Application of Epidemiology to Obesity - Essay Example

?RUNNING HEAD: Application of Epidemiology to Obesity  Application of Epidemiology to Obesity  Application of Epidemiology to Obesity Obesity is the health subject of choice presently since obesity in the US is an ongoing epidemic. 2 / 3 adults are either obese or overweight. Additionally, 1/3 children are either obese or overweight. Adults are teaching their children unhealthy habits, and they are likely to be sicker than the parents are. Obesity in the US can be compared to 800kg Gorilla in a room. Everybody can see it and is aware that it is a problem, but people are all too lazy or scared to form or execute a resolution that will terminate the problem. The number of obese and overweight people is so disturbing since carrying excess pounds raises the risks of developing a number of diseases like Diabetes, Stroke, Cardiovascular disease, Asthma, high-blood pressure, liver, and many other diseases. Being obese or overweight does not have an impact on just the individual but the entire society due to the financial weight it places in the community. According to Mukherjee, Rn and Mukherjee, Ba (2011), “not only does the burden of obesity affect healthcare costs directly, it is also having a deleterious influence upon nationwide productivity” (p.108). According to research, 2003 medical expenditure attributed to persons being obese or overweight were nearly 75 billion dollars. That is a large sum of money and contributes to hospitals in America being expensive. Americans are trying to fight the problem, and there is enormous sums spent on obesity in the US. Research found out that American people spent $59 billion on weight loss in the year 2008. That entire sum spent and just 25 of the persons who lost weight will be able to maintain the weight loss for more than five years. Americans are struggling to lose weight, but they are not succeeding in doing so. They are not accomplishing this objective because, despite apparently having all the devises, they are not informed on how to lose weight. For one to lose weight, they have to form a calorie deficit. This means that they have to burn extra calories; and this is a remarkably straightforward theory. Therefore, Americans spend a lot of money on exercise and diet programs in an attempt to lose weight. They even go extra miles to purchase the up-to-date selling diet books or weight loss pills. They even join clubs for weight loss, and support groups; they take all the necessary steps, but they cannot lose weight. According to researches, obesity rates in America and Mexico are the largest in the world. In the current study, 28% of all American citizens are medically categorized as obese. A person whose weight is 20% bigger than the upper frontier of the healthy array is considered obese. Causes of obesity in America include the normal national diet and dietary profile and the way of life trends in the country. Experts have indicated that physical action levels, community design, and degrees of car appliance all impact obesity rates. Large numbers of American towns and cities were constructed in the automobile period, resulting in less walkable societies, in America, than in nations with lower obesity levels like France or Italy. America is a country, which is known for its high use of cars; people rely on cars frightfully much that they forget the importance of undertaking exercise. Recent studies show that there are significant differences in obesity occurrence by ethnicity, and these disparities vary by age and sex. For instance, according to 2005 and 2008 study from the Nutrition examinations study, 51 percent of non-Hispanic women of 20 years and older were overweight, compared with 43 percent of Mexican Americans and 33 percent of whites. Attempts are being made to lessen these differences by concentrating interventions on sub-groups with high occurrence of obesity. Consistent with drift countrywide, obesity levels in Virginia has been progressively increasing for the last one decade. In 2001, the state was leveled 25th lowest countrywide for obesity; by the year 2010, Virginia had the 20th lowly obesity level, although the actual proportion of obese grownups has substantially gone higher. The state’s present 26.4% obesity level is less than the country average and less than all the peer states in America. The state’s main responsibility in obesity control and prevention is to make sure that there is a development of a powerful, well-arranged strategic plan. Virginia should come up with an electronic statewide information guide, which will give a directory of society initiatives and programs in the commonwealth, together with a detailed report to support potential initiatives. Politics might hinder one from helping the community to fight against obesity. This is because the politicians ignore some matters, which the community considers being extremely valuable and instead concentrate on ways of winning more votes in the elections. Moreover, some politicians might feel that funds going to fight against obesity should not be increased even though the obesity rate has gone higher. This might happen if they feel that other substantial issues are present. One of the most new targets of the law in public health is obesity. The last few years have brought a spell of legislative programs aimed at developing diet and exercise among adults and children, hugely publicized personal-hurt lawsuits against beverage and food companies, and contemporary activities on the array of federal regulators. This contemporary frontier of law in public health is embraced by a number of health supporters, but it has also brought about criticism. A reaction from the food sector is already clear, and liberty-oriented customer groups have criticized some measures since they intrude on civil rights. Anxiety exists between these issues and the rights of speech, choice and contract. There are four new policies or laws that the government can implement to address the obesity predicament in America and they include an activity at the Federal array. At the federal degree, dogmatic initiatives encounter similar economic, political and evidentiary problems. Legal restrictions come about as well; these restrictions concentrate on the federal government’s power to control the commercial actions of the food sector. The government can limit the content and quantity of advertisements, at the time of kid’s television programs, and oblige that broadcasters offer fair time for messages that encourage nutritious diet and exercise. Regulation should also aim at the Internet, print media, in-store advertisement campaigns and tie-ins to kid’s television programs. Secondly, federal trade commissions should be used; they should regulate food advertisements especially those that have a high content of sugar. The commission should ensure that the advertisers are aware that advertising to small kids, high sugar products, is deceptive and unfair, since they do not have the cognitive capacity to understand the prejudice inbuilt in advertising. Courts can also play a significant role in reducing and controlling obesity occurrences. This can be accomplished by enacting legislation that extends the federal trade commissions’ duty in controlling food advertisements to kids. Those who break the laws can be filled a case and they can pay fines and other penalties. The courts have to clear show that the limitations are tailored to advertisements that are directed to small children, and these limitations will be effectual in lessening the occurrence of youth obesity. Lastly, drug and food administration should be put into practice. This administration should require that food producers much include some disclosures on food labels. This label offers information concerning fat, sodium, cholesterol, sugar, carbohydrate, and other content. The administration can add nutrients to label it establish that the addition can help customers in maintaining healthful, nutritional practices. Since consumers offer more confidence to dietary information in brand label than in advertisement, labels might help to offset the consumption impulses created by advertising. Obesity is extremely common in the American family, which indicates its relation to genes. According to Kim et. Al. (2003), “hereditary forms of obesity in animals have been used as model organisms to identify genetic factors that may control human obesity” (p. 267) The genetic heritage of obesity is devilishly hard to distinguish the role of environmental and genetic factors. Points favoring the role of genetics in causing obesity comprises BMI of the identical twins are the same, in spite of their developing in diverse environments, while BMI of dizygotic babies are dissimilar and semblance of adoptees to their real parents than their espoused parents in reference to obesity. In addition, in the past decades, environmental elements have played a significant role in the causation of obesity. For instance, the recent raise in occurrence of obesity various nations like Australia; America is too quick to be because of alteration of genetics. Even if, genes influence vulnerability to obesity reaction to some dietary items, normally environmental elements directly act to bring obesity. Furthermore, environmental elements such as the time spent watching television, cultural factors, sleep deprivation, and consumption of fatty diets bring about obesity occurrence, if is the person is not genetically vulnerable to obesity (Lustig, 2010). Conclusion Obesity in the US is the second, foremost foundation of preventable death in America. About 130 million people in the nation are overweight, and nearly 70 million people are obese. The Americans lifestyle is the leading causes of obesity in the country. They drive around all the time especially in an effort to avoid walking from one place to another. From the analysis, it is shown that nearly 75 percent of residents in America might enjoy an entirely sedentary or dormant lifestyle. Moreover, whenever one walks in the American restaurant, he or she can see that nearly 75% of people are eating junks. When this is combined with lack of exercise, one can now see why obesity in the USA is on the rise. The health issues linked to obesity is numerous. Obesity is not a mere cosmetic issue; it is a health hazard. A person who is 40 percent overweight is twice as liable to die impulsively as is a normal weight person. In America, obesity rates have gone up in children and adults in the past 20 years. If these drifts go on, by the time current children get to maturity, obesity will be the model and normal weight the exception. References Kim, et al. (2003). Molecular genetic studies of porcine genes for obesity: Progress in obesity research: 9. Montrounge, France: John Libbey Eurotext. Lustig, R.H. (2010). Obesity Before Birth: Maternal and Prenatal Influences on the Offspring. NY: Springer. Mukherjee, D., S., Rn and Mukherjee, D., S.,Ba (2011). Obesity: It Might Not Be All Your Fault, But It Is Your Problem. Bloomington, Indiana: Trafford Publishing. Oliver, E.L (2001). Fat politics: The real story behind American’s obesity epidermic. NY: Cengage learning. Read More