Obesity Cause and Effect - Research Paper Example

Obesity cause and effect Obesity is a prevalent condition in Western nations and is especially prevalent in America. An obese person can be characterized, commonly, as what most would identify as considerably overweight. They have more body fat than is considered healthy for a person of their particular height. Generally speaking, a person who tips the scale at 40 to 100 pounds over their advised weight can be considered obese while those who weigh100 or more pounds over their recommended weight are classified as morbidly obese. The condition causes more negative effects than just public embarrassment, which itself is very harmful to a person, usually producing serious psychological harms that lasts a lifetime. The physical disadvantages of being obese are even more severe. The condition significantly lowers life expectancy and is linked to at least 300,000 deaths of in the U.S. alone each year. It also diminishes the quality of life. Obese persons suffer many more types of physical problem than others including bones and joints and the back region. They also are more lethargic than persons who are not obese. Approaching pandemic proportions, obesity is the source of many varied and hazardous health consequences thus understanding the factors that cause the condition and understanding the most feasible treatment options offered are of paramount importance in the fight against this crippling condition. Genetics significantly influences the chances of a person becoming obese. Those who are genetically predisposed to being obese have more difficulty losing weight and sustaining a healthy body mass. Inactivity, overeating and eating foods high in fat content, in addition to socioeconomic and metabolic circumstances, endocrine ailments, diseases, and certain medications can also contribute appreciably to obesity. Some people are just born to be big. Studies have confirmed that about half of overweight kids have parents who are or were overweight. Heredity also plays a role as to where a person carries their excess weight on their body, whether on the hips or belly. A person’s metabolism is a term that describes to how efficiently a persons body uses energy. Hormonal balances and metabolic levels vary widely among individuals. Both factor considerably in controlling weight. “Recent studies show that levels of ghrelin, a peptide hormone known to regulate appetite, and other peptides in the stomach, play a role in triggering hunger and producing a feeling of fullness” (“Overview of Obesity”, 2009). Studies have also demonstrated that a correlation is present between obesity rates and substandard economic circumstances, principally in the case of women. Poor women are six times more likely to become obese than women who are living in a middle or upper-class income setting. Minority women also suffer a higher obesity rate. More than 75 percent of black women more than 20 years old are considered overweight. Lifestyle choices such as a being a ‘couch potato’ or over-indulging the ‘cookie jar’ on a regular basis, not unpredictably, are major factors of weight gain. “Eating a diet in which a high percentage of calories come from sugary, high-fat, refined foods promotes weight gain” (“Overview of Obesity”, 2009). Lack of exercise and eating fast foods are the two main controllable factors contributing to obesity of adults. For children, the main reason outside heredity is inactivity. Excessive amounts of time spent playing video games, on the computer and watching television leads to high rates of obesity. “Over nine million children between the ages of six and 19 are overweight” (“Overview of Obesity”, 2009). Television commercial designed for young children takes advantage of their innocence, a practice that, in any other context is “generally illegal and unquestionably immoral” (Kunkel et al, 2004). Television advertisements promoting foods usually misrepresent their products to suggestible children and adults as well, concerning the product’s nutritional content, or lack of. “Health experts believe that constant promotion of high-calorie food is contributing to the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States by encouraging preferences for junk food and contributing to poor eating habits” (Byrd-Bredbenner & Grasso, 2000). Unsurprisingly, a strong connection is present between obesity and the quantity of time children, and adults, spend watching television. The prevalent problem known commonly as ‘couch-potato’ syndrome is caused by eating high calorie and fat content snack foods while watching television. As kids watch their favorite shows, they are tempted by yet additional kinds of ‘junk food.’ They then loudly and quickly tell their parents about the great new product that is a ‘must have.’ The parents then, more often than not, will buy the product. It’s an endless cycle enabling what has become an epidemic of obese children. Instead of playing outside the home and using calories, children are happy to sit, snack and consume calories. The ‘couch potato’ cycle is can be stopped however. Studies have shown what is must be common sense to everyone; obese children stop gaining and lose weight as long as their time spent in front of the television is limited. (Miller, 1999). Childhood obesity is responsible more problematic issues than the physical issues that might be predicted. Being overweight can affect a child’s relationships with peers, self-confidence, self-esteem and the acceptance of self. Ultimately it negatively affects their academic careers. A typical cycle envisions the child progressively gaining additional weight as a result of the emotional abuse that is bound to happen when other kids make fun of them or as they realize they cannot keep pace with other kids on the sports field. They start to see themselves as somehow less of a person than average weight children in many ways. Many adults and society as a whole reinforces this belief with the notion that overweight children are not as intelligent as and lazier than other kids. Knowing that others perceive them in this way, overweight children retreat to the security of food as comfort while still rejecting potentially embarrassing physical activities which exacerbates their weight problem (Rimm, 2004). Obesity has been associated with more than 30 harmful health conditions. Arthritis of the hands, hips, knees and back is common complaints obese persons. Obese women and men are twice as likely to contract breast cancer as compared to those of similar gender that keep a reasonably steady and healthy weight as an adult. The obese also have a greater risk of developing other types of cancers such as esophageal, colorectal, endometrial and gastric. The risk of heart disease is higher because obesity has a direct connection with high cholesterol levels which restrict blood flow to the heart. Additionally, the veins of obese persons are smaller which slows oxygen flow to body tissues and causes sleepiness, general fatigue and breathing problems. Obesity increases the risk of hypertension and stroke by a considerable amount. Of the people who have hypertension more than 75 percent are obese. “Up to 90 percent of people with diabetes (type two) are either overweight or obese, a startling statistic. Next to alcohol abuse, obesity is the leading cause of liver disease (acute hepatitis and cirrhosis), gallbladder disease and pancreatitis. The obese are three times more likely to develop gall stones and are more susceptible to infection and pneumonia” (“Health Effects”, 2002). These and several other problems including difficulties with pregnancy and childbirth are associated with obesity as well. Obesity is the forerunner of many substantial health issues which costs everyone billions of dollars in unnecessary health care expenses per year but, more importantly, obesity costs individuals their lives at a much earlier age than normal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2009, obesity cost taxpayers about $149 billion. Approximately half of this amount is costs related to health care services. The other half are indirect expenditures such as production time lost due to worked missed by illness associated with obesity. The growing American waist line is causing the percentage of health care dollars spent on obesity to grow substantially as well. “The CDC study found that Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers increased spending due to obesity from 6.5 percent in 1998 to 9.1 percent in 2006.” (Holden, 2009). The economic outlay to the general public is high but is little compared to the human cost which is of incalculable proportions. According to a Veterans Administration study, a morbidly obese person, 25 to 34 years old is twelve times more likely to die than a person of normal weight during this very young part of their life. (Drenick, 1980: 444). The common consensus is leaning progressively toward surgery as the most favored option for obesity both by medical professionals and obese persons themselves. “Surgical treatment is more effective than non-surgical treatment for weight loss” (Shekelle et al, 2004). Exercise, dieting and medications alone have proven successful in yielding long-term weight loss results for less than 10 percent of persons who are considered morbidly obese. “Surgery is the only proven method to allow the severely and morbidly obese person to reach normal weight and maintain it” (“Health Effects”, 2002). A 2000 study showed that gastric bypass surgery not only reduced patient’s weight but instances of hypertension and diabetes as well within the study group. (Sjostrom, 1999). Though gastric bypass surgery is more commonly performed surgery, the less invasive and less expensive Lap-Band method is growing in popularity. A lesser invasive type of surgery is being developed and is performed by way of the mouth (“Health Effects”, 2002). If an individual’s parents are obese and they live in socio-economically disadvantaged conditions, they are more than likely to be, at the very least, overweight which costs everyone greatly, especially themselves. There is no obesity panacea however. Diet and exercise regiments, surgery, behavior modification and medication have all had their successes and failures to varying degrees. The best, least invasive method of losing weight is to eat proper portions of low-calorie, low fat foods and exercise on a regular basis, a very simple formula it would appear. Yet, losing weight and fighting obesity is hardly a simple task especially for those in ‘at-risk’ groups. Why are poor women more prone to obesity? Impoverished living circumstances unsurprisingly lead to stress, an emotional reaction which, in turn, leads to an outlet of some type for this emotion. The comfort of food is a common solution for releasing stored up emotions, an outlet. Food is legal, comparatively inexpensive and readily obtainable and is naturally intertwined with human emotions. When we are bored, stressed or sad, the tendency oftentimes is to eat. Food is also a common if not universal part of festive activities. To stop this emotional connection with food involves expensive, extensive behavioral therapy. If this method does not prove successful, surgery could be the best option because obese persons do not have inclination or stamina or to exercise and the use of medications remains are cautioned by the health care community. It is commonly believed that people who are obese brought it on themselves by making poor choices but for the majority, the choices they make are entrenched, at least to some extent, within their biological composition. The cause of obesity was revealed by scientific methods and apparently, the cure will be discovered by scientific method as well. Works Cited Byrd-Bredbenner C & Grasso D. (2000). “Commercials During 1992 and 1998.” Journal of School Health. Vol. 70, pp. 61-65. Drenick, E.J., et al. (1980). “Excessive Mortality and Causes of Death in Morbidly Obese Men.” Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol. 243, pp. 443-445. “Health Effects of Obesity.” (2002). AOA Fact Sheets. American Obesity Association. Retrieved December 8, 2010 from < http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/nutrition-diet-weight-loss/weight-loss-back-pain-relief> Holden, Diana (February 9, 2010). “Fact Check: The cost of obesity” CNN Health Retrieved December 8, 2010 from Kunkel, Dale; Wilcox, Brian; Cantor, Joanne; Palmer, Edward; Linn, Susan; & Dowrick, Peter. (February 20, 2004). “Report of the APA Task Force on Advertising and Children Section: Psychological Issues in the Increasing Commercialization of Childhood.” American Psychological Association. Retrieved December 8, 2010 from < http://www.chawisconsin.org/Obesity/O2ChildAds.pdf > Miller, Daphne. (August 20, 1999). “Television’s Effects on Kids: It Can Be Harmful!” CNN. Retrieved December 8, 2010 from “Overview of Obesity.” (September 15, 2007). Brigham and Women’s Hospital Retrieved December 8, 2010 from Rimm, Sylvia. (2004). “Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children.” New York: St Martin’s Press Shekelle, P.G.; Morton, S.C.; Maglione, M., et al. (July 2004). “Pharmacological and Surgical Treatment of Obesity. Summary, Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 103.” AHRQ Publication Number 04-E028-1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. Sjostrom, C.D., et al. (1999). “Reduction in incidence of diabetes, hypertension and lipid disturbances after intentional weight loss induced by bariatric surgery: the SOS Intervention Study.” Obesity Research. Vol. 7, N. 5, pp. 477-484. Read More