Obesity as a Serious Problem - Essay Example

Obesity Obesity is a condition commonly found in humans who are overweight, very fat and have huge body masses. Obesity is determined by calculating the BMI of an individual and anyone who gets a value above 30 kg/m2 is considered obese. People suffering from obesity have serious health problems, especially diabetes, hypertension and cardiac anomalies. The seriousness of the health issue posed by obesity to a country’s population is becoming widespread in many other nations. The condition was noted not only in the US where it was prevalent, but also in other Western nations like Britain and Canada. Over the last centuries, research indicated that obesity was related to rich households where food was in plenty thus individuals could afford to overindulge. However, recent studies have shown a deviation from the traditional perspective where the findings indicate that households with higher risks of obesity were the poorest families in the United Kingdom (UK). This can be attributed to the fact that poor families are not in a position to afford adequate and nutritious diets. They instead tend to buy junk food, which is relatively cheaper and convenient because some nutritious diets require time to prepare and other accompaniments. This paper aims at discussing the title ‘In Western society, the poor are now for the first time in history, proportionately the most obese portion of the population’. Obesity generally translates to having too much body fat, which contributes to their being overweight. Obesity leads to reduced life expectancy because of the health risks it exposes people to like diabetes type 1 and 2, hypertension, heart disease and cancer. Obesity is caused by the consumption of excessive high-energy food intake, lack of physical activity and through genetic susceptibility although this is rare phenomena. Lack of physical exercise and adequate diets are leading causes of obesity. Consumption of low quality diets rich in energy and sugar content lead to accumulation of fat in tissues and consequent weight gain (Murphy 22). Lack of physical activity that is encouraged by a sedentary lifestyle contributes to lack of exercise. All of these factors combined, result in reduced morbidity of an obese individual because their weight becomes too much to bear. Their legs become swollen due accumulation of water caused by stress subjected to them by the excess weight. Obesity is a leading killer condition in the world, but it does not kill directly, it is the health risks that being obese one expose to, that cause death. The sad fact is that it is a preventable and treatable condition, but it continues to kill millions of people every year all over the world. The most effective mode of preventing obesity is leading a healthy lifestyle by consuming nutritious diets and maintaining proper physical health through exercise. Treatment of obesity follows the same principles applied in prevention, which are the most effective, and user friendly. There are other methods, which are considered extreme by some people, and they include surgery to remove excess body fat. Liposuction is such a surgical procedure where excess fat if sucked from an individual’s abdomen. The best way to manage obesity is by dieting which means consuming food that is low on high energy and sugars, and instead increase intake of vegetables and fruits. Physical health is also a vital component of managing obesity. Earlier research studies indicated that obesity was a condition associated with the rich, people of affluence. During the middle ages in Europe, rich people were revered for being obese, and it was an accepted norm, which represented their stature. In countries like Japan and China, obesity was referred to as the disease of the opulent in society. In more recent times, research studies have established a changing trend in the prevalence of obesity among rich households. The trend has changed from rich families having individuals who are obese to poor families having people who are obese. This has been established in Western nations like the United States (US) and the UK where the change have been noticed to be prevalent among poor families. This has been mostly attributed to poor diet composed of high energy and sugar content intake, which are the major components of junk food (Hardman and Stensel 182). Poor families tend to prefer junk food because it is cheaper, and offers more convenience because it is ready-made thus require little preparation. Most nutritious diets apart from fruits and vegetables require engaging preparation methods, which demand additional products. These additional products cost money, which is not readily available to poor families thus making it difficult for them to opt for these diets. Rich families on the other hand, have the resources to enable them afford nutritious diets that do not expose someone to susceptibility to obesity. Rich families can afford to pay for professionally designed exercise regimens that help them prevent obesity. Poor families lead lifestyles that do not afford them time to engage in exercises because most of their time is spent working in a struggle to make ends meet. Unlike rich families, poor families are characterized living in conditions and environments that encourage a sedentary lifestyle. This is because poor families live in areas where there is little space available to engage in activities that promote the body’s physical health. According to Hardman and Stensel, 26.1% of the UK population was designated as clinically obese and of this percentage, it was found out that the majority were from poor family backgrounds. In the UK, it is estimated that by the year 2050, 60% of today’s children will be obese or overweight with the majority being from poor family backgrounds (Hardman and Stensel 84). There are myriad of factors that can be attributed to the prevalence of obesity among people from poor financial backgrounds. One factor that has been established is education, lack of which leads to low paying employment or no work at all. Since education is knowledge, lack of proper and adequate knowledge leads to ignorance of factors that constitute a healthy lifestyle. People who are well educated have the benefits of being aware of advantages of observing a healthy diet compared to less well educated people. The UK government should concentrate on changing behavior of its citizens by implementing policies aimed at educating people on the benefits of healthy living, and the dangers associated with obesity. Based on a research conducted by Cawley, the BMI for adults kept on increasing every year from 1986 to 2002 in the lowest income group and lowest education group. This was found to be true because the same results were not garnered from individuals of high income and higher education. This research was also able to attribute increased high BMI to low wages. High BMI contributes to the development of obesity in individuals because it leads to build up of fat in the body tissues contributing to weight gain and obesity (Cawley 372). Research has shown that there is a relation between an individual’s geographical region and becoming overweight and obese. This is because people living in rural areas do not get the chance to consume junk food and other products that might provoke obesity development. Junk food outlets are rare in rural areas because there is not enough market for their products. In rural areas, people engage in activities that promote their body’s physical health. The obesity epidemic in the UK has become more rampant among the poor families than the wealthy families. This is because a decrease in diet costs leads to energy-dense and high-fat diets, which are similar to those taken by low-income groups (Akabas et al 250). Statistics from research studies shows that in the UK most poor families are surviving on inadequate diets. Research by Akabas et al, has also established that 24.3% of children from poor backgrounds aged 11 years are obese compared to 13.7% of children from rich families in the UK. Food insecurity and poverty is linked to lower food expenditure that is of lower quality nutrition wise, and low vegetable and fruit consumption. The UK government together with other western nations has established through research that people from poor financial backgrounds are more susceptible to developing obesity than people from wealthy families. These governments have launched campaigns to encourage and educate people on how to live healthy lifestyles that will help prevent obesity. This will see a reduction of deaths and health complication associated with being obese. Incidences of diseases like cardiovascular anomalies, hypertension, and diabetes type 1 and 2 and cancer will be reduced. This will help governments cut on expenditure incurred in the treatment and management of these ailments, and these funds can be used on more vital services like addressing food insecurity. Governments should formulate policies to address the prevalence of obesity in poor families by promoting campaigns through health experts who recommend alternative cheap and nutritious diets. Poor families can be encouraged to adopt low cost energy-dense foods, which are normally reinforced by including high palatability of fat and sugar (Murphy 138). Obesity is a manageable condition that should not be allowed to kill people in their thousands, yet there are simple and cheap ways of mitigating its effects and development. The fact established that low-income earning families are more susceptible to obesity does not mean that there is no way of alleviating this problem. Lack of access to adequate diets that are high in nutrition due to their expensive nature can be curtailed by adoption of diets that are low in fats and sugars. People can turn to consumption of traditional vegetables and fruits, and avoid processed foodstuff. Obesity is largely due to human influence and it can easily be eradicated through lifestyle change. Works Cited Akabas, S., S. A. Lederman, and B. N. Moore. Textbook of Obesity: Biological, Psychological and Cultural Influences. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. Print. Cawley, John. The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity. Illustrated Edition. London: Oxford University Press. 2011. Print. Hardman, Adrianne. E., and David J. Stensel. Physical Activity and Health: The Evidence Explained. London: Routledge. 2013. Print. Murphy, Wendy. B. Obesity. Twenty-First Cemtury Books. 2011. Print. Read More