Nutrition and Obesity in the United States vs in Other Countries - Research Paper Example

Research Paper, Health Sciences and Medicine Nutrition and Obesity in the United s versus in Other Developed Countries Nutrition is the process through which a living organism assimilates food and uses it for growth and replacement of tissues. The definition of obesity is that it is a condition characterized by the excess accumulation and storage of fat in the body. Obesity is also defined as a body mass index greater than 30 or a BMI range between 18 and 24.9 (Menon, 39).Using BMI to determine obesity is not always accurate especially for people with large frames and a lot of muscle mass. In addition, experts in the medical community don’t recommend using BMI as a method of determining obesity. A person whose weight is at least 20 percent higher than the upper limit of the healthy range is considered to be obese. The effect of obesity is that it puts one at risk of many health problems and diseases. This is according to Medical News Today. Obesity makes one susceptible to diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, respiratory issues, and stroke. It is estimated that on average, an obese person will live 8 to 10 years less than a non-obese person. In addition, a high rate of obesity in a country’s population significantly increases its health care costs. Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity in the developed countries such as the United States has significantly increased. Statistics in the United States show one in every three people is medically obese. According to a book published in September 2010 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD), obesity rates in the U.S. rank among the highest in the world. Another research conducted byMedical News Today in the year 2010 shows that 28 percent of all U.S. residents are medically classified to be obese. European Union member countries with obesity rates between 20 percent and 27 percent include Australia at Irelandand Luxembourg (Kumar, 19).The same data also shows that the European Union membercountry with the lowest overall obesity rates was Sweden at 10 percent. The average obesityrate was recorded to be at 16 percent. Research done by the World health Organization shows that the worldwide prevalence of obesity nearly doubled between the year 1980 and 2008. The country estimates for the year 2008 showed that over 50% of both men and women in the European Region were overweight. The percentage of men and women who were overweight were 23% and 20% in both men and women respectively. Based on the latest estimates in European Union countries, overweight problems in adults affects 30-70% while the percentage of adult population affected by obesity is at 10-30%. Causes of obesity in the U.S. and other countries include the diet and nutritional profile as well as unhealthy lifestyle trends. An article in the August 2004 issue of the American Journal of preventive Medicine indicates that community design, physical activity levels and levels of car use are also contributing factors to the increasing obesity rates in the United States of America. Many American cities and towns were built in the automobile era, resulting in fewer communities in the U.S. that facilitate walking distances as compared to countries with lower obesity rates. The prevalence of obesity is higher in the United States than in any other developed country. The available evidence suggests that calories expended by the average American citizen have not changed significantly since the year 1980;however calories consumed have drastically risen.A theory has been proposed based on the division of labor in food preparation. It is called the technical change theory. In the 1960s, the bulk of food preparation was done by families that cooked and ate their own food at home. Since then and recently, there has been a revolution in the mass preparation of food as compared to the mass production revolution in manufactured goods that happened nearly a century ago. Technological innovations which include vacuum packing, improved preservatives, deep freezing, artificial flavors and microwaves have emerged. The innovations have enabled food manufacturers to cook and ship food to consumers for rapid consumption. A comparison made between the year 1965 and 1995.Cooking and cleaning up from meals each day would take over two hours in 1965. A change is noted in the year 1995 that the same tasks take less than half the time. The switch from individual to mass preparation lowered the time, price of food consumption and led to increased quantity and variety of foods consumed therefore resulting in the prevalence of obesity. The technical change theory has several implications. First, increased caloric intake is largely as a result of consuming more meals rather than more calories per meal which is largely due to the lower fixed costs of food preparation. The second implication is that consumption of mass produced food has increased the most in the past two decades. Third implication is that groups in the population have taken advantage of the technological changes have had the biggest increases in weight. The final implication is thatobesity across countries is correlated with access to new food technologies and to processed food. Food and its delivery systems are highly regulated areas of the economy. Some regulations are explicit; for example, the European Union’s position is that it has taken a stance against genetically engineered food and a Beer Purity Law. Countries with a greater degree of regulation that support traditional agriculture anddelivery systems record lower rates of obesity than those without. Another factor in the United States of America that raises the prevalence of obesity is High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). It is a sweetener that has primarily replaced sucrose in the food manufacturing and processing industry. Health professionals and nutrition experts say thatexcessive consumption of carbohydrates, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages lead to weight gain, this in effect causes the prevalence of obesity.  Factors that encourage this trend include governmental production quotas of domestic sugar and an import tariff on foreign sugar. These combine to raise the price of sucrose to levels above those of the rest of the world. In effect therefore HFCS are the cheapest as compared to many sweetener applications.In 1977 for example, sugar tariffs in the United States significantly increased the cost of imported sugar, and U.S. producers sought cheaper sources. HFCS derived from corn is noted to be more economical because the domestic U.S. prices of sugar are twice the global price. HFCS became an attractive substitute and most preferred over cane sugar by a majority of American food and beverage manufacturers such asCoca-Cola and Pepsi In the European Union (EU), HFCShowever, is subject to a production quota. The EU produced an average of 18.6 million tons of sugar annually between 1999 and 2001. Notably significant replacement of sugar with HFCS has not in the recent years occurred in the EU and production within Europe was minimal (Feachem, 193). This has served as a factor that has ensured low prevalence of obesity in the European Union member countries. However, recently the EU has now allowed for food and drink manufacturers to use fructose in place of glucose and sucrose. This in relation to expert opinion on the effect of fructose on weight gain will have a negative impact on obesity in the EU. More people may become overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is a serious public healthchallenge of the 21st century.This is because it can harm nearly every system in a child’s body such as the heart and lungs, muscles and bones, kidneys and digestive tract, hormones that control blood sugar and puberty and can also take a heavy social and emotional toll (Tsatsoulis, 98). Unfortunately, youth who are overweight or obese are more likely to remain overweight or obese into adulthood. Obesity rates are higher in adults than in children. However, the United States of America the problem is more in children than adults.Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates have tripled in the U.S. currently the country records among the highest obesity rates in the world. Statistics show that one out of six children is obese, and one out of three children is overweight or obese (Marso, 72). Though the overall U.S. child obesity rate has held steady since 2008, some groups have continued to see increases, and some groups have higher rates of obesity than others. According to WHO, the number of overweight infants and children in the European Union rose steadily from 1990 to 2008. The statistics show that 60% of children who are overweight before puberty will be overweight in early adulthood. On the other hand, Overweight and obesity rates at 4 years of age vary from one country to another. This is according to a recent systematic review of studies from the 27 countries in the European Union (EU). Spain recorded the highest rate while Romania had the lowest rate, (Davidson, 398). The World Health Organization European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative recently tracked child obesity rates across some countries, using the WHO child growth standards. Their first analysis, based on 2007–2008 data from about 13 European Union Member countries such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. According to the analysis, it was found that 24 percent of European children ages 6 to 9 are overweight (Davidson 29). Cyprus, Greece, Spain, and England, members of the European Union, record among the highest obesity rates in youth between the ages of 10 to 18, according to a recent systematic review of studies from countries that are EU members.Most of these countries showed increases in obesity rates over the past few decades (Chandalia, 92).Country estimates of 2008 revealed that approximately 35% of all people in the European Region are not physically active. The increased automation of work and other aspects of life in higher-income countries are the cause of the low physical activity (World, Health Organization, 91) According to the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) in the year 2005 and 2006 survey of countries in the European Region and North America, World Health Organization (WHO) found that girls across all countries and age groups are less active than boys. The gender gap increases with age.In addition, family affluence was also found to be associated with overweight or obesity in around half of the countries surveyed in the HBSC study. People from lower affluence families were found to be more likely to be overweight or obese. This pattern showed to be strongest in Western Europe (Asha & Mark, 39) However, the rising trend of obesity can be controlled and reduced. Preventing obesity in a child’s earliest years and even before birthconfers a lifetime of health benefits. It is the most promising path for turning around the global epidemic of obesity. Participation in moderate physical activity each week is estimated to reduce the risk of ischemic heart disease by approximately 30%, the risk of diabetes by 27%, and the risk of breast and colon cancer by 21–25%. Physical activity also lowers the risk of stroke, hypertension and depression (Alfred 32). WHO’s recommendations on preventing and managing obesity emphasize the need for early prevention to ensure lifelong healthy eating and physical activity patterns. There is also the need coordinated partnerships between different government sectors, communities, the mass media and the private sector to ensure that diet and levels of physical activity can be changed effectively and sustainably. Work cited Alfred, Dhavendra. Genomics and Health in the Developing World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Internet resource. Asha, Ram K, and Mark A. Sperling. Pediatric Diabetes. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. Print. Chandalia, H B, and A K. Das. Rssdi Textbook of Diabetes Mellitus. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, 2012. Print. Davidson, John K. Clinical Diabetes Mellitus: A Problem-Oriented Approach. New York [u.a.: Thieme, 2000. Print. Feachem, Richard G. The Health of Adults in the Developing World. Oxford u.a: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992. Print. Jamison, Dean T. Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Kumar, Dhavendra. Genomics and Health in the Developing World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Internet resource. Marso, .Diebetes & Cardiovascular Disease : Integrating Science. Lippincott, 2003. Print. Menon, Ram K, and Mark A. Sperling. Pediatric Diabetes. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. Print. Tsatsoulis, Agathocles, Jennifer A. Wyckoff, and Florence M. Brown. Diabetes in Women. Totowa, N.J: Humana, 2009. Print. World, Health O. World Report on Knowledge for Better Health: Strengthening Health Systems. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004. Internet resource. Read More