How to Deal with Obesity - Essay Example

"How to Deal with Obesity" is an outstanding example of a paper on child development. 
According to the 2011 statistics published by National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES), “About one-third of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese” (U.S. Obesity Trends). Obesity is one of the major health problems which is creating tremendous concerns among the public all over the world. Changing lifestyles and food habits are the major reasons for overweight or obesity. Obesity can cause several physical as well as emotional problems such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, cancer, diabetes, depression, anxiety, lack of self-esteem, etc. This paper discusses various aspects of obesity and its importance to me.  

Overeating and lack of physical workouts are the major reasons behind obesity. The current generation is not getting enough time to engage in some kind of physical workouts and to burn out the excessive calories they consumed. The unburned excessive calories will cause fat accumulation in the body and subsequently, severe health problems may arise as time goes on. Physical problems as well as mental problems can develop as a result of obesity. Many people face severe sleep problems because of obesity. Reduction of overweight can improve the quality of sleep which is necessary for maintaining a stable physical as well as psychological health.  

Teenagers have a habit of considering eating as a recreational activity. “When we eat "for fun" which we do a lot of in our society, we typically eat foods which are chemically made to taste very good and also provide a lot of calories” (SueW). Teenagers usually avoid such things while taking foods and may develop obesity. “Although the prevalence of overweight and obesity varies between different countries and ethnic groups, adolescent obesity is also one of the major health problems all over the world” (BMC Public Health). In other words, obesity could be a problem for a teenager like me also. I have a habit of spending too many hours in front of computers and I realize that such habits may prevent me from getting proper physical workouts.  

Many teenagers have the false belief that obesity may cause problems only to old people. However, childhood obesity and teenage obesity are as dangerous as old age obesity and therefore I cannot keep a blind eye towards this issue.  I should realize that obesity may prevent me from concentrating more on my studies. Moreover, I could face bullying from peers if I develop more weight, and as a result that the development of self-esteem could be spoiled.    

Dieting and physical exercises are the major options available for preventing obesity and health problems. In some extreme cases, medications or treatments are necessary to get rid of the overweight related problems. In rare cases, surgery is performed to eliminate excessive fat deposits from the body.  

To conclude, obesity is a major health problem causing severe concerns all over the world. it can affect all people irrespective of age, gender, or cultural differences. Controlling food habits and increasing physical workouts are the major options available to prevent obesity.