Obesity is a condition which individuals have accumulated so much body fat that it starts to negatively affect their health. In order to be considered obese, a person must have a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30. While BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered to be overweight (Hannah Nichols, 2016). There are now more overweight people than there are underweight people and Obesity has now become a worldwide epidemic. Countries that were typically not known for having a weight problem are now having an increase in the amount of people that are overweight. Japan now has a growing obesity rate.
The reasons for obesity differs. It could include genetics, economic status, psychological traits and social determinates. In terms of genetics, science has shown …show more content…
A sedentary person’s susceptibility to obesity may increase if they have the genes for obesity. The risk for obesity is two to eight times higher for a person that has a family history of obesity. Another risk factor for obesity is the social determinates that a person is under. The way that we eat has dramatically changed. People are now unable to eat at home often because they are usually not at home. We tend to buy fast food more often because it is faster and we are able to eat on the go. With a typical fast food meal, we consume about 900 to 1200 calories; which is about a third to half of our daily needs. When we do eat at home, the foods are still not freshly prepared. We typically eat frozen meals or unhealthy foods (Ward, 2016). Our busy lifestyles have dictated the way that we eat and the effects of it have produced more overweight people. The major reason why obesity has increased is that fact that people are now eating more. We now eat more than we are supposed to. For example, the average American ate about 3100 calories in 1965, however, in more recent years, the average American eats about 3900 calories a day. Which is a massive increase (Lassek, …show more content…
The government could also control food and drink advertising by setting up a national coordinating strategy that addresses diet and physical activity (Ward, 2016). The U.S government has started to take the steps in banning out synthetic trans-fat. Trans-fat is linked to heart disease and has been shown to increase cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol LDL. Trans-fat is able to build up plaque in the arteries and study has been also been linked to memory loss (Sifferlin, 2015). The U.S Food and Drug Administration has ordered for this bad fat to be phased out of stores within three years (Sciammacco, 2015). What won’t work, however, is putting taxes on junk food as there is no evidence to support it. Economics love to talk about tax as it would could potentially improve the economy and they believe that higher taxes could solve every problem but evidence shows otherwise. It has been suggested by some experts that a tax should be put on sugary drinks in Canada as it leads to obesity in children. While the additional tax on sugary drinks has caused a drop in those who buy these drinks, in places like Arkansas, there has been a 2% drop in the sales of pop. However, there are several studies that have shown no links between sugary drinks and obesity. Putting a tax on pop wouldn’t be beneficiary especially because pop is not the most popular
The reasons for obesity differs. It could include genetics, economic status, psychological traits and social determinates. In terms of genetics, science has shown …show more content…
A sedentary person’s susceptibility to obesity may increase if they have the genes for obesity. The risk for obesity is two to eight times higher for a person that has a family history of obesity. Another risk factor for obesity is the social determinates that a person is under. The way that we eat has dramatically changed. People are now unable to eat at home often because they are usually not at home. We tend to buy fast food more often because it is faster and we are able to eat on the go. With a typical fast food meal, we consume about 900 to 1200 calories; which is about a third to half of our daily needs. When we do eat at home, the foods are still not freshly prepared. We typically eat frozen meals or unhealthy foods (Ward, 2016). Our busy lifestyles have dictated the way that we eat and the effects of it have produced more overweight people. The major reason why obesity has increased is that fact that people are now eating more. We now eat more than we are supposed to. For example, the average American ate about 3100 calories in 1965, however, in more recent years, the average American eats about 3900 calories a day. Which is a massive increase (Lassek, …show more content…
The government could also control food and drink advertising by setting up a national coordinating strategy that addresses diet and physical activity (Ward, 2016). The U.S government has started to take the steps in banning out synthetic trans-fat. Trans-fat is linked to heart disease and has been shown to increase cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol LDL. Trans-fat is able to build up plaque in the arteries and study has been also been linked to memory loss (Sifferlin, 2015). The U.S Food and Drug Administration has ordered for this bad fat to be phased out of stores within three years (Sciammacco, 2015). What won’t work, however, is putting taxes on junk food as there is no evidence to support it. Economics love to talk about tax as it would could potentially improve the economy and they believe that higher taxes could solve every problem but evidence shows otherwise. It has been suggested by some experts that a tax should be put on sugary drinks in Canada as it leads to obesity in children. While the additional tax on sugary drinks has caused a drop in those who buy these drinks, in places like Arkansas, there has been a 2% drop in the sales of pop. However, there are several studies that have shown no links between sugary drinks and obesity. Putting a tax on pop wouldn’t be beneficiary especially because pop is not the most popular