The Issue with Obesity in America

Obesity can be defined as, “a chronic, relapsing, multifactorial, neurobehavioral disease, wherein an increase in body fat promotes adipose tissue dysfunction and abnormal fat mass physical forces, resulting in adverse metabolic, biomechanical, and psychosocial health consequences” (Welcome, 2019, p. 1). The topic of obesity is a long standing one in the United States of America, and it has countless questions to discuss such as the following:

When people look or hear about obesity, they just assume that an obese person eats a lot of unhealthy food or that they do not exercise enough. While those are some of the contributing factors to someone becoming obese, there are many more components that play a part in how an individual comes to be obese. In an article, Kopelman says that, “obesity is not a single disorder but a heterogeneous group of conditions with multiple causes,” (2000, p. 3). One factor that influences obesity is genetics. “As of 2006, more than 41 sites on the human genome had been linked to the development of obesity when a favorable environment is present,” (Lifschitz, 2015, p. 2). Obesity is the result of an interaction among genetic and environmental factors (Lifschitz, 2015, p. 2). Generally, someone suffering from obesity may have one or two family members with the disease.

Another factor that influences obesity is race and ethnicity. In 2004, the widespread presence of childhood obesity was twenty percent in non-hispanic black, nineteen percent in Mexican Americans, and sixteen percent in non-Hispanic whites, additionally, the commonness was highest in Mexican American boys (22%) and African American girls (24%), (Lifschitz, 2015, p. 2). Lastly, protein intake during the first 2 years of life has significant effects on growth, development, and long-term health of an individual. Lifschitz says that, “there is mounting evidence that a high protein intake in early life may have negative long-term effects on health,” (2015, p. 3). This shows that the very first years of someone's life can be crucial in determining what happens as time goes on.

What Health Problems Come With Obesity?

Obesity alone can be a very dangerous disease; however, it can also bring many health complications and risks with it. One health problem that can be caused due to obesity is sleep-breathing abnormalities. An increased amount of fat in the chest wall and stomach area has an expected effect on the mechanical properties of the chest and the diaphragm and leads to a change of respiratory outings during inhalation and exhalation, decreasing lung volume and altering the passage of air to each region (Kopelman, 2000, p. 8). When lying flat, it is more difficult for an obese person to breathe due to the blocked airways, rather than someone that is not obese and has clear airways.

Another medical issue that is associated with obesity is hypertension, or high blood pressure. Individuals that are obese have an increase in in fatty tissue, and this causes the heart to have to work harder than it already has to in order to pump blood throughout the body Kopelman, 2000, p. 8). In addition to sleep-breathing abnormalities and hypertension, an obese individual has the possibilty of suffering from chronic kidney disease. The excess weight of someone that is obese forces the kidneys to work very hard and filter wastes quicker than usual. Additionally, kidney disease can be caused by high blood pressure. Therefore, obesity can become a slippery slope of health problems for the individual. Some other health problems that are related to being obese are diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea, certain forms of cancer, and pregnancy problems (Kopelman, 2000, p. 1). Furthermore, people can potentially suffer mentally and emotionally from being obese.

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What is the Connection Between Obesity and Depression?

Obesity and depression are two crucial diseases that can be related with one another. Both of these diseases share similar health problems, such as hypertension and coronary heart disease. People that are obese have a higher risk of suffering from depression. They say that the psychological disturbances that are caused by obesity is what can lead to an obese individual being depressed (Dragon, 2007, p. 2). Additionally, it is said that depressed children have an increased risk of developing obesity later in their lives (Dragon, 2007, p. 2). People that endure both obesity and depression may confront particular risks to their health and well-being. Moreover, not only does the presence of the two conditions increase chance for loss of function, but these conditions may also perpetuate each other (Markowitz, 2008, p. 1). Obesity can increase the risk for depression, and depression may contribute to an individual becoming obese.

Another connection between obesity and depression is body image dissatisfaction. Which can be defined as the negative perceptions and feelings a person has about their body and is influenced by factors such as body shape and appearance, attitudes towards weight gain, and cultural norms in relation to an ideal body (McGuinness, 2016, p. 4). Individuals that are obese are very likely to be dissatisfied with their body weight, shape, and size. Therefore becoming more likely to suffer from depression.

Obesity as a Mental Problem?

Obesity does not just affect a person physically, it can also take a big toll on someone’s mental and emotional stability. There are many mental illnesses that can be associated with obesity. One of those illnesses is body dysmorphic disorder, which is when an individual cannot stop thinking about one or more perceived imperfections or flaws in their appearance (Body, 2019, p. 1). These individuals feel extremely embarrassed about their body and appearance. This may cause people suffering from obesity, and body dysmorphic disorder to avoid many social interactions with others, and this can deeply impact the daily life of an individual. While obesity may not be a mental disorder in itself, it can onset a variety of mental health problems that greatly affect people’s lives.

How Prevalent is Childhood Obesity?

Childhood obesity is a crucial health problem in the United States, and an issue that has been going on for a very long time. In children, obesity is evaluated differently. A child’s composition varies as they get older, so it is measured as an age and sex specific percentile for body mass index, or BMI (Gonzalez-Campoy, 2016, p. 2). In 2011 through 2014 the prevalence of obesity in U.S. children was seventeen percent. Additionally, a new study based on life-course growth trajectories, predicts that the majority of two-year-olds today will suffer from obesity by the age of thirty-five, and there is a rapid increase in rates (Ludwig, 2018, p. 1). Childhood obesity is very prevalent in today’s America, and something needs to be done in order to prevent these statistics from taking place. The new reports on present and anticipated obesity rates request definitive action including a national strategy over every single important fragment of society to prevent an approaching public health disaster (Ludwig, 2018, p. 2). Childhood obesity is rising at a rapid rate, and putting children's lives in danger. This can incalculably affect personal satisfaction in the children, as well as the family.

What are the Financial Costs of Obesity?

Obesity has taken a considerable toll on health care costs in the United States of America. According to Gonzzalez-Campoy, there has been an estimated between $147 billion and $210 billion in direct and indirect health care costs as of 2010 (2016, p. 1). Medical costs of those that are obese tend to be significantly higher than those that are of noormal weight. If the incidence of obesity continues to climb at the rate it is, joined health care cost related to treating obesity-related diseases could rise by forty-eight million dollars to sixty-six billion dollars per year by 2030 (Gonzalez-Campoy, 2016, p. 3). Financial costs are also coming from children that are obese. Lifetime medical costs for a ten-year-old that is obese are shocking. They are about nineteen thousand dollars more than a child that is considered to be of normal weight, and when multiplied by the number of ten-year-olds dealing with obesity in America, these health care expenses are roughly fourteen billion dollars (Gonzalez-Campoy, 2016, p. 2). The costs of obesity can have a considerable effect on families that are living in the U.S..

References

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4. Kopelman, P. G. (2015). Obesity as a medical problem. Nature 404, 635–643 (2000) doi:10.1038/35007508
5. Lifschitz C. (2015). Early Life Factors Influencing the Risk of Obesity. Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition, 18(4), 217–223. doi:10.5223/pghn.2015.18.4.217
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8. McGuinness, S., & Taylor, J. E. (2016). Understanding Body Image Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating in Midlife Adults. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 45(1).
9. Welcome, A. (2017). Definition of Obesity. Retrieved from https://obesitymedicine.org/definition-of-obesity/