Fast Food or Fast Life - Essay Example

 Achieving better health for the American population The health issues of the American population get influenced by various triggers. Understanding these triggers and establishing the various approaches to counter them is essential to improving the populations’ health. People eat for various reasons but the fundamental reason is for survival and ensuring people are around their loved ones for long. However, the issue of eating to live and living to eat affects people in different manners as most people develop poor eating habits that affect the body’s nutritional intake and affects their health. Being healthy involves careful consideration of what one is eating and engaging in activities that contribute to better healthy lives that do not include daily prescriptions or spending most of the time in a doctor’s office. There is an association involving the intensity of physical activities and how much energy the body uses from consumed meals. Poor health conditions arise due to the consumption of more or less than what the body requires in keeping an individual moving. The paper will analyze the various approaches the people can do to promote better health for the American population. The American populations, and specifically the teenagers, possess notorious eating habits without considering the nutritional values of their choices. Peer influence, addiction, ignorance, and easy access to fast foods can lead to adverse health issues. The cycle of poor eating habits and unhealthy habits develops from childhood and continues in college where the individual finally progresses the cycle to the working environment. Ignoring the advantages of eating healthy meals equal the lack of interest into living free from most illnesses where the individual needs to develop into a more productive and independent person. The American health efficiency won't be achieved through the increased consumption of fast foods. People should adopt better-eating habits and exercise approaches to ensure a healthy environment. Poor health habits are the leading causes of premature death among children and adults as indicated by WHO (2009). These habits increase the chance of health risks especially in cancer, heart diseases, and excessive weight gain. Fast foods consumption and lack of efficient physical activities inhibit the body's performance by increasing or decreasing necessary nutrients past levels the body cannot operate efficiently. Understanding the effects of poor and efficient eating habits and how to manage your health is crucial to the existence of a healthy population in the America. To understand these approaches, one has to understand some of the poor eating habits witnessed on most people in the United States. Paula (2015), states that only ten percent of the entire American population follows a daily diet consistent with the federal nutrient recommendations. Other than following the required nutrition, most people prefer meals rich in trans-fats, salt, saturated fat, and sugar and ignore fruits, vegetables, and fiber. The increased preference of poor nutrition contributes a total of four out of six in the top leading causes of early deaths in the United States (Paula, 2015). Regular eating during the odd hours such as at night, lots of fast food, consuming oversized portions, and dependence on sugary substances contribute to unnecessary weight gain. These meals are known to cause adverse health issues on the American population ranging from obesity, diabetes, kidney failures, and chronic diseases (Paula, 2015). Consuming fast foods increases the level of fats in the body to reach limits that exceed the daily requirements for the optimal performance of the body. Consumption of fast foods causes health conditions such as high cholesterol, type-2 diabetes, cancer, depression, and heart diseases. As the body fat increases, the body's digestive system is unable to process all the ingredients that shift the insulin usage from the necessary use. The change in the use of insulin in the body changes how the body transmits glucose levels in the body. Due to the increased secretion of insulin levels the body rejects the sugars that accumulate in the arteries (Paula, 2015). According to the WHO (2009)) factsheet, approximately 2.7 million annual deaths occur due to lack of crucial nutritional requirements in the body and the preference of fast foods. Fast foods contribute to overweight and obesity that instead contributes to risks of higher health consequences. The projections estimate that obesity and overweight related deaths were approximately 2.6 million in the year 2008. The data also indicates that nearly 5.6 million people were suffering from obesity and overweight issues. The advocacy of fast foods by parents with small children has also increased the number of overweight kids under the age of five to 20 million (WHO, 2009). Childhood overweight issues and obesity get associated with increasing cases of premature deaths and also major causes of disabilities in adulthood. Another cause of increased poor health conditions among the people in United States is the lack of involvement in physical activities. Lack of physical activities and the increased poor eating habits slow down the rate of absorption and digestion of food by the body leading to poor health conditions. People don't value the need to engage in exercise as they are always seeking to achieve more in their work environments. The medical professionals and exercise experts recommend an average of two and a half hour vigorous physical activities each week to ensure good health. Children are advised to engage in physical activities at least one hour daily since their bodies are rapidly developing both structurally and concerning their health. Solutions and recommendations Eating healthy is crucial to the maintenance of a healthy population in the United States. The NIH (2008) recommends a personal measure to determine if an individual is healthy so that they can develop measures to increase their physical conditions. The body mass index is used in determining the health of a person by measuring the height and weight and comparing them analytically and quantitatively to reach a conclusion. According to NIH (2008), the body mass index ranging from 18.5 to 24.9 represents a healthy individual while any other measures indicate the need for different feeding and exercising habits. In determining the levels of body fat to establish the desired fat amounts, an individual should measure the body waist and ensure that their range falls under required standards. Smoking is a cause of health issues in America. Approximately fifty-three million Americans over the age of seventeen years smoke cigarettes. Tobacco use is one of the most dangerous substances that individuals consume. Smokers have a twenty-two percent higher rate of falling sick than those who do not smoke. There are over two hundred known substances found on cigarettes that are poisonous to the body. Some of the substances available in cigarettes include nicotine, cyanide, formaldehyde, arsenic, and carbon monoxide. These substances, when inhaled or consumed, affect the body leading to increased respiratory and other health problems. At present, lung cancer is the foremost cause of all cancer deaths, and a majority of lung cancer cases occur due to smoking (Fairfield, 2015). The highest treatment and prevention of most cases of lung cancer in America is the elimination of smoking. Another cause of health problem in America is the increased stress levels in the population. Stress is a significant component of the contemporary life with no one being immune to its effects. Stress causes poor health when it develops and becomes a persistent negative aspect in your life. High levels of persistent stress can lead to the collapse of the body’s defense system that in turn leads to the breakdown of an individual’s resistance to chronic conditions or mental problems. Stressful activities and situations create situations that manifest differently from one person to another and also from one gender to another. The severity of a stressful instance varies regarding the stimulus that may range from a minor situation like talking to a superior to a major trauma like the death of a loved one (Fairfield, 2015). Physical activities are also encouraged to ensure that the body efficiently utilizes the consumed products. Among the recommended activities include aerobic exercises that improve the fitness by burning calories while aiding in weight loss. Another necessary activity involves stretching and flexing to improve the blood flow while sports activities like tennis burn calories and improves fitness (NIH, 2008). Improving the general health conditions for the entire American population involves changing individual activities and behavior. The causes of health problems in the United States differ from one person to the other and from one group to the other. Increasing stress levels, poor eating habits, lack of physical activities, and adopting unnecessary behavior are some of the leading causes of health problems in America. The issues affect the physical, mental, and psychological health issues of the entire population depending on the causal relation and the triggers experienced. The public has to learn various measures necessary for the improvement of individual health by adopting healthy eating habits and exercising to ensure that the body utilizes the essential nutrients. The WHO (2009) recommends healthy eating measures to reduce costs associated with medical expenses resulting from poor eating habits. The American population depends significantly on prescriptions and medical care due to medical issues relating to poor diet. The society can achieve increased medical fitness and avoid the wastage of resources on medical care and prescriptions by changing these habits. Studies have indicated that increased dependence on medicines is not a remedy as it causes more harm to the body than the good. Excellent eating habits and vigorous physical activity are reasonable measures to ensuring better health for the American population. References AHA (2012). Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits. American Heart Association. Retrieved from http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/126/12/1514.full Fairfield (2015). Major Causes of Health Problems. Fairfield County Hypnosis, LLC. Retrieved from http://www.fairfieldcountyhypnosis.com/healthproblems.html NIH (2008). Getting on Track. National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases. Retrieved from http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/weight-control/gettingontrack/Documents/Getting_on_Track.pdf Paula, Elle (2015). Long-Term Effects of Bad Eating Habits. SF-Gate. Retrieved from http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/longterm-effects-bad-eating-habits-10555.html WHO (2009). Unhealthy diets and Physical inactivity. World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/fact_sheet_diet_en.pdf Read More