Almost one-third of adults in the U.S. are obese, and more than two-thirds of adults are overweight. Obesity rates have increased by 214 percent between 1950 and 2000(Livestrong.com). Also According to livestrong.com, the main cause for the increase it weight among American’s is lack of exercise, as well as the convenience of fast food, and caloric increase. This rise in obesity has increased diseases such as heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. As a country, we are spending over $190 billion a year treating these diseases, diseases that could be prevented by increasing exercise and decreasing calories.
Childhood obesity is increasing at rates of epidemic proportion across the globe and is becoming a significant health problem. The current obesity rates in Australian children are among the highest in the developed world. ‘In 2007–08, one-quarter of all Australian children, or around 600,000 children aged 5–17 years, were overweight or obese, up four percentage points from 1995 (21%). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABOS) (2009). ‘Research indicates an annual increase of this figure of 1-1.5%, a trend that suggests half of all young Australians will be overweight by the year 2025’ (Tipping the scales: Intervention and management of childhood obesity 2007).
Jordan Kendall ENC 1101 Professor Fallows 12-04-11 Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity has slowly become a very wide spread epidemic. In the last few years, we have seen that every 1 in 3 kids is either overweight or obese (kidshealth.com),this means because of the numerous fast food opportunities, certain ethnicities, and peoples every day sedentary life-style, in almost half a century we have tripled the rate of obesity in children. What exactly does the term obesity truthfully mean? In the chapter “Children” from the book Biographies of Disease: Obesity, It explains children measured to a certain specification, with BMI’s, Body Mass Index’s, in the 85th to 95th percentile, were labeled “At risk of becoming overweight”, and
General Purpose: To Inform Specific Purpose: To define the listeners the seriousness of obesity in children and adults I.Did you know 1/3 of children in America between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight or obese. II.What is Obesity? A) is an abnormal accumulation of body fat, usually 20% or more over an individual's ideal body weight. B) obesity is associated with increased risk of illness, disability, and death. (www.thefreedictionary.com) Body: I.
According to the Journal of Community Health, “the prevalence of obesity is significantly increased from 1985 to 2011 (8.6% vs. 22.8 %). This increase was seen among men and women, and among all race/ethnic, age, and socioeconomic groups. Hypertension and diabetes also increase during this time period. Hypertension 20.7% – 35.9%; diabetes 4.2% – 11.2%. Obesity prevalence was highest in blacks 33.35% and Hispanics 28.8% and lowest in Asians 9.0%.
Researchers found that approximately 1.7 million children suffer from diabetes and 12 percent of Chinese children are overweight. (China today, n.d.) It used to be a rarity to see an overweight person in streets of China, now it is commonplace. Western fast food is high in salt and calories and having a negative impact on the lives of Chinese people. The overall economic growth of China has led to bicycles being replaced with automobiles. McDonald’s has over 26 drive-thrus in China.
Americas Growing Problem In the article “Diabesity, A Crisis in an Expanding Country”, Jane E. Brody discussed how diabetes and obesity have become a crisis in the United States. The article started off with questions on how diabesity is possibly becoming a larger crisis than smoking. Brody states that diabetes has almost doubled in the United States adult population, from 4.9 percent to 8.7 percent. "One third of Americans with Type 2 diabetes don't even know they have it because the disease is hard to spot until it causes a medical crisis”, says Brody. Diabetes is now estimated to have reached about 18.2 million Americans.
Overweight and obesity has become a national epidemic problem. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity has affected a third of the adults in the United States and a third of the Americans seem to be getting fatter. (Freedman, 2011) It has created many problems, such as an increase in health insurance premiums, health related diseases and unhappy lives. These factors are affecting Americans of all ages and the problem is not going away unless drastic interventions are implemented. In the present paper, overweight and obesity is being investigated.
Hispanics are at a greater risk of developing diabetes Type 2. Latinos and Hispanics are twice as likely to have complications like nerve damage, heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure and blindness due to diabetes. In Latinos and Hispanics the rate for developing diabetes at an early age is higher, around the age of 20. Physicians are twice more likely to diagnose Mexican Americans with diabetes than non-Hispanic and their chance of dying from the disease is 50% higher than Hispanic whites. Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death in Hispanics/Latinos living in the United States and 4th leading cause for Hispanic/Latino
Jessica Brown English 101 Childhood Obesity In America Obesity is one of the serious medical conditions which is difficult to treat. Up to one out of every five children and teens in the U. S. are obese, and this number is continuing to grow. Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. (Jeff Barnes) Childhood obesity has dramatically increased. The United States needs to take concrete steps to reduce obesity in children.