The truth about Obesity

   

         With an increasing forty-five percent of all American adults classified as minorly, to morbidly obese it is without question it poses serious problems to our future society and its way of life. The fight on obesity has been an ongoing, and increasing battle with driving factors like the fast-food chains, junk food prices, substandard Food, and drug regulations, and more. Our rate of obesity among young adults, and people ages 30 through 65 are reaching rates of about 40, to 50 percent obese, and that itself is a very alarming rate amongst adults, in fact, the rates themselves have increased from 30 to 40 percent from 1999 to now. Alongside the increasing rates there lies a deeper issue, a failure to recognize the problem with new social movement groups, and body positivity movements arising, new groups like the health at every size they are beginning to send very misdirecting, and harmful ideas to those who seek acceptance. We as a society must re-establish health guidelines and nutritional help for those who suffer from being overweight and educate them on the ways to live a healthy and controlled lifestyle.

 

Each year around the globe around 2.8 million people die from obesity, 300,000 of those belonging to the US, contrary to popular belief the United States isn’t even in the top five countries that are most obese, countries like Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Tokelau, cook islands, and Nara. They have all reached levels of obesity of forty-three percent or higher amongst all of their adults' other countries like a trend seems to begin to join them. However, this is a deadly trend that could seriously impact those we care about and the way we live. To further understand the rates it is important to know what obesity truly is, according to the Cdc’s website obesity is a serious health issue that can be caused by a variety of factors such as behavior, and genetics, behavioral causes can include a lack of mobility, poor nutritional intake, eating in caloric surpluses, and of course the much more complicated genetic inheritance of obesity. The effects of these choices are extremely dangerous but straightforward, obesity compromises many aspects of the human body, such as immune system efficiency, good quality of life, cardiovascular issues, and many more that can affect your mental health as well.

 

Understanding the disease is a small part of the equation, associating with the correct groups, and taking professional advice is another factor that currently drives the problem. A lot of people who suffer from obesity find a hard time socializing, and feeling accepted. Which is why many people have begun to create the Health At Every Size organization, and Fat acceptance groups, while these groups do promote good ideas like body positivity, and internal happiness many of these groups are beginning to reshape the definition of being healthy. In the article “Call for an urgent rethink of the ‘health at every size’ concept”, Amanda Sainsbury & Phillipa Hay. The author is quick to point out some of the dangerous ideas that these groups have begun to implement, such as the appraisal of high body mass indexes’, rejection of common medical knowledge, and stating that obese bodies are beautiful, and healthy bodies. While it is important to emotionally support people who endure these hardships, misleading them, and misguiding them is not the correct way to ensure their health, and happiness, and often normalizing these self-destructive behaviors will only cut their time shorter, and increase medical problems.

 

 

 

  Aside from staying away from the wrong groups, there are countless ways to combat obesity,  according to the members of the US Department of health, and human services, there are a variety of limited diets that can better your health, and overall reduce your size specifically the article refers to a healthy diet, as one that maintains an equal energy input to its equal energy output, or in layman’s terms equal exercise to the food you consume, for instance, if one eats at a caloric deficit( more energy out, than in) they are bound to lose weight since you are burning off more calories than you consume, and the same goes vice versa. Other factors like sleep, keeping a food diary, calorie tracking, taking part in simple methods one can do when taking action in their diet, such as constantly hydrating, or dreaming about certain foods, which experts say that it takes away from the mental crave to daydream on some of these foods. By taking part in these steps you actively engage with a better, and healthier lifestyle, which in turn can reduce your obesity, prolong your life, and drastically reduce the hundreds of potentially fatal side effects that are mainly caused by obesity.

The US like many other countries is about to reach a staggering 50 percent obesity rate amongst adults. With many people remaining misinformed about the fatal side effects of obesity. Which include various types of heart disease, and significant joint damage alongside immobility. With new social movement groups, and body positivity movements arising,  groups like health at every size are beginning to send very misdirecting, and harmful ideas to those who seek acceptance from being severely overweight. We as a society must re-establish health guidelines, to lower the increasing rates of obesity, offer nutritional help for those who suffer from being obese, like explaining to them they significant causes of obesity, introducing them to specific diets, and exercises that can engage them in eating in a caloric deficit, help them achieve control over the foods they eat by keeping a dietary journal, being constantly hydrated, and offer psychological tips like daydreaming about food which in turn can help reduce hunger, and a temptation to eat certain high-calorie foods. By implementing these helpful techniques into standardized diets alongside instructing those who suffer from obesity we greatly impact their lifespan and help them on the way to live a healthy and controlled lifestyle.

Citations 

Rura, Nicole. “Close to Half of U.S. Population Projected to Have Obesity by 2030.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 23 Jan. 2020, news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/12/close-to-half-of-u-s-population-projected-to-have-obesity-by-2030/. 

“Obesity in America: A Growing Concern.” EndocrineWeb, www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/obesity/obesity-america-growing-concern. 

“Adult Obesity Causes & Consequences.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Sept. 2020, www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes.html. 

DL. Smith, TR. Nagy, et al. “Call for an Urgent Rethink of the 'Health at Every Size' Concept.” Journal of Eating Disorders, BioMed Central, 1 Jan. 1970, jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2050-2974-2-8. 

“Maintain a Healthy Weight.” National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/index.htm. 

Feintuch, Stacey. “Easy Ways to Lower Your Body Mass Index.” HealthyWomen, HealthyWomen, 12 July 2020, www.healthywomen.org/content/article/easy-ways-lower-your-body-mass-index. 

“Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.” Obesity Program, www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-program/. 

“Obesity.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 15 Feb. 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/symptoms-causes/syc-20375742.