Essay On The Causes Of Obesity In America

In our society, many Americans face one or more health problems caused by how one cares for their body. There are various ways to mistreat your body: one might consume too much sugar, one might consume too much sodium, or one might eat at fast food restaurants every day. However, these are also reasons why many people in our society have become obese. According to an article published on WebMD, that statistics show that in surveys conducted in 2009, 63. 1% of US citizens are either obese or overweight. Also in the results of the survey, to be more specific, 36. % of Americans are overweight and 26. 5% are obese (Percentage of overweight, Obese Americans Swells. (n. d. ). The obesity rate has increased in America and unless there is a broad cultural, behavioral, and government change among Americans regarding diet and exercise in America, obesity rates will most likely continue to rise. *THESIS IN LIGHT BLUE* To be considered “obese” or “diabetic” you have to understand the characteristics that make you considered in that category. To be obese is to be over you target weight for you age and height group.

For example, people who are 5’4 with a medium frame body built, are expected to be weighed at 124-138ibs for women. Anything over this weight for your height or body frame is technically considered over weight. For men, a height of 5’4 with a medium frame the target weight 135-148ibs. Also, another way to be categorized as obese is if your Body Mass index (BMI) is over the number thirty (“Obesity Facts, and When to Seek Help”) (“Overweight and Obesity Statistics”). Finally someone with a BMI of twenty-five to thirty is considered overweight.

People don’t realize but these charts are made to help us stay healthy and at a healthy weigh to lower our risks of any health problems young in our life or older in life. Being a healthy weight makes your body work just as much as it needs to, to ensure your health. Any weight over this target group makes your body work harder than it needs to, to keep your body functioning the way it needs to be. Another question to ask yourself is however, can obesity be a cause of death? Obesity is in fact one of the factors in contribution to some of the leading causes of death such as heart disease, diabetes, strokes and even some cancers.

Some cancers caused by this can be Kidney, Pancreatic, Gallbladder and Esophageal. Kidney cancer has factors such as high blood pressure for example which is the process of the force of blood pushing up against your blood vessel walls. This is deadly because it makes your heart work faster and harder than need be in order to pump blood out into your body. Pancreatic cancer however is caused by damage to a person’s DNA, however there are studies that show that eight percent of pancreatic cases are due to obesity and are related to issues over being overweight (“Obesity, Weight, and Cancer Risk”).

There are many reasons for everything happening and the risk of being exposed to these risks. A lot of individuals don’t even consider the long terms risks of the choice they make when it comes to putting foods into your body because who would think food could be so harmful and have so many long term affects like all the examples listed in this paper? In the US the laws to prevent obesity and diabetes are different in every state just like every law created for states.

For example, some states like Ohio and Tennessee have passed laws preventing sweetened drinks in all school vending machines, the requirement of physical education from the grades kindergarten all the way to seniors in high school, and finally BMI (body mass index) screenings in school facilities (https://www. aap. org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/stateadvocacy/Documents/obesity_slr. pdf) *THE CHART* However, other states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and California have only passed two of those three laws in their states which have ade some impact of slowing and decreasing the obesity rates, but not as much as they can by passing all three laws.

And finally, other states who have passed one of the laws to none of them such as Texas, Virginia, and Washington, have barely made an effort to decrease the chances of obesity in their states and those are to be found as some of the states with the highest rates of obesity. Coincidence? How does society think we can control this continuously growing issue without Government action to help pass these laws that are baby steps in helping cut back on the access to things that contribute to the issues?

In today’s society, it is claimed and proven to be cheaper to purchase unhealthy food for consumption and also faster, rather than spending more and choosing healthier choices. People are usually in a hurry and look for something quick, hence the name “fast food”. For example, according WebMD, it states the top reasons why people do decide to choose fast food over healthy places. 53. 2% of people claim their schedules don’t allow them enough time to cook a healthy meal so they result in fast food, 63. 6% say that they are cheaper, and finally 44. % confess that they simply don’t want to do it themselves (Top 11 Reasons for Fast Food’s Popularity. (n. d. ). Retrieved September 28, 2015. ). Fast food has created opportunities to make billions in profit off of those who are too busy to make a home cooked meal, from experience they create this businesses with the intentions of helping people and make food and having an assortments of foods easier to access and choose from. People do not consider though, what makes the food easier to access and how the food is so quickly prepared.

However, most do and decide to eat the food continuously without knowing the long term effects on the body and the health problems that come with every single bite taken and ever place chosen. On a Federal Government level, laws have been placed to help contribute in stopping the rapidly growing rates of obesity in Americans in our country and our society. For example, efforts are considered to be the placement of clinical guidelines, nutrition labels on all food products sold, calorie listing on menus for restaurants, and financing for fresh fruits and vegetables according to (“Role of Policy and Government in the Obesity Epidemic”).

Researchers discovered that the rate of obesity increased with the level of developments of economics and discovered individuals with lower socioeconomic statuses were at higher risks for obesity. They also discovered that people considered to be part of the lower socioeconomic also eat very high calorie foods and when the action came, to avoid physical tasks and not participate. My research shows that about in 15 years from 2015, 115 million adults will be obese due to consumption of fast food, poor dieting, and little to none required exercise to help maintain a less a BMI.

According to statistics published on (“Percentage of overweight, Obese Americans Swells”), obesity in children between ages of 2-5 doubled, ages between 12-19 tripled, and obesity in adults doubled all since the 1970s till between 2008-2009 (“President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition”). Obesity is a growing threat in today’s society due to all the money being spent to treat the harmful effects if poor dieting such as heart disease and diabetes caused by all the harmful things such as fried food, sugar and the grease and such to cause these problems in the first place.

For example, the most commonly used examples are those because of the fact that they are good examples of a cause and effect scenario. To much sugar consumed through fast food products often eaten are most commonly known to cause diabetes, and heart disease can be caused by the intake of to much salt and the intake of to much fat in the foods can raise levels of cholesterol which may too lead to heart disease and chances of a severe stroke. Socioeconomics is the study of how economic activity affects our social developments.

It helps us discover how civilizations progress, or decline because of the environments around them and what they surround themselves with. The relationship between Socioeconomics, obesity and our society today is that people with lower socioeconomic status have an advanced percent of people being obese and overweight compared to those with higher socioeconomic standards. For example, according to (“Socioeconomics and Obesity”), children with parents who have no high school diploma, have a 30. % obese rates compared to children whose parents have a college degree with 9. 5%. It is proven that children with parents who have a higher level of education are less likely to become or experience obesity. According to another article coving more than just statistics concerning college degrees and high school diplomas, it states that those here in the US it breaks down each states percentage of people who are diabetic.

Texas is rated number 17 in this list out of all 50 states. The percentage of adults with diabetes in Texas as of 2014 is 11%. In conclusion, Socioeconomics, laws on both federal and state level, have been placed in order to help decrease the rapidly growth of the fast growing rates of obesity which also contributes to other health issues and the amount of money spent yearly on treatments, diagnostics, antibiotics and treatments for things obesity leads to.

There should be more laws placed in order to cut down even more on the obesity rates and to decrease the probability in children having a higher risk in ten years from now having an even higher chance of being even more obese than the children in today’s society dealing and predicted to be obese as a child and even more so as an adult.

Also, personal restriction in consuming such foods and harmful things and the quantity of how much you consume also plays a very important factor in contributing to obesity control as well. Knowing how much to eat, what to eat, calories of the food and also taking care of your body after you eat it. Exercise is also a very big factor itself of helping to decrease the risk of becoming obese and even coming out of obesity. Eating healthy and good for your body foods also help. Obesity doesn’t control you, you control it.