Obesity Problem and Solutions free essay sample

Obesity is a disease that affects over one-third of the adult American population, approximately 72 million Americans (Hyattsville 2007: National Center for Health Statistics). Moreover, obesity in adulthood increases the hazard of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis and a general poor health condition (Overweight and Obesity Health Consequences, cited in www. cdc. gov) so it is the time for human being to take actions to limit this issue. With the purpose of helping people understand about obesity problem and find the ways to limit it, this paper discusses where this issue results from, what it results in and how to solute it. 2. Discussion of findings 2. 1. Some causes of obesity â€Å"Obesity is a manufactorial disease† said George A. Bray, MD (1998, p. 35). The type of food eaten may also play an important role in the rise of obesity. According to the Causes of Obesity (Anne Collin 2007), more metabolic and digestive disorders resulting from overconsumption of trans-fat and refined sugary foods such as ready-to-eat, low cost, quick meals, combined with low fiber intake. We will write a custom essay sample on Obesity Problem and Solutions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These eating habits are known to cause excessive fat storage. Taking in too many calories for our energy needs must be a major cause of the modern obesity epidemic. Dr. Marion Nestle, Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University provides that US agribusiness now produces 3,800 calories of food a day for every consumption of calories more than 30 years ago-but at much lower per-calorie costs (cited in annecollins. com). Evidently, the growth of fast-food chains and higher soft drink consumption lead to the increases in absorption of calorie-dense foods and a higher energy-intake. Besides bad-eating habits, reducing energy expenditure is also one of the root causes of obesity in modern life. People now do less exercise than before. The data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the website apps. nccd. cdc. gov shows that the number of people who have No Leisure-Time Physical Activity increases gradually in the first decade of 21st century. In fact, a lack of energy balance most often causes overweight and obesity because of taking in more calories than using. People are becoming more inactive and lazier. As noted in What Causes Overweight and Obesity? (2010) on the website nhlbi. ih. gov, many Americans are not very physically active. One reason for this is that they spend hours in front of TVs and computers doing work and relaxing. Other reasons for being passive include: using cars instead of walking, fewer physical requirements at work or at home and lack of physical exercise classes in school for children. People who are passive are more likel y to gain weight so an inactive lifestyle also raises your risk of obesity and other health problem. Gene is also shown as a factor resulting in obesity. Regardless of the environment, some people stay thin and some still become obese. The Causes of Obesity on the website annecollins. com shows that genes affect a number of weight-related processes in the body, such as metabolic rate, blood glucose metabolism, fat-storage, hormones. It also gives the evidence that adopted children tend to develop weight problems similar to their biological, rather than adoptive, parents. In addition, infants born to overweight mothers have been found to less active and to gain more weight by the age of three months when compared with infants of normal weight mothers. According to The causes of obesity-genes, behaviour and environment (2009) on the website infor. ancerresearchuk. org, obesity-related genes could affect how people metabolise food or store fat. They could also affect the behaviour, make people disposed badly towards lifestyle choices that increase our risk of being obese. People having obesity-related genes are not assigned to be obese but they will have a higher risk of obesity. Therefore, genes play a key role in ob esity’s ability. 2. 2 Some effects of obesity Obesity has a far-ranging negative effect on health. Based on the data from Health Effects of Obesity (2012) on the website stanfordhospital. rg, each year obesity-related conditions cover 150 billion dollars and cause an estimated 300,00 premature deaths in the US. This website gives the number of health effects associated with obesity including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, cancer, metabolic syndrome. Extra weight can raise the heart rate and reduce the body’s ability to transport blood through the vessels. This causes higher pressure on the artery walls and the increasing in blood pressure. Besides, obesity is the major causes of type 2 diabetes. Obesity can cause opposition to insulin, causing the blood sugar becomes boosted. The website also assures that atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) is present 10 times more often in obese people compared to those who are not obese. Obesity has not only physical effects but also mental effects. As stated in House of Commons Committee 2004 (2008), very overweight and obese people have reduced psychological health so their self-esteem and social intercommunication may be deteriorated. Obese people have to suffer from preconception and discrimination in many situations such as the fields of employment travel, schooling, healthcare. Society may have a negative opinion of overweight and obese people. Therefore, they can be apprehended in a negative way that makes them be anxious and depressed. As well as prejudicial effect on the individual, obesity contributes a financial burden on society as a whole. The House of Commons Committee 2004 (2008) on the website dwp. gov. uk also indicates that there is a huge cost to the economy from obesity-related ill-health, premature retirement, unemployment, premature death, benefit payments. The direct and indirect costs of obesity in England (2002) have been conservatively estimated at ? 3. 3 to ? 3. 7 billion. . 3. Solutions for obesity problem There are few solutions to obesity available but the more effective treatment is to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet. Like mentioned before, obesity is not a stand-alone problem. It is coupled with few of most severe diseases such as diabetes and cancer. The Obesity Solution (2009) on the website fastandquickweightloss. com state s that people should not follow and fad diets which deprive the body of some essential nutrients. By following such diets people can lose weight, but they cannot maintain it. Therefore, the most important aspect is to eat a healthy and balanced diet. Low calorie diets (LCD) to help create a deficit of 500 to 1,000 kcal/day should be an integral part of any program aimed at achieving a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week but reducing dietary fat alone without reducing calories is not sufficient for weight loss ( Anne Collin 2007 ). Obesity Solution on the website weightlosswand. com suggests that obesity solutions do not come in the form of quick weight loss diets and these diet types should be avoided. Quick fix diets such as the Atkins diet which consists of no carbohydrates and high protein foods is extremely dangerous. Coupling a healthy diet with regular exercise is the best thing obese people can do for themselves. Regular workout is as important as good eating habits because exercise and physical activity have several benefits for overweight individuals (Marcel Dekker 1997, cited in George MD 1998, p. 228). Physical activity and exercise can maintain weight loss. Individuals who are more physically active are more likely maintain weight loss (George MD 1998, p. 230). Obese people must start slowly and then gradually increase the intensity of their workout. George MD (1998, p. 38) pointed out that physical activity should be increased to 20 to 30s minutes, 5 to 7 days a week to increase expenditure by 700 to 1,000 calories a week, or slightly more than 100 to 130 calories a day. There are some kinds of physical activity that help obese people fight overweight such as yoga, aerobic, walking and dancing. Besides the following treatments, drug treatment for obesity is also one of the solutions. Ther e are drugs that can reduce food consumption such as phentermine, diethylpropion, mazindol and sibutramine (George MD 1998, p. 254-256). Although drug safety and efficacy beyond 1 year of total treatment have not been conclusively established, weight loss drug therapy may be used in colligation with customary diet and exercise (Anne Collin 2007). However, when it comes to solutions for obesity, there are several tried and tested methods but none works better than a varied healthy lifestyle which consists of daily exercise and a balanced diet. 3. Conclusion Based on the findings above, it is clear that obesity is still a complicated problem. People are becoming more inactive and dependent much on modern equipment which increases the risk of being obese.