Obesity among adults is a rampant problem worldwide. Being obese means a person has an excessive accumulation of body fat. It can be very dangerous and even life threatening to some. It’s not just being fat. Obesity is a major contributor to preventable, fatal diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and more. All of these diseases could have more than likely been prevented if said person took better care of himself or herself. People are consuming too much processed, sugary, fatty foods and its causing a major problem worldwide. This obesity rise among adults is due to their unhealthy diets and over consumption of processed food.
Doctors define obesity based off a person’s body mass index. Body mass index, also known as BMI, is a weight-to-height ratio. It is a formula that divides a person’s weight by their height to calculate obesity. If an adult’s body mass index is equal to or greater than thirty percent, that person is considered obese. A BMI of twenty-five to thirty percent is considered overweight and a healthy body mass index is 18.5 to 25 percent.
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Metabolism is an internal process that happens within the body. It converts the calories and carbohydrates a person eats and drinks and turns it into energy. If a person is consuming more food than their body can burn off in that day, it causes an energy imbalance. Prolonged energy imbalances will lead to weight gain and potentially obesity. It is important to keep a proper energy balance within the body to avoid becoming obese. “Many Americans eat far more than the recommended number of calories and get little or no exercise. This creates an energy imbalance that leads to weight gain.” (Murphy). Eating too much with too little physical activity is causing obesity. Implementing a proper diet will help keep a person’s metabolic energy balanced.
This continuous rise of obesity is happening because people are indulging in unhealthy foods. There is too much sugar in the diet of most adults. According to the book Adult Obesity : Obesity Rises among Adults, one out of ten adults drink at least one sugary drink per day. Some people do not have easy access to places that provide healthy and affordable food. Most food that is being advertised to the public is high in fat and sugar, which is also a contributing factor to the weight gain among adults. It is catching the eye of the community and enticing them to buy and consume it. That would fall under the societal changes that are attributing to the rise in obesity. The convenience and low cost of fast food contribute to the obesity rates as well. Eating less processed foods should be a main goal for adults; making more meals at home instead of giving into the convenience of fast food. If adults could implement a proper and healthy diet, obesity rates would fall.
In order for a person to overcome obesity, they will need to make lifestyle changes. The most important change that person will need to make is what and how much they are eating. If someone only diets for a little while solely to lose weight, they will eventually gain all of their weight back, and possibly more, if they do not stick to a healthy way of eating. Once someone is an adult, his or her body weight only fluctuates a little. It is known as the set point, which your body maintains naturally making weight loss a bit more difficult than it would be for an adolescent. “Resetting the set point requires maintaining real changes to eating habits over several months” (Murphy). In the beginning of a diet, weight seems to come off generally easy, but your body realizes that it is famished and starts to slow down its metabolism and stop shedding pounds so easily. That is why it is important for one to change their eating habits permanently, rather than dieting to only lose weight.
Your body needs food for energy. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and calories provide all the energy that your body needs for the day. Foods such as candy, potato chips, sodas, essentially all junk food make a negative impact on someone’s body over a long period of time. Junk food provides no nutritional value to the body and are basically empty calories. People need to consume things that have caloric benefit, such as fruits, vegetables, and protein. Those junk foods also contain unnecessary chemicals that are added to be aesthetically pleasing and are not good for someone to ingest. To live a healthier life style, a person needs to consume things that have nutritional value. Breaking bad eating habits can be a hard thing to do, but it is essential for adults to do to lose weight or to avoid becoming obese.
Nutrition is important. It has a major impact on a person’s overall health. “If we can make one choice to improve our health, many experts say, it is being more aware and careful about what the choose to put – and not put- into our bodies.” (Karwath). Exercising is important, but what a person eats and consumes is what matters the most. It is much harder to burn the calories put into the body than it is to just eat them. Therefore, gaining weight is much easier to do than losing weight. Teaching yourself to eat better simply starts with being aware. If a person is just mindful of everything they eat and drink it will help them live a healthier lifestyle and lead to weight loss. Once someone gets used to eating healthy, it just comes natural and takes less thought and effort to grab an apple instead of a candy bar or a bag of chips.
The obesity rates in adults are rising due to their poor diet and nutrition. Eating healthy starts with a choice. Adults need to choose to be healthy and make better choices when deciding what to eat and drink. Whether it be a snack or a whole meal, said person needs to consume something that has a positive impact on their health instead of empty calories. A person simply being mindful of what they eat and consume would drastically affect the obesity rates. Obesity rates would fall at a substantial rate if people implemented a proper diet.
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