Obesity Epidemic In America

In recent years, weight has become a hot button topic in America. Whether you’re walking down the street or browsing the Internet, it seems like you are bombarded with workout plans, weight loss pills, new diet fads, or other health programs. This new trend doesn’t go without reason, however, as America is most definitely facing an obesity epidemic. Although experts are seeing a leveling off in the rise of obesity in America, the facts are still alarming: 35 percent of adults are obese and roughly 14 percent of children are obese with 32 percent of children at risk. To put this in perspective, in 1985 there were no states in America that had a population of obese people above 15 percent, let alone the entire nation (STATE OF OBESITY). Taking …show more content…
One of the biggest examples of related health issues is that of heart disease. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease kills about 610,000 people each year, which is roughly 1 in 4 deaths (CDC). Going by these statistics, heart disease is the biggest killer in America for all races and genders. Coronary heart disease, which is a plaque and cholesterol buildup in the arteries, has been linked to obesity and accounts for 370,000 deaths per year, the highest mortality rate among all types of heart disease. Further, one primary symptom of coronary heart disease is heart attacks, which happens to over 700,000 Americans each year. Thus, obesity is a major threat to American public health just by the fact that it is linked to a disease with the largest mortality rate in the country, and if there is nothing to bring obesity rates down, we will most definitely see an increase in these mortality rates as time goes …show more content…
As a result of epidemiology being a cornerstone in public health, they would be the baseline in figuring out where obesity is most concentrated and what environmental factors like schools, grocery stores, and transportation are near these areas. Public health educators would then be readily available to educate people and bring awareness to populations on a topic they may not know much about but are at risk for. Finally would be the policy makers, who can put things in place such as food programs at schools and nutrition requirements at grocery and convenient stores. With these professionals in place, communities would be able to have support and education to prevent and lessen obesity