which fast food joints have been adopted in American culture has been a major factor behind the worrying trend behind obesity.
Understanding Obesity
Fig 1.1 graph showing the trend in increasing cases of obesity from 1960 to 2014 (Proietto)
What is obesity?
According to Allender (10), overweight and obesity are two different terms but used interchangeably. They are referred to as abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in the human body which may, in turn, become an impairment to one’s health. Body mass index (BMI) is a well-known simple index that is used to express people’s weight vs. their height and in turn utilized to classify obesity and overweight people. BMI is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2). With reference to the American case, some worrying trend entails the fact that, more than 1/3 of adults in America are obese and one in every 6 children are affected by obesity. On the health-related side, the obesity menace is related with more than 50 chronic diseases, and in turn, more overweigh related deaths have been recorded compared to underweight. Finally, the middle-aged group of people is more likely to be affected which in turn affects the productivity of people in their productive age. Over the years, the issue of obesity has been identified to be a costly issue, as more and more people spend millions of money to control or address obesity-related issues.
The Importance of Monitoring Weight and Height
The need to observe and understand one's weight and height have become an integral aspect for one to understand what exactly obesity is, its downsides and measures to address the problem once it affects an individual. According to Kam (980), obesity is both a condition and a disease that has made a number of people suffer and in turn needs new strategies for prevention and treatment. With reference to the use of the BMI index, people who record a BMI between 2 to 29.9 are medically recognized as overweight. 30 to 39.9 are regarded as obese, and if one records beyond BMI 40+ are regarded as the severe case of obesity. Using the BMI chart, one can be able to interpret the result and classify his score. This would, in turn, allow people to understand and select their best-suited approach to address either case, underweight, overweight or even severe obese.
The Causes of Obesity
Causes of obesity
Different factors are related to direct or indirect contribution to people adding weight, as well as developing weight-related problems. According to Kam (976), it should be understood obesity is not caused by overeating, but rather its causes are widespread and somewhat interrelated. The balance between peoples' intake of calories and energy used greatly determines one's weight. For example, if one was taken in more calories than he uses/burns, he/she is more likely to gain weight. And in turn, overeating can only lead to obesity when combined with physical inactivity.
Behavior and Genetics
Today, one major cause of obesity is people's eating behavior or simply behavior. The fast-paced environment that is being witnessed in America and other developed and developing nations has led to the easiness in adopting unhealthy behaviors. With reference to the issue of obesity, the behavior is related to Americans being attracted to sugary foods or rather their food choices and daily work continue to intake of too many calories without much activity to burn the sugar. According to Barry (46), the increasing joints or outlets selling fast food have led to Americans' increased consumption of more calories and sugary food than in the past years, the increase in calories has also led to a reduction in food quality and fewer useful nutrients, hence leading to a growing negative habit or behavior in relation to food and eating habits. While Americans are devouring more calories, they are not consuming them with enough physical activity. Physical action is a vital component in adjusting and trimming practices. The impact of TV, PCs, and different advances demoralize physical action and add to the issue of heftiness in our general public.
Genetics and Environment
In addition to changing behavior, there is also genetics as another key factor behind obesity in America. Varying researches have led to conclusions that people's genetic composition determines their overall response to obesity and severe obesity. Barry (30) identified in his research, children born from obese parents have a higher chance of becoming obese later in their life. However, this doesn't support the notion that obesity is completely predetermined. Finally, there is the environment, which plays a great part in determining and shaping peoples' habits and lifestyle. There are different environmental settings that influence people's health decisions. People's life has changed from walking to driving, physical activity has surely been minimized with the increasing use of technology, and healthy food/eating has been overcome by the upcoming convenience foods. Other causes behind obesity include some medications, diseases, social issues, psychological factors, increasing presence of fast food joints are all related to increasing the epidemic among Americans.
Effects of Obesity
Effects related to obesity or increase in body weight
Obesity has different effects ranging from economic, health, and social effects. The need to address the obesity-related problems increases as an increasing number of people suffers from this problem. With reference to economic effects, obesity leads to continued use of financial resources to cater for related problems. According to (),
obesity has become an expensive issue/problem to contain obesity-related issues. Today, people are paying for gym sessions to ensure they burn excessive calories, expensive medication of related health problems has also been an expensive venture for the Americans. Changing from unhealthy eating to health habits also costs extra coin for obese people.
Health Issues and Societal Challenges
In addition to being an expensive reality, obesity is related to a host of health issues some of the health-related issues include high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, and difficulty in physical functioning. Being obese subjects an individual to a host of problems which shortens people's lives and in turn, high mortality rates. Barry (12) identified obesity as a major concern as it is causing more mortality in American compared to underweight. The increasing medical-related issues have led to the increased cost of maintenance as affected people seek medical attention to solve the problems. In addition to medical and economic related problems, there are also social-related ones. This is where obese people are regarded as lazy or weak-willed. Today, cases of people discrimination based on their size have been common in social media. With the increasing chain of problems related to obesity, it has become an integral aspect for the community to take control of their lives. More so, with reference to eating habits, behavioral factors, and keeping check of their weight time to time. It is in turn key for obese people to keep watch of their weight and develop key strategies to control it. However, it is more important for the entire people and community to embrace habits that do not endanger or expose their lives to obesity.
Treating and Preventing Obesity
Treating and preventing obesity
Treating the already obese people as well as prevention for future cases of obesity would an ideal approach to minimizing the related problems of obesity in American society. With no availability of a single and sure way to control obesity and its related problems as well as prevent people from becoming obese, it is in turn key for the people to develop integrated multifaceted approaches to addressing this ever-growing issue in today's community. Obesity is a mind-boggling issue and there must be a multifaceted methodology. Arrangement creators, state and nearby associations, business and network pioneers, school, childcare, and human services experts, and people must cooperate to make a domain that underpins a solid way of life. There are a few different ways state and nearby associations can make a steady domain to advance sound living practices that anticipate corpulence.
Adopting Healthy Lifestyles
One major approach is for people to change adopt healthy eating habits. Drawing from the causes, overeating is not a direct cause of obesity. It is in turn for the current generation to become more active and eat healthily. This can be termed as adopting improved changes such as habit and environment changes. For the common American citizen, the typical day contributes to the adoption go lifestyle that is more activating the obesity risks. People should, in turn, make it a habit to adopt life-changing habits such as; taking the stairs instead of the lifts and elevators. Walking to work on some days, or parking a distance from the workplace which would lead to one walking some distance a day. Reduce the TV and video and instead work in gardens, engage in physical activity around the home to make use of extra calories in the body. Finally, establish family-oriented activities such as playing tennis, working on the farm, swimming etc.
Eating Healthily
In addition to adopting more careful and healthy lifestyles, the effective selection of what to eat should also make up the primary strategy to drive obesity outside homes and in the society. With reference to healthy eating, always bring home and at work healthy snacks such as fruits and vegetables. In the case of social gatherings, plan earlier, take your bites early to avoid being tempted to eat high-calorie foods. Eating has been a problem with the increasing availability of cheap fast food menus in almost every corner of a street. It is in turn key for people to develop the positive culture of eating healthy and the best-suited food for their body. Knowing the truth behind this obesity menace will be a step forward towards the best way of life and the ability to protect oneself from the problems related to it (\"Zeitgeist: The Movie | 2007 (HD)).
Conclusion
In conclusion, obesity is a real menace in today’s society. More so, with factors such as increased cases of inactivity, poor eating habits, and high sugared foods among others, people’s behavior has been a major factor in the cases of obesity. Despite the increasing menace caused by weight gain, the issue can be arrested and reversed if people accept to change their culture and behavior. With increased health-related problems related to obesity, it is in turn key for the county to change the approach to lifestyle, eating habit, and the overall day-to-day occupation. Accordingly, when discussing determination in a nation like America, where the issue is particularly intense and basic, we have to consider the most likely explanations and variables of corpulence so as to concoct a successful wellbeing system to manage this issue (obesity) in the United States.
Works Cited
"Zeitgeist: The Movie | 2007 (HD)." YouTube. N.P., 2018. Web. 10 Dec. 2018.
Allender, Steven, et al. “A Community Based Systems Diagram of Obesity Causes.” PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 7, July 2015, pp. 1–12.
Barry, Colleen L., et al. “Obesity Metaphors: How Beliefs about the Causes of Obesity Affect Support for Public Policy.” Milbank Quarterly, vol. 87, no. 1, Mar. 2009, pp. 7–47.
Blaisdell, Bob. Infamous Speeches. Dover Publications, 2012. Print.
Kam, Cindy D. “The Polls--Trends: Obesity.” Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 4, winter 2017, pp. 973–995.
Proietto, J. “Obesity: Not a Sin, but Still Deadly.” Lancet, vol. 364, no. 9439, Sept. 2004, pp. 1029–1030.
