Obesity—Life or Death
Despite the countless attempts to stop obesity, it continues to be a growing problem in the United States. Michelle Obama has pushed a major effort to reduce obesity in America but instead of decreasing, it continues to increase. With obesity being such an issue for most Americans, the question is; does it have as much impact on the bodies of adolescents as it does adults and can it really lead to death? “Obesity is a serious, chronic disease that can have a negative effect on many systems in your body” (“What is Obesity?”). Being classified as obese simply means that a person has too much excess body fat. Obesity can be a serious health problem and can cause many complications in the human body. Body mass index (BMI), a weight to height ratio, can determine if a person is obese. Someone is considered obese when their body mass index is thirty or higher. Obesity affects more than one-third of the adult population in America. The number of Americans who suffer with obesity has continued to increase since nineteen sixty. Several things can cause obesity including environmental factors, genetics, and eating styles. …show more content…
The fast pace lifestyles of Americans can have a big affect on being obese. A person’s emotional state and stress level can cause overeating, which can cause obesity. Having a background of obesity in the family tree can be a factor. Eating fast food restaurants numerous times, like McDonald’s, can also cause obesity. In the Super Size Me film, Morgan Spurlock conducted an experiment to see how eating fast food several times a day can effect the human body. After eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner from McDonald’s for thirty days his body changed tremendously. He gained weight, his Jones 2 cholesterol shot up, his body fat increased by his mood changed, he had massive cravings and headaches, and his risk of coronary heart disease nearly doubled. He concluded in this experiment, that if people eat fast food numerous times throughout the week it will cause complications in the body, which can cause the person to die. Adult obesity is continuing to rise more and more every year. “About thirty eight percent of American adults were obese in 2013 and 2014, up from thirty five percent in 2011 and 2012” (Tavernise). The rise has not been a statistically significant amount, but it continues to rise. In a map of the United States that shows the percentages of adult obesity per state, the lowest percentage range shown is twenty to twenty-five percent; only six states were in this percentage range. In the Super Size Me film, Morgan Spurlock gained weight (twenty-four and a half pounds), his cholesterol shot up, his body fat increased by eleven to fifteen percent, his mood changed, he had massive cravings and headaches, and his risk of coronary heart disease nearly doubled by eating McDonald’s for a thirty day period. According to his doctors, he was wiping out his liver with a high fat diet. Spurlock learned that “a drug effect from the food within the brain” causes adults to become addicted to the food (Spurlock). Obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Recent research has shown that cognitive control, which includes decision making, planning, organization, memory, time management, maintaining emotional and self-control and curbing inappropriate behavior, in children/adolescents can control when and/or how much they eat. Researchers at the Agricultural Research Service’s Western Human Nutrition Research Center (WHNRC) have, for the first time, found a relationship Jones 3 between snacking and an emotional state in 3 to 6 year olds. Also, “past research has shown a link between unhealthy behaviors, obesity, and decreased mental skills coordinated in the brain’s frontal lobe in older children and adults” (Avant). Michelle Obama has been pushing an effort to end obesity and she has been successful in the past few years. In 2013 and 2014, obesity was unchanged among young people from the previous period. In 2003 and 2004, 2 to 19 year old Americans were obese which is the same that is was in 2013 and 2014. Symptoms from obesity involve the inside of the body as well as the outside of the body. Adolescent and adult
Despite the countless attempts to stop obesity, it continues to be a growing problem in the United States. Michelle Obama has pushed a major effort to reduce obesity in America but instead of decreasing, it continues to increase. With obesity being such an issue for most Americans, the question is; does it have as much impact on the bodies of adolescents as it does adults and can it really lead to death? “Obesity is a serious, chronic disease that can have a negative effect on many systems in your body” (“What is Obesity?”). Being classified as obese simply means that a person has too much excess body fat. Obesity can be a serious health problem and can cause many complications in the human body. Body mass index (BMI), a weight to height ratio, can determine if a person is obese. Someone is considered obese when their body mass index is thirty or higher. Obesity affects more than one-third of the adult population in America. The number of Americans who suffer with obesity has continued to increase since nineteen sixty. Several things can cause obesity including environmental factors, genetics, and eating styles. …show more content…
The fast pace lifestyles of Americans can have a big affect on being obese. A person’s emotional state and stress level can cause overeating, which can cause obesity. Having a background of obesity in the family tree can be a factor. Eating fast food restaurants numerous times, like McDonald’s, can also cause obesity. In the Super Size Me film, Morgan Spurlock conducted an experiment to see how eating fast food several times a day can effect the human body. After eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner from McDonald’s for thirty days his body changed tremendously. He gained weight, his Jones 2 cholesterol shot up, his body fat increased by his mood changed, he had massive cravings and headaches, and his risk of coronary heart disease nearly doubled. He concluded in this experiment, that if people eat fast food numerous times throughout the week it will cause complications in the body, which can cause the person to die. Adult obesity is continuing to rise more and more every year. “About thirty eight percent of American adults were obese in 2013 and 2014, up from thirty five percent in 2011 and 2012” (Tavernise). The rise has not been a statistically significant amount, but it continues to rise. In a map of the United States that shows the percentages of adult obesity per state, the lowest percentage range shown is twenty to twenty-five percent; only six states were in this percentage range. In the Super Size Me film, Morgan Spurlock gained weight (twenty-four and a half pounds), his cholesterol shot up, his body fat increased by eleven to fifteen percent, his mood changed, he had massive cravings and headaches, and his risk of coronary heart disease nearly doubled by eating McDonald’s for a thirty day period. According to his doctors, he was wiping out his liver with a high fat diet. Spurlock learned that “a drug effect from the food within the brain” causes adults to become addicted to the food (Spurlock). Obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Recent research has shown that cognitive control, which includes decision making, planning, organization, memory, time management, maintaining emotional and self-control and curbing inappropriate behavior, in children/adolescents can control when and/or how much they eat. Researchers at the Agricultural Research Service’s Western Human Nutrition Research Center (WHNRC) have, for the first time, found a relationship Jones 3 between snacking and an emotional state in 3 to 6 year olds. Also, “past research has shown a link between unhealthy behaviors, obesity, and decreased mental skills coordinated in the brain’s frontal lobe in older children and adults” (Avant). Michelle Obama has been pushing an effort to end obesity and she has been successful in the past few years. In 2013 and 2014, obesity was unchanged among young people from the previous period. In 2003 and 2004, 2 to 19 year old Americans were obese which is the same that is was in 2013 and 2014. Symptoms from obesity involve the inside of the body as well as the outside of the body. Adolescent and adult