Obesity in the United States - Research Paper Example

Obesity in the United States The rise in obesity cases in recent history has elicited extensive policy concerns and popular interest (Young & Lisa, 238). Obesity is fast becoming a major issue in health. More than 60% of Americans are obese, making the US one of the unhealthiest nations. Obesity, especially in children, is an issue in public health as well as an economic problem in more than one respect. To begin with, obesity is a function of the choices made by people in terms of the number of calories that one consumes and expends. A person gains weight when the number of calories that a person consumes exceeds the number he or she expends. Obesity is a complex disorder that affects the genes, and is defined as weight significantly exceeding the normal weight as regarded by the health care industry (Naukkarinen et al, 1018). Causes of Obesity Gender, race and societal factors In the United States, obesity cuts across gender, race and socioeconomic status. Currently, the greatest prevalence in obesity is among Hispanic people, African-Americans and Native Americans. While 13% of white youth are overweight, 20% of non-Hispanic adolescents who are African American are overweight. Further, research reveals that 24% of African American youth are overweight, with the same percentage of Mexican American youth sharing the same status. Approximately 39% of all Native American youth face the risk of becoming overweight (Wieting, 546). With regard to gender, 29% of African American females and 22% of African American children are obese while an excess of 27% of Mexican American male children and adolescents suffer from obesity. Societal factors also contribute to obesity, especially in children. Many neighbourhoods in the urban areas lack healthy alternatives, outdoor produce stands and supermarkets as alternatives to fast food outlets and convenience stores. This makes it more difficult for people to buy and consume inexpensive and fresh produce. Furthermore, an insufficient public transport system has increased dependence on cars, therefore reducing healthy activities such as taking walks and biking. Physical inactivity A report by the CDC shows that overall participation in physical activities has reduced by 30% over the last ten years. Limited physical activity contributes to circulatory problems as well as obesity in children. A reduction in physical activity has further been reduced by pressure from both federal and state authorities to improve state proficiency tests performance. This pressure forces schools to try meeting these increased expectations by cutting down the time for recess. Some have even eliminated physical education classes and time for recess. This has led to only 21% of children in schools attending physical education classes weekly (Wieting, 546). With exercise, obese children improve their circulatory health. A 2004 study reveals that only 3 hours of exercise weekly reduced the effects that obesity has on blood cells significantly. Furthermore, the study revealed that children who participated in physical education activities regularly increased their chances of having normal body weight (Naukkarinen et al, 1019). Despite these findings, some studies suggest that increased physical activity ought to be supported by changes in the lifestyles of children. Physical activities are also mitigated by the reduction of open spaces where people can play. With more traffic and violence on the streets, parents opt to keep their children within the home where children receive sedentary entertainment from computers, television and video games. Mass media The mass media is a major contributor to the prevalence of obesity in the US. Despite the FTC proposing a rule restricting direct television advertising towards children, the broadcasting, advertising and food companies have continued to engage in the practice. The situation worsened when the US Congress bowed to pressure from the corporates and refused to approve the proposed limitations on advertising. Further, Congress removed from the FTC the power to restrict advertising on television. Currently, after the passing of the Children’s TV Act by Congress in 1990, commercial advertising time became limited during the programing of children’s shows. On average, children spend 5.5 hours daily using various media. Every five minutes, children in the US are exposed to a food commercial. This translates to over 400 commercials in a year. Most of these advertisements are for high sugar cereals, fast food and candy. Fast-food outlets spend $3 billion annually on advertisements (Young & Lisa, 244). Of concern is the fact that these advertising campaigns connect candy, food and beverage products to enticing features like cartoon characters, video games, education materials, branded kids’ clubs, movies, toys and even the internet. As a result of such advertising and coupled with the increase in the spending power of the youth, 11% of calories consumed by the youth originate from soft drinks. Young Americans consume half as much milk as soda. With more consumption of sugar, child obesity has increased in frequency along with the average BMI. Diet Many schools provide food for their students. However, most of this food is composed of unhealthy fast food. Schools cannot meet the nutritional standards set by the federal authorities for meal programs because of limited financial resources (Wang & Beydoun, 624). Meals at home offer a healthier diet (Walton, 242). Obese adolescents and children consume considerably more potato chips servings, sugary drinks, meat and its substitutes when they have meals away from home (Wang & Beydoun, 621). This choice of diet increases calorie, sugar and fat intake, contributing to obesity prevalence. Such unhealthy diets are dense in energy, high in fat and low in fibre and they cause cardiovascular diseases in people (Boban et al, 562). Costs of Obesity Health care costs Every year, medical treatment for conditions related to obesity cost $147-$210 billion. This is approximately 10% of all spending on medical bills. The bulk of the amount of money spent on obesity-related conditions treats diabetes. Medicaid and Medicare take up $61.8 billion from the total spending on obesity-related complications. People with obesity spend more that healthy-weight people on healthcare costs by 42%. Obesity in children alone directly accounts for $14.1 billion. Children with obesity spend almost three times the average amount of money spent by children annually on medication. Decreased productivity in workers and increased absenteeism Obesity contributes to workers not availing themselves for duty as required of them. The main reason for such absenteeism is constant complications related to obesity. The annual economic cost of absenteeism related to obesity in the US is $4.3 billion. As the BMI of a person increases, the number of days that they are sick increases too. The healthcare costs and medical claims associated with such an individual also increase (Chernov, 108). Workers with obesity who make it to work experience a lower productivity as they undertake their duties. They develop laziness and do not regard their work as important. Low productivity costs the US economy $506 for every worker with obesity annually. Increased claims for workers’ compensation Research shows that workers with obesity have higher claims for workers’ compensation. It is astonishing that while healthy-weight employees have an average indemnity claim of $5396 per 100 workers, the figure stood at $59, 178 for obese workers. Increased costs of health and emergency With more people in the society being overweight, healthcare providers and emergency responders face unique challenges especially in treating and transporting heavy patients. While it costs $70,000 to acquire an ambulance with two EMTs and equipment with the ability to transport a patient weighing 400 pounds, it costs $110,000 for one that can transport heavier patients, weighing up to 1000 pounds. Discrimination As a person adds more weight, they are forced to contend with discrimination on many fronts in many American societies. The first kind is social stigmatization. The society has values on the ideal body type. Because obese people do not have the ‘ideal’ body type, they face discrimination both in the streets and at work. Even people suffering obesity bear the thought that the society dislikes them, therefore lowering their self-esteem (Chernov, 107). Stereotypes about people with obesity can lead to a person with obesity not getting hired. This is because employers view the obese as less competent, not industrious, indecisive, less successful, and disorganized, less productive and less desirable in comparison with other employees (Chernov, 108). This is a form of discrimination. Employers use the image of their business, future health conditions and insurance costs as the basis for their reasons not to hire people with obesity. When employers hire an obese person, they place them in jobs that do not allow them to be in direct contact with customers (Chernov, 111). Measures to Prevent Obesity Legislation Numerous legislations have been proposed with the purpose of regulating obesity. One among the proposed legislations is to add the Department of Agriculture more powers to regulate high calorie foods’ and most snacks’ nutritional content (Boban et al, 564). There is also a need to regulate advertising that targets children on prime time television. Advertisement of foods with low nutritional value should also be restricted from going to schools. The Public Health Association advocated for the regulation of not just the chemicals in food, but also the availability of beverages and food in secondary and elementary schools in the US (Wieting, 547). Education Education is the most important method of preventing obesity. Education may take numerous forms such as the provision of information about the content of food on labels for such products and publicly financed advertisements with information on the health effects of obesity along with how to avoid becoming obese (Philipson & Posner, 6). Further, education of the public may involve advocating for increased physical exercises among the affected, together with better nutrition (Verduin, Agarwal & Waltman, 260). Education on obesity would serve to inform the public on healthy lifestyles that they should adopt to avoid obesity and obesity-related complications such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Philipson & Posner, 7). Cooperation with health care professionals and academia Companies that produce food products can play an important role in the prevention of obesity if they cooperate with health care professionals and academia in several ways. To begin with, they can involve the academia in research into healthier compositions for their products. Academic institutions play a major role in educating professionals in health care. In turn, the health professionals can later educate their patients. Consumers trust people in the medical profession, and whatever they advise their customers to avoid they most likely will (Verduin, Agarwal & Waltman, 259). Cooperation with Academia can also have the benefits of the organizations having reliable, science-based information on nutrition. Osteopathic Approach This approach involves osteopathic physicians, allopathic physicians and other professionals in health care taking advantage of their contact with adolescents, parents and children to educate them on making healthy lifestyle choices. This group of professionals can also influence the awareness of their patients on obesity as a major issue in health, aside from offering to educate them on the options available for the treatment and prevention of obesity. One of the practical things that they can do include providing adolescents, children and parents with strategies appropriate to their ages to help them make informed decisions regarding nutrition, diet, physical activity as well as making modifications in their lifestyle (Wieting, 549). Treatment of Obesity Losing weight does not qualify as a measure of success in the treatment of obesity. The NIH posits that the focus should be on the improvement of health as opposed to the reduction in the weight of the body. In that sense, it is essential to select appropriate obesity management methods that will help in finding a suitable balance between the BMI and the weight of the body (Walton, 244). The treatment methods for obesity include: Exercising Physical exercises increase chances that an obese person will avoid gaining weight. Further, regardless of the weight of the person, exercising helps improve the overall health of an individual. Once a person has made significant progress in losing weight, exercises also help them maintain the trend of weight loss (Kazaks & Stern, 233). Gastric Surgery This extreme method involves undergoing a surgical procedure to remove the extra weight from the body. The other forms of treatment do not affect more than 6 million Americans with obesity. This method of treatment has grown increasingly popular, with hospitals under considerable pressure to perform these surgical procedures (Kazaks & Stern, 235). Medication Most people view obesity as a chronic illness with its basis in the genes and associated with numerous serious illnesses, which could lead to premature death. For this reason, many people take to drug treatment of obesity. Drugs help with the weight loss, which provide many health benefits (Kazaks & Stern, 234). Works Cited Chernov, Andrea . "Weight Discrimination: The Effects of Obesity on Employment and Promotion." International Journal of Obesity 10.8 (2003): 107-111. Print. Kazaks, A., and J. S. Stern. "Obesity Treatments and Controversies." Diabetes Spectrum 16.4 (2003): 231-235. Print. Mathew, B., L. Francis, A. Kayalar, and J. Cone. "Obesity: Effects On Cardiovascular Disease And Its Diagnosis." The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 21.6 (2008): 562-568. Print. Naukkarinen, J, A Rissanen, and K Pietilainen. "Causes and Consequences of Obesity: The Contribution of Recent Twin Studies." International Journal of Obesity 36.11 (2012): 1017-1024. Print. Philipson, Tomas , and Richard Posner. "IS THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM? A DECADE OF RESEARCH ON THE ECONOMICS OF OBESITY." International Journal of Obesity 118.110 (2008): 1-9. Print. Verduin, Patricia , Sanjiv Agarwal, and Susan Waltman. "Solutions to obesity: perspectives from the food industry." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 82.1 (2005): 259-260. Print. Walton, Karen . "Nutrition and Diet Therapy." Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 240-241.54 (2011): 23. Print. Wang, Y, and M A Beydoun. "Meat Consumption Is Associated With Obesity And Central Obesity Among US Adults." International Journal of Obesity 33.6 (2009): 621-628. Print. Wieting, Michael. "Cause and Effect in Childhood Obesity: Solutions for a National Epidemic ." JAOA 108.10 (2008): 545-550. Print. Young, Lisa, and Marion Nestle. "Portion Sizes and Obesity: Responses of Fast Food Companies." Journal of Public Health Policy 28.13 (2007): 238-248. Print. Read More