Factors of adult obesity - Essay Example

Adult obesity Obesity is a condition in which excess accumulation of body fat poses a health risks that may lower an individual’s life expectancy rate. On the contrary, overweight is excess body weight of the muscles, bones, water, and fats in the body. In this regard, many tend to think that the two are similar, but they are not. The onset of obesity increases the percentage risk of acquiring asthma, heart disease, certain cancers, and type-two diabetes. It mainly encompasses the excessive intake of foods with high energies and the lack of exercising top burn up the excess energy acquired. In this regard, obesity is treatable through proper dieting and regular exercising. In take of sugary foods and those with high starch content, need avoiding in maintaining the average body weight. If not avoided, obesity may be a possible cause of death among the productive young generation. In the recent years, adult obesity has been on the increase especially in the developed countries. Statistics show that over a billion adults are obese with the women leading in being obese (WHO, 2012). On the contrary, obesity is a preventable medical condition to which treatment is also possible. Environmental attributes that encourage unhealthy eating Unhealthy eating habits are a vital public health issue among the young adults in their transition in to adulthood. According to Ganasegeran et al (2012: 1475), the young adults in universities relate their poor eating patterns to the hectic time schedules in their learning curricular. In addition, they argue that this is the main reason as to why they find themselves indulging in substance hence exposing them. In essence, bad eating habits facilitate the unnecessary gaining of unneeded weight. Sequentially, lack of adequate sleep, use of certain medications, and pregnancy may be the other causes of adult obesity (Mayo Clinic, 2012). Obesity and the media In recent years, the media has become the leading cause of obesity among adults and children. The availability of video games and social networks that keep individuals in doors has been a major catalyst. People have substituted outdoor physical pass time activities to in door entertainment. Moreover, staying in doors requires the in take of junky foodstuffs since it attracts laziness. This translates to the eating of the wrong foods without factoring the later consequences. In addition, generation Y tends to spend much of time on the internet and other social network sites hence they do not have the time to prepare healthy meals for themselves (Boyce, 2007:202). Sequentially, the number of adults who prefer takeouts to properly home cooked meals is higher especially in the urban settings. For instance, the urbanites prefer pizzas and French fries since their delivery makes it easy for the m to satisfy their hunger. These foods contain high calories that when coupled with inactiveness leads to being obese. On the other hand, parents also encourage the use of these Medias and are responsible for not limiting the hours that young adults spend on the electronic devices. This behavior is most common among high school and university students whose learning has changed in to being more computers based. Therefore, increased time spent on the internet while online chats influences people to eat food that is likely to increases the chances of being obese. Work schedules Many parents in the twenty-first century juggle with being astounding carrier individuals and being parents. They lack the time to be proper parents to their own kids and have often delegated the role of parenting to nannies and childcare givers. The ever rising demands in their respective carrier fields make them be scarce in their own homes without having a care on whether children and family members eat healthy or not. In addition, the working generation finds itself indulging in the wrong eating patterns because of the deadlines issued at their places of work. They find themselves working late or going to work early, which allows them to eat unhealthy foodstuff while on the go. This coupled with long productive hours that do not allow for any strenuous work activity leads to deposition of body fats over time. An increase in the BMI (body mass index), would be unavoidable since these individuals do not exercise to reduce body fat index. Stress and anxiety Anxiety is the state of being uncertain about future events that an individual may have no control over the outcome. Stress and anxiety intermarry in the facilitation of increased body fat. Sequentially, anxiety fathers’ stress in that tan individual tends to worry a lot on the outcome of a future event that may lead to stress or in extreme cases depression. On the contrary, eating habits and stress also do have a substantial connection, as one leads to another. In most cases, a great number of those who feel stressed tend to eat many unhealthy foods in order to maintain clam. However, this mindset only exists in their minds because the only way to reduce stress is remaining calm. In addition, they tend to feel a relative calm when their stomachs are full than when they are hungry. For instance, it is easier to feed on already made high calorie foodstuffs than to constantly prepare food that it is of high nutritive value. They find this tiresome and a waste of time hence preferring the risk of being obese than maintaining healthy bodies. Therefore, stress can be a factor that promotes obesity through the unhealthy eating patterns and habits. Breakdown of family units With the increased liberalization and living in Free states and societies, there has been an increase in divorce cases and disconnected families. Some of these disconnects are due to drugs and substance abuse that tends to separate a family. These issues mostly affect the children involved, as they opt to engage in unhealthy feeding habits to draw self worth on them. Divorcees, especially women, tend to fall back to this habit once their spouses leave them in order for them to revalue their deserted selves. In this regard, a divorce makes one feel rejected and unappreciated mainly because they feel that they feel that they gave the broken relationship their all, which was not enough. Subsequently, the withdrawal aspect makes it possible to eat unhealthy and high calorie foodstuffs that lead them in to being obese. Theoretical based links to obesity Researchers across the globe have done various studies on the theories that explain on obesity, its causes, and its effects. One of the theories is socialization, which explains the social and cultural aspects that influence an idealized body image within a society (Chaunt, 2012:5). The socialization theory implies that one’s bodily appearance directly affects the societal view and perception of the individual. This to mean that society appreciates thin-bodied people more than it does appreciate the larger bodied individuals (Azetsop & Joy, 2011). Secondly, there is the pathogen avoidance theory. This theory denotes the relevance of evolution in relation to stigmatization as a means of adaptation and survival. Therefore, stigmatization in this theory involves individual pull out from a larger group as a way of avoiding ridicule and embarrassment from peers. An obese individual may use as a self-protection mechanism within a social interactive setup for survival. Lastly, there is the intergroup theory that constitutes two variables (Chaunt, 2012:5). These variables are the in-group, which is the group of people with normal weight in the society. On the other hand, there are the out-group individuals who are society members who are either thin or heavy in weight. Therefore, the intergroup theory depicts that the in-group members tend to have more positive judgments than the out-group does. For instance, heavy weight or obese people automatically fall under the out-group cluster, which society views negatively. On the contrary, these theories all have a negative effect on an obese individual’s self-esteem since they do not feel confident enough to fit in society. Sequentially, the psychology, social, and emotional aspects of theses individuals suffer as a result. Consequently, these individuals feel as though their self worth and output do not matter in the eyes of the society hence belittling their abilities. Ideally, the impartment of self- esteem knowledge on individuals who suffer from weigh related issues serves as a start for improvement on their lifestyles. In addition, the communication of the value and vital contribution to society’s functions makes them feel loved and valued by society. This serves as an avenue of them opening up and seeking help in order for them to attain the average society weight. The health belief theory On the other hand, the health belief theory drew a relative broad distinction between having a healthy weight, being overweight, and being obese (Pobee et al, 2012:667). In this belief system, the application of highly flirtatious terms was noticeable by those involved in the research process. The research found that the participants involved seemed aware of the health risks involved in an obese case. In addition, the belief model highlights the contributing factors that would influence an obese individual in to losing weight. They included health related complications, the idea of having an appealing physical appearance, and saving the money used in buying new clothes due to increase in weight. On the contrary, this model also has its challenges in that the lack of motivation for weight loss, unavailability of proper dietary information, and social encouragement would make one not consider weight loss. Therefore, the health belief model may serve as a way of social marketing to obese individuals for them to reconsider their comfort in their weight due to the health and social reasons presented in this theory. Government’s role in eradicating obesity Involving health and obesity related topics in the teaching curricular Education is a pillar that characterizes a nation’s growth and stability since it influences knowledge acquisition. In this regard, governments need to incorporate healthy living to be part of their teaching curricular. This is to mean that children while on their transition in to adulthood are aware of the health risks involved in the having improper diets. There is no better way to impart knowledge than doing it when an individual is young and tender. Subsequently, the incorporation of this subject in the learning curricular allows children to grow up while making the best choices for their health. Implementation of policy frameworks for the combating obesity Undoubtedly, many individuals do not exercise as often as required because they either lack the proper exercising equipment or cannot access the same. In this regard, the governments need to come up with frameworks that will allow learning institutions to have well equipped exercising facilities in all levels of education. For instance, when an institution states that it is mandatory for every student to exercise then not doing so will be hard. Moreover, the governments should spill over to working institutions to ensure that they have gyms where their employees can work out with ease to ensure that they maintain the average society weight. Conclusion Obesity is mostly prevalent in children but is also experienced in a substantial number of inactive adults. More so, it is a factor downplays self-confidence and self-efficacy according to this essay and various researches. However, discrimination against those with this condition should not be in existence at any level of an individual’s life. Obesity is a manageable condition whose health risks are preventable through exercising and having healthy and nutritionally balanced diets. In addition, modern lifestyles and technologies that allow individuals to stay inactive need discouraging from them being pass time. Finally, it is critical for individuals to exercise quite often irrespective of their weights in order to avoid heart diseases and other complications. Bibliography Azetsop J., Joy, T. R. 2011. Epistemologicaland ethical assessment of obesity bias in industrialized countries. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities medicine. Available from http://www.peh-med.com/content/6/1/16 [Accessed November 1, 2012] Boyce, T. 2007.Obesity reviews: The media and obesity. 8(1) p 201-205 Chaunt L. 2012. Explicit Weight Biases are Curvililinear: Testing Pathogen Avoidance, Intergroup Relations and Socialization Theories. Available from http://digitalcommons.ric.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=honors_projects [Accessed November 1, 2012] Ganasegeran K., Al-Dubai, S. A., Qureshi, A. M., Al-abed, A. A., Riza A. M., Aljunid S.M. 2012. Social and psychological factors affecting eating habits among university students in a Malaysian medical school: a cross sectional study. 10 (1186), 1475-2891 James D. C., Pobee, J. W.,OxidineD., Brown L., Joshi, G. 2012. Using the health model belief to develop culturally appropriate weight- management materials for African–American women. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 112, (5), p 664-670 Mayo Clinic staff. 2012. Obesity: Causes. Available from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314/DSECTION=causes [Accessed November 1, 2012] World Health Organization 2012. Obesity and Overweight. Available from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/[ Accessed November 1, 2012] Read More