Obesity Epidemic In America

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The Obesity Epidemic in America- By Nathan Dear

Obesity is defined as “an abnormal accumulation of body fat, usually 20% or more over an individual’s ideal body weight” for their size, age and gender; this is determined by using a Body mass index (BMI) percentile, anyone in the 85th-95th percentile are considered overweight and anyone over the 95th percentile are considered obese.
America’s obesity epidemic has reach an all high as of recently with the rate in West Virginia being at 37.7%, the highest of all US states and Colorado with a rate of 22.3%, the lowest in America, these two values being recorded in 2016. Figure 1.1 depicts the rise of obesity rates in all American states; it indicates that America on a whole is getting more and …show more content…
Obesity isn’t just its own health condition, some other major diseases and conditions stem from someone being obese. Some of these major health conditions include: Type 2 diabetes, some forms of heart disease and cancer.
Type 2 diabetes rates have almost doubled over the last 20 years, from 5.5 percent in 1994 and to 9.3 percent in 2012. Type 2 diabetes is the seventh largest killer in America, and yet approximately 2 million adolescents have some form of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is directly caused by being overweight or obese, and as such we could reduce the rate of this form of diabetes if the rates of obesity drop.
Cardiovascular diseases are one of the most prominent forms of disease in America, with one in every 4 Americans having some sort of cardiovascular disease. Heart diseases are the leading killers in America, with one in every 3 deaths being from a cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular diseases aren’t directly related to obesity, but there is clear evidence to suggest that obesity greatly increases your chance of getting one of these diseases.

How effective are cultural norms and traditions influences in this …show more content…
This is detrimental in the long run, as if simple measures are taken to prevent Obesity, like proper dieting and having some sort of daily exercise, then there would be no need for gastric sleeve surgery, or a coronary bypass, both of which are extreme cost, dangerous surgeries, both of which can be easily avoided. This tradition is so embedded in American society that the population blindly follows it without even knowing. This tradition has a major influence on the epidemic as obesity is one of the problems that are not solved until it is too
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