Are Americans Getting Fatter - Assignment Example

Are Americans Getting Fatter? Are Americans Getting Fatter? Introduction One of the most challenging issues of the developed nations today is the declining levels of average health of their citizens. Departments of healthcare and medical services continuously engage in the awareness programs against many health disorders that can be eliminated by managing the lifestyle patterns of individuals. Despite all the tremendous efforts from various agencies to control most of the fitness issues and diseases, obesity remains the most alarming health problem in the United States. Comparative studies on the average personal health and lifestyle model of different nationals prove the argument that Americans are getting fat in the recent many years. The topic of fatness is of prime concern for the American government because of the heavy const incurred for treating the overweight patients every year, and obesity causes severe damage to the productive socio-economic sector of the American population. The Dreadful Reality of Obesity A clear overview of the recent few decades indicates a global economic growth in which several nations benefited their populations with financial fitness and abundance of new packaged edible things in the market. The urge for coping with the demands of the competitive outside world, household cooking and controlled dietary habits gradually declined among the people across America. The need for bettering the earnings and the scope for improved revenue by means of engaging long hours of work became a common truth among the population. The urge for adopting the consumerist trend mitigated the quality of personal healthcare among the American citizens and the resultant factor became the increasing cases of overweight issues. Although there are not many cases to prove that overweight directly causes mortality, the bio-chemical complications deriving from the metabolic dysfunction may cause severe damage to human health. King and Soneji (2011) observe that metabolic dysfunction caused by obesity can result in cellular stress and damage of cells and this phenomenon continues like a cycle. American population is walking towards an alarmingly dangerous problem of overweight and obesity with increased feasibility of education and earning available in the country as primary reasons for the imminent scenario. A recent report by Begley (2012) reveals the estimation that if the people are not willing to adopt healthy lifestyle patterns with serious concern, the rates of obesity will cross the forty percentage mark by 2030 from the already swollen proportion of about thirty-six percentage of adult population and nearly seventeen percentage of child population currently being obese. Beyond the identified impacts on economic activities and productivity sectors of the American public, obesity stands as huge financial challenge for the government. Rehabilitation of the patients and their treatment cost a heavy portion of the public fund every year. The trend of increasing weight among the citizens of all age groups makes an alarming indicator of actual health conditions of the Americans. Weight Control Information Network (2014) reports on estimated overweight and obesity case surveys reveal that more than two-thirds of adults belong to overweight or obese while a third of the adults are actually obese. And the identified cases of extreme obesity shows that men stand with around six percentage of the total contribution to the cause for concern while women mark a whopping eight percentage share in the issue. The observations can also suggest that Hispanic groups and African Americans are growing fattier at an overall average of seventy-seven percentage than all major ethnic groups in the country. In the list of obesity index, Asian Americans remains fittest by marking just nearly twelve percentage of their people being hit by the problem of fatness. Overweight and obesity cases among the children are also on a rapid rise in the United States. According to the reports of the US Department of Health and Human Services prepared by Bishop, Middendorf, Babin and Tilson (2005), the overweight and obesity cases spread among the children in the country variably among different ethnic and cultural groups, and the prevalence of obesity among children can increase the risk of issues like hypertension, cholesterol, orthopedic problems and type-2 diabetes as they grow up into adulthood. The careless approach toward personal health starting from the childhood develops through the adolescence and youth among most children. As a result, the problem of obesity is growing among the population of America without age constraints by making the image of the country as a hub of fat people. As the trend of childhood obesity is on a rapidly increasing pace, the situation is not showing any indication of essential control. Despite the various measures taken by the authorities to create awareness among the children, the general tendency of the adult to avoid dietary control habits and regular exercise practices show them a wrong model of lifestyle. Lifestyle changes matching the economic standards have forced the people to adopt consumerism and irregular dietary habits among the people of developed countries in the recent decades. This reality has spread out almost every part of the world and as a result, overweight and related health issues are rapidly growing globally. While focusing on the situations in America, the health issues related to obesity cases in America are proportionately higher than any other country. The health issues caused by excess weight has changed the social condition to a great extent in the country as the obese people remain a significant identity of a class representing economically, socially and physically weak individuals. Cassell (1995) say that the social truth about obesity is so alarming in America that fat people find it difficult to survive in there among the societies that give high value for thin members. The fearful impact of obesity is multi-dimensional. The escalating number of overweight related health issues cut down the quality of human resources and decline the standard health index of the people in the international level. Wealth of a nation is meaningful only if it has sustainable quality of human resources comprising a healthy population. For America, the abundance of riches among the majority of its citizens is presently becoming a burden on the government by means of medical care expenses incurred to treat the obese patients. Office of the Surgeon General (2001) studies show that it the issues related overweight is not negligible as the burden it imposes on the country is supplemented by serious socio-economic problems such as early deaths, increased public spending on healthcare costs, reduced output and various psychological problems of the patients. The problem of overweight is thus a national issue in which many stakeholders are present. The loss of productivity in the economic sector due to the fitness failures of employees of different companies will create market havoc in different product segments. At the same time, the increasing number of premature deaths results in reduced amount of human resource and suffered quality and declined potential in the educational and industrial sectors of the country. Causes at a Glance While the matter of uncontrolled body weight remains a serious health problem among the American public, a list of personal, socio-economic and cultural factors stand as primary reasons for the issue. The foremost focus of blame goes to lifestyle changes and related disorders prevailing among the American public in recent few decades. Medical perspectives suggest that obesity and physical inactivity are interconnected in most of the cases. The high amount of calorific consumption achieved through overeating works as a catalyst for increasing weight in individuals. If they deny the routine of physical exercise in any form, the risk of weight gain increases tremendously. Even though the body weight increase in people is proportionate to the amount of food they eat each day, there are other factors like age, genetics and some diseases and their medications that contribute to overweight. According to the observations of Harvard School of Public Health (n.d.), the reduction in physically involved activities work as a prime donor to the worldwide issue of obesity as an epidemic besides increasing the chances of serious diseases. Negligence of personal healthcare attention is increasing among the people of America basically due to the easiness they adopt in the everyday life. People are of the perception that doing a certain amount of particularly designed exercise will only benefit in burning the extra fat and they blame the lack of time for the continuance of its regularity. However, the regulation of energy in the body can be maintained by doing any physical activity irrespective of time and pattern of workout. According to Qin, Knol, Corpeleijn and Stolk (2010), “obesity and physical inactivity are both independent risk factors for type 2 diabetes” (p.1). Hence the fundamental requirement for personal healthcare is all about preventing excessive weight gain either by cutting down the amount of calorific intake or by burning the maximum possible energy by way of doing anything to eliminate physical inactivity. Overweight and obesity issues occur from biological and medical reasons also. As reported in Health Central (n.d.), biologists are of the opinion that the anatomic specifications of people decide their appetite and eating habits as they identify that the hormone named leptin released by fat cells regulates the brain’s command for regulating insulin and urging for food. Apart from this, genetic history of a person can play a vital role in the metabolic structure of his body. In that case, a slow metabolism rate can result in increase fat in the body. Another major reason for obesity may derive from medical problems such as hypothyroidism, injuries to hypothalamus gland, polycystic ovarian syndrome and some other rare diseases. Besides these, a number of medication practices involving the use of antidepressants, steroids and hormones can also increase body weight. Even though the causes are many, the widely accepted solution to prevent the issue of overweight is a combination of controlled diet and regular exercise. Obesity beyond Personal Physical Defect Apart from the physical defects obesity brings to an individual, it also forces a confinement on life of obese people from participating in social events. The reduction in resourcefulness and enthusiasm to engage in various activities due to the excessive body weight discourages obese people from initiating things like entertainment, travel and many other recreational activities. This builds a socially distant cage for them and they gradually settle in the stigmatized psychological world of inactive life. Thus the personal limitations to interact and actively participate in social events generate depression and other psychological problems in individuals with excess body weight. The impact overweight and obesity is not just physiological for the individual suffering from this problem, but it has psychological implications on others also. According to Kottke, Wu and Hoffman (2010), “The individuals who develop the chronic diseases and disabilities associated with obesity will experience anxiety and depression, but the negative psychological consequences will extend beyond these people.” When a person becomes abnormally fat his expected levels of physical involvement in income generating activity declines. The reduction in revenue for comfortable social life forces him to depend on others for obtaining money or material benefits. This situation grows as a problem beyond an individual’s personal areas and affects others psychologically. This problem prevails among people of all ages. While the adults experience shame and discouragement generally at workplace and socializing areas, children face peer problems in finding places among playing groups or teams meant for collective schooling activities. In general, obesity builds a wall to separate individuals in the society. According to Hurlock (1988), ‘either obesity or overeating may be regarded as a danger signal of personality sickness” because the children and many adults treat overeating as a significant method to overcome the stress they receive from the social negligence and inferiority complex concerns (p.412). .Conclusion Increasing tendency of unhealthy dietary habits combined with neglect of essential physical exercises has been destroying the public health of American population in the recent few decades. From the observation of statistics and trends generate the awareness that the Americans are getting fatter than other demographic units in the world. Lifestyle changes and improved means of earning stand like the major reasons for the skyrocketing fashion of consumerism and overeating among the young and adult of the country. Although the excessive weight gain is a personal issue at the micro level focus, the shocking figures and proportions of obese cases raise an alarm of a disaster at the national level with regards to quality of human resources and other socio-economic factors. Considering the fact that excessive calorific consumption is the principal reason for obesity, the action plan to curtail this problem should begin at individual level. References Begley, S. (Sep 18, 2012). Fat and getting fatter: U.S. obesity rates to soar by 2030. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/18/us-obesity-us-idUSBRE88H0RA20120918 Bishop, J., Middendorf, R., Babin, T & Tilson, W. (2005). Childhood Obesity. US Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/child_obesity/index.cfm Cassell, J. A. (1995). Social anthropology and nutrition: A different look at obesity in America. American Dietetic Association. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 95(4), 424. Hurlock, E. B. (1988). Personality Development. US: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Harvard School of Public Health. Obesity Prevention Source. Retrieved from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-causes/physical-activity-and-obesity/ Health Central. Causes of Obesity - Biological and Medical Causes. Retrieved from http://www.healthcentral.com/obesity/complications-000053_2-145.html Kottke, T. E., Wu, L. A., & Hoffman, R. S. (2003). Economic and psychological implications of the obesity epidemic. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 78(1), 92-4. King, G., & Soneji, S. (2011). The future of death in America. Demographic Research, 25, 1-38. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/913582660?accountid=1611 Office of the Surgeon General (US); Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US); National Institutes of Health (US). The Surgeon Generals Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. Rockville (MD): Office of the Surgeon General (US); 2001. Section 1: Overweight and Obesity as Public Health Problems in America. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44210/ Qin, L., Knol, M. J., Corpeleijn, E., & Stolk, R. P. (2010). Does physical activity modify the risk of obesity for type 2 diabetes: A review of epidemiological data. European Journal of Epidemiology, 25(1), 5-12. Weight Control Information Network. (n.d.). Overweight and Obesity Statistics. Retrieved from http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/ Read More