The impact of lack of exercise and an unbalanced diet on Americans and obesity - Research Paper Example

The impact of lack of exercise and an unbalanced diet on Americans and obesity David Henry Licuanan Dithmer   The impact of lack of exercise and an unbalanced diet on Americans and obesity What is obesity? Obesity is commonly thought as a disease that is why just like any disease there is a need to work it out on a full time basis as soon as possible. According to Glaser (2007) obesity is an unhealthy condition but it is not to be considered as a disease (p.143). According to him, a person who takes more extra calories which will be stored in fat cells overtime becomes bigger. Gaining weight or becoming obese for those who actively consume foods with more or too much calories with less or few physical activities like exercise is a great possibility. Glaser argued that there are some evidences to support the claim that sometimes obesity happens in families as hereditary medical condition. By placing this into the context of debate, Glaser exactly believed that there are many other factors that can be cited as important reasons for obesity aside from the level of calorie intake. What is so triggering about obesity is that it does not only change the shape of one’s body but it can be the predecessor of other complications such as other diseases and unhealthy medical conditions. There are some of the recent and undesirable effects of obesity as discussed by Smith (1999, p.1-19). He discussed the strong link between obesity and overall mortality, obesity and its influence on the heart and blood vessels, obesity and its contribution on the respiratory system, obesity and its relationship with high blood pressure, obesity and its significant influence on blood lipids, obesity and its strong relationship with type II diabetes, any consequences or effects of obesity on psychosocial, the general effects of obesity on other systems of the body, and the associated cost of diseases with obesity. The measurement of obesity is based on standardized approach making its detection so easy and simple. This is the good thing about it. According to Cole and Cachera (2002) the criteria for overweight or obesity are based on the levels of adiposity reaching to a given limit for interpretation (p.15). According to them those adults with 25 kg/m2 body mass index (BMI) are under the category of overweight and those who have 30 kg/m2 body mass index are marked obese. Applying this cut-offs to children needs to create further understanding on their ages and their differences of maturation. They explained that these cut-offs screened children at different ages and their differences of maturation. In other words, Body Mass Index (BMI) is the non-complex way of measuring obesity by creating comparison between the height of an individual and his or her weight (Hicks, 2008, p. 14-21). According to the World Health Organization (2000, p. 9) the use of BMI to classify obesity can be considered to provide useful measure of obesity. As an individual aged, the body also slows down in the conversion of food into useful body energy. This is the reason why Hicks believed that older people are most likely to gain weight. He then added that a child who is obese has greater chance of becoming obese adolescent and adolescents who are obese are most likely to experience obesity in their adult life. What causes obesity? Today, too much focus has been given to the study of obesity due to the fact stated earlier that an excess body weight has been viewed to bring serious public health challenges. Becoming overweight is gaining public attention because it is looked at as one of the probable reasons for increasing number of diseases especially in WHO European region (WHO Europe, 2007, p. 1). In the United States, Colditz (2001) reported that obesity is not just an ordinary health problem but it is reaching severity due to an upward spiral over the past three decades among the cases in both children and adults. The significant change in lifestyle trends among adults has been significantly viewed as one of the most important factors contributing to the increasing cases of obesity in the United States. Colditz definitely agreed with the possibility of the idea. On the other hand, Kretchmer (1988) looked at obesity on other perspective. However, there is something in common with what Colditz believed about obesity. He simply believed that obesity is a medical condition which involves genetics-environment interaction as a biologically complex situation. This makes the genetic factors according to him important to the etiology of obesity (p. 3). From the biological stand point of the result of research Colditz presented, there was a remarkable observation on the increasing number of adipose cells among individuals who are on the medical condition underlying obesity (p. 5). There was also significant finding on other factors affecting individual appetite. Among of these factors are color, odor and taste which highly affect the behavior of individuals towards their eating behavior (p. 6). On the other hand, Stern and Kazaks (2009) believed that aside from those factors stated earlier, there are still other important factors that need to be understood when it comes to their contribution to obesity (pp.17-24). According to them, these factors can be clearly understood by creating an understanding on the extent on balance of energy especially on those factors that influence consumption of food, factors that influence the level of activity and metabolic and genetic processes. Stern and Kazaks integrated in their study the following factors that may contribute to increase of weight and eventually obesity: taking too much energy, distorted portion sizes, taking in more calories, the widespread occurrence of convenient foods and lack of physical and stimulating activities (pp. 17 – 24). Fast foods are looked closely to be one of the main reasons of obesity which ended up in the United States as one of the most affected part though the entire world today is affected by this unhealthy medical condition (Schlosser, 2001, p. 225). Gluttony, laziness and other related bad habits may not only be the reasons of obesity according to the findings of some researchers (Harmon, 2008, pp. 37 - 45). Harmon presented a clear result of the research that suggests an answer. From his research on children of the same age, all of the subjects were given something to consume of the same quantities and varieties of foods. The result suggested that some have tremendously gained weight while other remained on their normal weight. This specific finding was further supported by another survey that examined the weight of children from two to seventeen and then they were examined again seventeen years later. The finding of the study: a remarkable 77 percent of respondents who were overweight from the start of the study remained overweight in their adult life. On the other hand, not exceeding 10 percent of the respondents who were having normal weights at the beginning of the study turned into overweight adults. Harmon therefore argued that this can also be the subject about heredity. He supported this claim by creating some justifications that medical researches found out that the likelihood of becoming obese is 80 percent if both parents are obese. On the other hand, the probability of becoming obese is only 40% if there is only one parent who is obese. Finally, if none of the parents is obese, the likelihood of becoming obese is only 30 percent. Schneider (2008, pp. 467 – 476) strongly believed that it is not only the genetic factor that may probably contribute to obesity, but also the environment. This is also highly approved by Sherwood, Story, Sztainer & Bauer (2008) who believed that obesity and overweight are becoming chronic problems as upshots from the interaction of genes and the environment which further result to energy imbalance due to changing lifestyle and availability of variety of foods. Cawley (2007) presented that the technological advancements on processing of foods have changed the availability of processed foods and those people who have accessed to them will most likely to have the greatest increase in weight. As stated, there can be varying reasons as to the cause of obesity and overweight among individuals. These cannot just simply be eradicated knowing the fact that various studies are generated in order to understand better and have the best perspective on obesity. However, among of these factors, what seem to be much within our control is about exercise and diet. These two can be significantly become part of a healthy lifestyle if only done on a regular basis. However, the whole process of maintaining them on a regular basis may not be easy. After all, they should be part of one’s lifestyle. It means there is a need to work it out on holistic manner. The importance to study obesity There is a need to study obesity. As mentioned earlier, the statistics is increasing for this type of health condition. From the report of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, obese among non-Hispanic white reached 30%, 45% for non-Hispanic black and 37% for Mexican Americans from 2003 to 2004 data (Hu, 2008). The percentages were quite different from the data obtained in 1988 to 1994. From the same report provided by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 1988 to 1994, obese among non-Hispanic white reached 31.8%, 32.9% for non-Hispanic black and 38.75% for Mexican Americans (Sarwer and Thompson, 2002). As noticed, there is a significant high increase of obesity among non-Hispanic blacks while a slight decrease can be observed to both non-Hispanic white group and Mexican Americans group. This trend is very simple to understand and this tells that there is a need to focus on obesity due to its increasing trend especially on non-Hispanic black. Obesity has become a pandemic health issue. As such, there is a need of detailed attention on trying to minimize if not to stop its occurrence not only in the US but in the entire world. This concern led to Peña and Bacallao (2000, p. 5) to be able to justify that the study of obesity is a priority health issue due to the following important reasons. 1. Obesity is a factor creating different diseases that are non-communicable which are significantly caused by poor nutrition. Sad to say, many deaths are highly associated to these diseases. 2. In the prevention of obesity, the measure that can be used with it can also be used in the prevention of other non-communicable chronic diseases. 3. Using traditional anthropometric measurements, it is very easy to detect obesity which makes it a significant indicator for disease monitoring and control. It is therefore clear that obesity is a complex issue because it also talks about other related issues such as other diseases that are link to it. This simply cannot be disregarded because complications are bound to occur that may only complicate things. Obesity is a good area of study since understanding more of it means understanding more information that are connected to it. The importance of exercise and balanced diet It is commonly heard that in order for mental and physical well being to function, a balanced diet, enough exercise and rest are needed. These things are very basic and in fact, health nutritionists and health practitioners and experts do not argue with the benefits these bring to humans. The very thought that what comes into our body may be much needed or may be bad is a significant information that everyone must be able to learn. This is to ensure that proper nutrition is taken into account so as to maintain healthy physique. As stated earlier, the presence of fast food chains is a remarkable significant cause of obesity among Americans. Even though there are many continuing studies regarding on the justification of this claim, various individuals are claiming the possibility of taking too much fatty foods to contribute to gaining weight. In fact, this claim is supported by some experts and practitioners. In fact, as mentioned earlier, Stern and Kazaks (2009) believed that there are factors that contribute to obesity and they can be understood by having more detailed understanding on the balance of energy such as factors that affect food consumption, factors that influence the level of activity and metabolic and genetic processes. Stern and Kazaks cited in particular the following factors that contribute to obesity: too much intake of energy, distorted portion sizes, taking in more calories, availability of processed and instant foods and lack of physical and body-stimulating activities (pp. 17 – 24). It is important to consider these factors since they can try to unravel the deeper causes of obesity. These factors do not only provide specific information, they also provide detailed understanding on the causes of obesity. Taking more calories and convenient foods and physical inactivity such as lack of enough exercises are all become integral part of a lifestyle. It is clear that inconsistencies when it comes to the right nutrition and exercise are becoming exact determinants of unhealthy body. Lifestyle is a very important consideration. This talks about how an individual tries to maintain his or her good health. This involves but not limited to the amount and kind of food intake, exercise and more. Fast foods are considered to be one of the main reasons of obesity with the United States being affected the most and now it affects the entire world (Schlosser, 2001, p. 225). Everybody seems to know this information. However, there is still a growing number of individuals trying to appreciate the value of what instant foods can bring. The convenience and fast-paced world are all contributing factors why people continue to patronize convenient foods and continue to experience few physical and healthy activities. Physical activities such as exercises are known to burn calories in the body. Taking in too much calorie can be handled well if sufficient activities to burn them are taken into account regularly. A regular exercise does not only promote burning of calories but at some point it provides the necessity to create the balance that the body requires. Conclusion Obesity is another challenge to the humanity when it comes to maintaining a healthy way of living. There are many important studies conducted and it is important to understand them so as to understand the detailed level about this medical condition. The US as a highly advanced country is home to different lifestyles. Lifestyles can be significant contributing factors on the occurrence of obesity. Thus, it is important to take closely at the prevailing lifestyles. It is important to take a closer look on the quality and quantity of food taken into the body. It is important to take a closer look on the amount and quality of exercise taken. With these, it is not only the steps to becoming healthy is considered, the most important point of alleviating or eradicating obesity is started to be implemented at a certain level. Since obesity is associated with other non-communicable diseases, it is important that more attention shall be given to this type of medical condition. The health of the humanity is at stake. If little or no study will be given to the issue of obesity, the humanity will continue suffer various levels of diseases in the future. The problem may turn out more complicated and there will be many perspectives to be taken into account. This looks like to complicate the situation even more. References Cawley, J. (2007). Obesity, Business and Public Policy. In Z. J. 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