Obesity is one of the biggest health crises in America today. It is a serious social problem that requires urgent attention. According to recent studies, more than one-third of adults in the US are obese, and childhood obesity rates are also on the rise. This is a major public health concern, and we need to take action now to address it. Many explanations have been proposed for these changing weight trends, including reduced physical activity and changes in diet quality. Obesity represents an urgent health problem in the US today because it results in low quality of life, coronary heart disease, cancer, mental illness, and type 2 diabetes, which results to high mortality rates in America.
Causes of Obesity in the US
One of the causes of obesity in the US is decreased physical activity. Physical activity is one of the best ways to keep healthy, but it has declined in recent years because of sedentary jobs and more use of technology (television, computers, tablets, smartphones).[1] For example, instead of walking or biking somewhere, many people in America are more likely to drive a car. The technological advancement of computers and cell phones has allowed people to become much less active in recent years, which has led to higher obesity rates.
Rising levels of stress are also linked to obesity in the US. Stress has been linked with higher risk for obesity because it increases cortisol production, a hormone associated with fat storage. In addition, as more people enter the workforce and as the economy becomes less stable, stress levels have been increasing dramatically.
Also, decreasing the quality of food is to be baled for the higher rate of obesity in America. Although there are many healthy options on store shelves today, there are also many unhealthy ones that contain high amounts of sugar or fat.[2] We live in a world where it is sometimes easier to get junk food than healthy food, which is why many Americans have high obesity rates.
Effects of Obesity
The major effect of obesity is the low quality of life. Obesity is associated with lower quality of life because excess body fat and weight gain can lead to various health conditions, such as high blood pressure and coronary heart disease.3 Many Americans who suffer from obesity have a low quality of life because they have a hard time doing things people in good health can do, such as walking or going up a flight of stairs.
Another effect of obesity is cancer. Studies have linked excess body fat with a higher risk for several types of cancer, including cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon. In fact, obesity now causes as many as 10% to 20% of all cancer deaths in America today.[3] This is a serious problem because obesity is preventable, but it is still causing many people’s death in the US.
Another effect of obesity is mental illness. Weight gain can cause or worsen different types of mental illnesses, such as depression. Weight gain may make symptoms of some types of mental illness worse. Obesity also increases the risk for other mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders.
Finally, obesity has also been linked to type 2 diabetes. When people carry excess weight around their stomachs, they are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes because the fat triggers insulin resistance.[4] This means that the cells no longer respond to insulin as they should and glucose accumulates in the bloodstream instead of going into the cells.
What Should Be Done About The Obesity Problem In The US?
Some steps that may help to reduce obesity rates in America include: limiting advertisements of sugar- and fat-laden foods, taxing junk food (similar to cigarette taxes), increasing physical education time in schools, and encouraging healthier eating options at restaurants (Holt, 2019). There are many things that the government in the US could do to reduce obesity rates, but individuals also need to take more responsibility for their eating habits and exercise routines.
Conclusion
Overall, obesity is a serious health concern in America today because it is linked with many different health conditions. If not addressed, obesity rates may continue to rise. Making some small changes in the way people eat and exercise can help prevent more Americans from experiencing the negative effects of obesity. Therefore, more should be done by the government to encourage healthier eating and exercise habits so obesity rates will decrease.
Bibliography
Hall, Kevin D. “Did the food environment cause the obesity epidemic?” Obesity 26, no. 1 (2018): 11-13.
Holt, Richard IG. “The management of obesity in people with severe mental illness: an unresolved conundrum.” Psychotherapy and psychosomatics 88, no. 6 (2019): 327-332.
Lei, Yuan-Yuan, Suzanne C. Ho, Ashley Cheng, Carol Kwok, Chi-Kiu Iris Lee, Ka Li Cheung, Roselle Lee, Herbert HF Loong, Yi-Qian He, and Winnie Yeo. “Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Guideline is associated with better health-related quality of life among Chinese patients with breast cancer.” Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 16, no. 3 (2018): 275-285.
Mijatovic-Vukas, Jovana, Louise Capling, Sonia Cheng, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Jimmy Louie, N. Wah Cheung, Tania Markovic et al. “Associations of diet and physical activity with risk for gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Nutrients 10, no. 6 (2018): 698.
[1] Mijatovic-Vukas, Jovana, Louise Capling, Sonia Cheng, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Jimmy Louie, N. Wah Cheung, Tania Markovic et al. “Associations of diet and physical activity with risk for gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Nutrients 10, no. 6 (2018): 698.
[2] Hall, Kevin D. “Did the food environment cause the obesity epidemic?” Obesity 26, no. 1 (2018): 11-13.
[3] Lei, Yuan-Yuan, Suzanne C. Ho, Ashley Cheng, Carol Kwok, Chi-Kiu Iris Lee, Ka Li Cheung, Roselle Lee, Herbert HF Loong, Yi-Qian He, and Winnie Yeo. “Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Guideline is associated with better health-related quality of life among Chinese patients with breast cancer.” Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 16, no. 3 (2018): 275-285.
[4] Holt, Richard IG. “The management of obesity in people with severe mental illness: an unresolved conundrum.” Psychotherapy and psychosomatics 88, no. 6 (2019): 327-332.
write