Outcomes of Obesity in the US and Europe - Essay Example

"Outcomes of Obesity in the US and Europe" is an outstanding example of a paper on metabolic problems.
In the past and present times, there have been various initiatives to address the health issue of obesity. This essay will discuss past and present funding for initiatives that address obesity, including both private and public sources. It will analyze this past and present health initiatives, differentiating how being insured versus uninsured impacts the outcomes relative to obesity. This paper will compare outcomes for obesity between the US and Europe.

Past and present funding initiatives for obesity

Obesity has existed for over 20,000 years. Obesity was historically viewed as a sign of wealth that could only affect the rich because they had too much food readily available to them. Historically, mankind is known to have struggled with food scarcity. It was therefore thought that obesity could not affect the poor since food was scarce to them. Obesity was a condition mostly associated with adults. Obesity has never been as prevalent in the past as it is today. The number of initiatives aimed at reducing obesity in the past was close to non-existent. The public sector started funding obesity initiatives much later when its seriousness could not be ignored (Lopez, 2004).

Obesity was not seen as a major issue in the past as it is today. Funding for the few obesity initiatives that existed was very low since many people did not view it as a major health issue. However, this has now changed since obesity can affect anyone, including children and the poor. This is because obesity is today can be a result of genetic predisposition, energy-rich diets, limited exercise, sedentary lifestyles, weight cycling caused by attempts to lose weight by dieting, underlying illnesses, and eating disorders.

Funding for obesity initiatives has recently been improved. Today, it is estimated that more than one billion people all over the world suffer from obesity. America is known to have the largest number of obese people in the world. The fact that this figure has kept on rising has made obesity receive increased attention and recognition. That is why at present, the number of initiatives aimed at preventing obesity is very high (Puhl, Henderson & Brownell, 2005).

An example of one such initiative of preventing obesity started by the public sector is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is an agency under the US Department of Health and Human Services. In 2008 alone, the annual budget for the FDA was 2.3 billion dollars. It is fully funded by public funds. Another initiative that is fully funded by the public is the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The Center for Disease Control’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) takes a communal health tactic to address part of nutrition and bodily activity in strengthening the public’s health and controlling and preventing chronic ailments (Lopez, 2004).

Examples of initiatives started by the private sector include the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Obesity Society. The former is a partnership of the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, engrossed in plummeting childhood obesity (Lopez, 2004). The latter is a non-profit union established in 1995 by Judith S. Stern and Richard L. Atkinson. Its objective is to research and educate on obesity as an ailment. It pursues to alter public dogma so as to decrease the obesity epidemic. This society is an amateur support group expressing the concern of the 80 million obese American children and adults stricken with the malady of obesity. Society receives most of its financing from the pharmaceutical industry (Lopez, 2004).

Analysis of the past and present obesity initiatives

According to Bhargava, Alok, and Guthrie (2002), present obesity initiatives receive more funding from both the private and public sectors compared to what was happening in the past. For example, the Healthy & Active Communities Initiative (H&AC), formed in 2005 to deal with health-related matters neighboring obesity, has since bestowed $20 million in more than ninety societies. This has been to assist them to make environmental changes such as advocating for policy alteration in workplaces and schools, building walking trails, and provide programs that embolden healthier standards of living choices (Lopez, 2004).

In the public sector, one recent obesity initiative in the States and Territories initiative. In 2009, under the American Recovery and Reinstatement Act, US territories and states were awarded over the US $ 119 million to support public health efforts to improve nutrition, increase physical activity and reduce obesity. These levels of funding are a clear indication of the private and public sectors’ increased funding to obesity initiatives compared to the past.

Insured and Uninsured

The percentage of American citizens with fractional or no health-care coverage continues to rise. It has been proposed that absence or inadequate health insurance could lead to inferior health outcomes for obese people.  A higher percentage of uninsured people are in the overweight/obese group compared to the healthy-weight group (Bhargava, Alok & Guthrie, 2002). This is steady with the customary observation that obesity is more widespread in the low socioeconomic set; a group that is more probable to have partial or no insurance. Surprisingly it has been discovered that uninsured persons accrue marginally lower charges than their insured upper-class counterparts in spite of the higher predominance of obesity and overweight in the uninsured set. Only the most indispensable diagnostic processes were embarked on in the uninsured (Puhl, Henderson & Brownell, 2005).

 Healthcare outcomes relative to obesity in the US and Europe

Obesity in the US is projected to cause a surplus of 111,909 to 365,000 deaths per annum, whereas one million (7.7%) of bereavements in Europe are credited to excess weight. On normal, obesity decreases lifespan by six to seven years: a BMI of 30–35 decreases lifespan by two to four years, whereas severe obesity (BMI > 40) decreases lifespan by 10 years (Puhl, Henderson & Brownell, 2005). In Sweden, the prevalence of obesity (BMI>=30) is currently 12.8% while it stands at 20.2%. People with greater BMI are at a higher risk of chronic illnesses compared to normal-weight individuals.