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Obesity: An Individuals Responsibility
Many countries, other than the United States, literally starve to death while we, in America, kill ourselves with an overabundance of food. Nationally obesity is a preventable epidemic of great proportions that affects the very young to the very old. There are numerous contributions to being overweight or obese as well as many ways to fight this ever-growing epidemic.
Obesity is no longer a simple eating disorder; it has grown into an unyielding epidemic. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention state “Data from two NHANES surveys show that among adults aged 20 – 74 years the prevalence of obesity increased from 15% (in the 1976 – 1980 survey) to 32.9% (in the 2003-2004 survey).” To determine if one is obese, Vol. 83, No. 2, December 2007, issue of The Virginia News Letter indicates BMI (Body Mass Index) is calculated by the following formula: weight (lb)/[height (in)]2 x 703. A BMI greater than 24.9 classifies overweight, while a BMI calculated at 30 or higher is obese. Obesity compromises the health of any individual. Several diseases are considered a direct correlation to overweight or obesity: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, some types of cancers, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and gallbladder disease. According to Washington Post staff writer Rob Stein, “America's weight problem is rapidly overtaking cigarette smoking as the leading cause of preventable deaths, federal health officials reported yesterday”(1). While actual diseases associated with obesity are not preventable, obesity itself is.
Obesity is treatable by several different processes. The first major process is to change the lifestyle of the obese by eating a healthy diet. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dietary Guidelines suggest eating a diet providing 30 percent or less of calories from fat and less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat. The FDA also recommends “many older adults, children, and...