Overweight and Obesity Among Adults in the US - Essay Example

Overweight and Obesity Among Adults in the USThe statistics mentioned in this essay represents the rate of obesity in United States according to statistics of 2010 among adults who are 20 and older (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 2012). It can be seen that rate of obesity is relatively higher in ethnic groups as compared to Whites in different categories of obesity. If analyzed in the light of causes mentioned above, it can be seen that ethnic groups have relatively lower access to healthy lifestyle.

Prime reasons of it can be less income, residence in the neighborhoods where availability of healthy food and fresh produce is not possible and other social and cultural factors leading to obesity (Centers of Disease Control & Prevention, 2013). In addition to that, ethnic groups like African Americans and Hispanics have cultural preferences for larger portions and family meals contributing to overall increase in weight (Lutfiyya, Garcia, Dankwa, Young & Lipsky, 2008). As far as sedentary lifestyle is concerned, rate of multiple jobs is higher in ethnic groups requiring more time to be spent on job curtailing the rate of physical activity.

Furthermore, low median income groups also sustain lower access to nutritional food due to increasing cost of fresh edible items and also easy availability of junk food (Lutfiyya, Garcia, Dankwa, Young & Lipsky, 2008). Higher rate of both parents employment is also present in ethnic minorities which also makes utilization of junk food a viable option. Furthermore, deprived neighborhoods also have poor infrastructure in which recreational spaces are also limited. A considerable amount of research also indicates that individuals from ethnic groups are more susceptible to mental conditions like clinical depression which is more likely to trigger binge eating (Fuchs, 2011).

Research also states that factors such as commercialism on food, increased screen time and complex work arrangements are likely to affect ethnic minorities more as compared to Whites (Lutfiyya, Garcia, Dankwa, Young & Lipsky, 2008). The given visual aid has been created by using tools offered in MS Word for creating graphs. This particular graph is expected to provide an insight about disparity among different demographic segments in United States in terms of obesity and causative agents behind these varying percentages.

Source: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2012)ReferencesNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2012). Overweight and Obesity Statistics. Retrieved from http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/PDFs/stat904z.pdf Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Overweight and Obesity. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html Lutfiyya, M.N., Garcia, R., Dankwa, C.M., Young, T., & Lipsky, M.S.(2008). Overweight and Obese Prevalence Rates in African American and Hispanic Children: An Analysis of Data from the 2003-2004 National Survey of Children's Health.

J Am Board Fam Med. 21(3), 191-199.Fuchs, F.D. (2011). Why do Black Americans have higher prevalence of hypertension? An enigma still unsolved. Hypertension, 57, 379-80.Part D. Question & Answers1. Does rate of obesity increases with age?There is significant evidence available which supports the idea of increasing rate of obesity with age. Main factors can be increased diet, more sedentary lifestyle, higher level of stress and other economic factors.2. What is the role of gender in these percentages related to obesity in different demographic segments?

Although given percentages reflect rate of obesity irrespective of gender however according to statistics shown by CDC, women are more likely to sustain from obesity with increase in age however this trend is reversed in childhood and adolescence. 3. If obesity is considered equivalent to epidemic, are there any initiatives being taken to curtail it at national level?Yes, U.S. government has taken many initiatives at state and community levels and many interventions are also being introduced in academic settings.

Furthermore, government is also taking various measures to increase awareness in general population about it. There is a whole website dedicated to it with various tools related to dietary intake, nutrition requirements, and physical activity.