Causes and Effects of Obesity in America The combination of being overweight and being obese is affecting 64.5 percent of Americans; the number is rapidly growing (Brownell & Horgen, 2004).
What are the Causes?
What did Americans change to make such an epidemic take place? Number one on the list of changes is the idea that “bigger is better.” Eating out in general makes people vulnerable in making unhealthy food choices. Even the ones who have more self-control have issues maintaining portion control. According to the American Heart Association, restaurant portion sizes have quadrupled since the 1950s. The food in restaurants and fast food chains usually have a high calorie content as well as hidden calories. For example, someone orders …show more content…
The hormones help put more meat on the animal and help cows produce more milk, thus supplying more money for the producer. By eating the hormones-injected animals, we’re putting our own bodies at risk with many potential health issues including obesity.
The lack of physical activity has also played a major part in America’s obesity epidemic. “Researchers from Stanford University found that from 1994 to 2010, the number of physically inactive American women grew from 19.1 to 51.7 percent. As for the men, their numbers went from 11.4 percent in 1994 to 43.5 percent in 2010” (Bachi, 2014). Why have people stopped exercising? One word, technology. Yes, it has made our lives easier but by doing so, making us lazy.
In the days where there was no internet or smart phones, the percentage of obesity wasn’t so high. We are spending hours upon hours on Facebook or Instagram, as well as other social media, and claim that we’re “too busy” to exercise. Video games is another thing to blame because rather than children wanting to go outside and play, they’d rather sit inside and twiddle their …show more content…
Obesity is the major cause of type 2 diabetes. You typically see type 2 diabetes in adults, but it is now being found in children. “Obesity can cause resistance to insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar. When obesity causes insulin resistance, the blood sugar becomes elevated. Even moderate obesity dramatically increases the risk of diabetes” (Stanford Health Care, n.d.).
Another risk factor is that being overweight increases your chances of developing high blood pressure. Additional weight increases the tension on the heart, blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels; at the same time, lowering HDL (good) cholesterol levels (American Heart Association, 2014). Having high blood pressure increases the ricks of developing a cardiovascular diseases because your heart has to pump harder to keep you moving. Atherosclerosis is a disease where your arteries harden and is said by the Stanford Health Care that it is present 10 times more often in obese people compared to those who are not obese. Coronary artery disease is common because fat deposits build up in the arteries that bring blood to the heart. This may bring chest pain, strokes, or even heart
What are the Causes?
What did Americans change to make such an epidemic take place? Number one on the list of changes is the idea that “bigger is better.” Eating out in general makes people vulnerable in making unhealthy food choices. Even the ones who have more self-control have issues maintaining portion control. According to the American Heart Association, restaurant portion sizes have quadrupled since the 1950s. The food in restaurants and fast food chains usually have a high calorie content as well as hidden calories. For example, someone orders …show more content…
The hormones help put more meat on the animal and help cows produce more milk, thus supplying more money for the producer. By eating the hormones-injected animals, we’re putting our own bodies at risk with many potential health issues including obesity.
The lack of physical activity has also played a major part in America’s obesity epidemic. “Researchers from Stanford University found that from 1994 to 2010, the number of physically inactive American women grew from 19.1 to 51.7 percent. As for the men, their numbers went from 11.4 percent in 1994 to 43.5 percent in 2010” (Bachi, 2014). Why have people stopped exercising? One word, technology. Yes, it has made our lives easier but by doing so, making us lazy.
In the days where there was no internet or smart phones, the percentage of obesity wasn’t so high. We are spending hours upon hours on Facebook or Instagram, as well as other social media, and claim that we’re “too busy” to exercise. Video games is another thing to blame because rather than children wanting to go outside and play, they’d rather sit inside and twiddle their …show more content…
Obesity is the major cause of type 2 diabetes. You typically see type 2 diabetes in adults, but it is now being found in children. “Obesity can cause resistance to insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar. When obesity causes insulin resistance, the blood sugar becomes elevated. Even moderate obesity dramatically increases the risk of diabetes” (Stanford Health Care, n.d.).
Another risk factor is that being overweight increases your chances of developing high blood pressure. Additional weight increases the tension on the heart, blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels; at the same time, lowering HDL (good) cholesterol levels (American Heart Association, 2014). Having high blood pressure increases the ricks of developing a cardiovascular diseases because your heart has to pump harder to keep you moving. Atherosclerosis is a disease where your arteries harden and is said by the Stanford Health Care that it is present 10 times more often in obese people compared to those who are not obese. Coronary artery disease is common because fat deposits build up in the arteries that bring blood to the heart. This may bring chest pain, strokes, or even heart