Obesity Has Increased Drastically - Essay Example

Origins of obesity Obesity has increased drastically in the past few decades and has also increased the cases of other related diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, cancer and other disorders. The increasing rate has been witnessed in both developed and developing countries. Previously, obesity was common in industrialized countries in most parts of Europe and United States, but obesity is rising rapidly on other parts of the world like the third world countries. Obesity has become one of the difficult issues in the society and the world generally. Studies show that more than 60% of adults in Europe and US are obese. This means that they have body mass index BMI of 30kg/m2 or greater (Lakhan & Kirchgessner 2013). Child obesity is also another issue that has become a health concern globally. The rate is increasing in both develop and developing countries. The analysis done recently shows that there has been no change in the prevalence rate of child obesity. This is because of reluctance by the relevant authorities, family or physicians to curb the issue of child obesity. However, the issue of child obesity has been blamed on economic change and lifestyle change in the society. Furthermore, marketing, food supplies are some of the factors that have been attributed to increasing number of child obesity (Nathaniel 2004). The current prevalence rate of obesity in the world is extraordinary. Developed countries such as UK have a high prevalence rate of obesity. According to Waumsley (2011), England has witnessed a high prevalence rate that in every 4 adults 1 is obese. Additionally, the author shows that adults’ population is experiencing high rate of obesity, approximately half of them are obese. Other parts of UK also have high prevalence rate of obesity. The author points out that Wales` prevalence rate is higher than that of England. However, cases of obesity in Scotland are higher than both Wales and England. Additionally Scotland has the highest prevalence rate than any other country in OECD. Waumsley (2011) points out that 150000 Scottish children and more than 1 million adults are obese. This trend is likely to increase to 40% by the end of 2030. Increasing figures of obesity has also been witnessed in Northern Ireland. According to Waumsley (2011), approximately 60% of the adults in Northern Ireland are obese. This shows that 1 in every 5 adults are obese. Furthermore, the research conducted between 2006 and 2007 shows that 22% of the primary school children are termed as obese or overweight in Northern Ireland. Based on the above statistics of obesity in UK, it is clear that cases of obesity are high. UK is working hard to reduce or the slow down the rising cases of obesity. Obesity is also increasing in US, according to Nathaniel (2004), obesity is one of the leading epidemic in US that has resulted to approximately 300000 deaths each year. The pandemic is increasing with the current population of 59 million considered obese or overweight. This has increased the number of research by scientist on ways to curb the issue of obesity. The increasing rate of obesity is attributed intake of excess caloric food. Human body is capable of storing fats for later use. Previous decades had witnessed low levels of obesity because people had to engage in more physical activities in search of food and other relevant activities. Additionally, starvation was rampant before the time of industrialization or in countries where economy is lower. However, the current lifestyle is quite different, in most parts of the world, developed and developing countries, technology and economy has increased. Increase in development technology means that various ways of food production has increased which in turn has increased energy consumption. Additionally, the population will not have to engage itselve in more physical activities in search of food. Bellisari (2008), states that two-thirds of the American population is obese. Based on this statistics, it is evident that many Americans are prone to obesity while others adapt easily. Bellisari (2008), shows that, genes called thrifty genotype had developed in approximately four decades ago to sustain cases of food scarcity. The genotype evolved so as to protect humans by releasing insulin, converting sugar and storing excess energy. The storage of energy is in form of fat and this occurred when food was quite abundant. The storage done by the genotype was significant in the times of famine. However, things have changed, economic development and advanced technology has rendered genotype useless. This is because they continue to store energy in form of fat, converting sugar and production of insulin. Changes in dietary patterns are some of the factors that contribute to obesity. Appropriate diet has to be considered to curb obesity, but because of regular intake of different dietary patterns such as snacks, soft drinks, and high energy food or fat, there is high chances of being obese. According to studies, there is a positive relationship between dietary fats and development of obesity. Dietary factors like carbohydrates, fibre, protein, glycemic index and energy density have influenced the development of obesity (Symonds et al 2013). The study is based on the reports availed from persons with different dietary intakes. According to the study by Duvigneaud et al. (2007), fat intake is quite high among individuals who are overweight. These include mono fats, polyunsaturated fat and saturated fats intake. Studies by the authors also show that, there is a high energy intake of nutritional fats among men that has contributed to overweight or obesity. However, this observation is quite different on women. Few observations have linked the fat intake and overweight or obesity development on women. However, clear evidence exist that dietary intake such as fat intake contributes highly to obesity. According Duvigneaud et al. (2007), there are several factors that support this few that fat intake increases development of obesity. Fats have high density of energy compared to other dietary foods. The second observation that has been made is that consumption of fatty food is not the same with carbohydrate foods because, carbohydrate provides high satiety. However, fats do not provide satiety feeling after the fast intake. This means an individual will be forced to consume more to have high feeling of satiety. Furthermore, study shows that dietary foods with high fat content contains less thermogenic effect as compared to carbohydrates and proteins. With less thermogenic effect, more fats are stored and less is used by the body (Duvigneaud et al. 2007). Obesity occurs when energy intake is in excess of energy expenditure. This means that when there is an increase in storage of energy, weight gain is prone to happen. With this view, consumptions of dietary fats products increase obesity. Studies suggest that proteins and carbohydrates are oxidized faster as compared to fats. Fats are therefore stored more than either proteins or carbohydrates (Gesta et al 2007). The study shows that excess of energy intake in relation to expenditure leads to obesity. Energy is derived from the following micronutrients; fats, proteins, carbohydrate and alcohol. Fats provide more energy than any other nutrient consumed daily. On the other hand, carbohydrates have less energy density than fats. This is because consumption of carbohydrates provides high satiety than fats which provides lower satiety during consumption. An individual is forced to consume fewer amounts of carbohydrates hence gaining less energy than one who has consumed food with fat nutrients. As stated earlier, obesity is as a result of consumption of high energy nutrients. Carbohydrates contain macronutrients and fiber with different levels of energy. For example, raw vegetables contain less energy carbohydrates, while sugary products such as candy have high energy carbohydrates. However, fats stills maintain the highest content of energy than carbohydrates (Dam and Seidell 2007). Increasing number of obese or overweight women during the time of pregnancies has raised chances of their child becoming obese later in life. There are contributors to this effect. For example, the feeding nature of a mother, weight gains during pregnancy and metabolic changes at time of pregnancy. The lifestyle of the family and the diet provided to a child determine levels of obesity. Breast feeding has been identified as the best option because it lowers the risks of obesity. Study conducted on obese women proving lower breast feeding shows that their children are at greater risk of obesity (Symonds et al 2013). Complexities in promotion of nutritional advice Efforts have been made in UK to curb the rising cases of obesity. This includes implementation of policies relating to eating habits. Britain implemented fat tax to reduce the growing rate of obesity. The tax is meant to reduce fat nutrients and salt in food. Food having more fat nutrients and salt will have to be taxed more according to the policy. The revenue from the taxed products is significant to the population and government. This is because they used it to provide subsidies in production of healthy food. They also used it to finance various initiatives that advice on healthy eating habits. Fat tax has been implemented in UK to curb obesity. However various difficulties were experienced after the tax had been implemented. The government is implementing a value added tax VAT on food stuffs that have high sugar levels and a high fat content. Food in UK is normally zero rated but because of rising cases of obesity, the fat tax requires certain foods to have VAT included (Leicester and Windmeijer n.d.). However, there are problems in implementation of fat tax. Based on the policy, food with high fat content should be taxed. This means that food such as butter which has high fat content will receive high taxes despite being the most important diet required during consumption. Additionally, the state will have to spend more of its time reevaluating the rate of taxes so as to achieve their goals. Furthermore, changes in prices is likely to occur, this is because food products with a high fat content will have to be processed by the manufacturer is a different manner. The point is they would want to avoid taxes implemented by the government, hence prices of food changes more often. Promotion of nutrition to attain good health in UK will be difficult based on above analysis (Leicester and Windmeijer n.d.). The study above suggested that obesity arises when there is imbalance between energy consumption and energy expenditure. Explanation provided above also shows that fats have more energy content than any other nutrients. Additionally, fatty products make a person less satiated than any other nutrients such as carbohydrates. This means that an individual will be forced to consume more to be satisfied. However, the statement above says obesity depends on energy consumption and expenditure. This shows that they have to focus on caloric intake and not amount of fat consumed. Taxes should therefore focus on calories and not fat content (Leicester and Windmeijer n.d). Another complexity arising in promotion and implementing nutritional advice is poverty among the population. Poor people have problems meeting the required diet to avoid obesity. According to Mwatsama et al (2005), poor people in UK have problems meeting the diet needed to avoid obesity and other related disorders such as coronary heart disease. The study shows that close to 10 million people in UK are poor. Additionally, approximately 3 million persons of the population living in poverty are children. According to the study, they have problems attaining proper diet because they cannot afford food rich in nutrients and having low fats. They cannot access vegetables and fruits and only depend on sugary and fatty foods. The right diet has to be with low fats. Carbohydrates with low-fat content and have to be put into consideration during consumption. Carbohydrates such as white bread and rice contain low-fat diet. Diets containing high protein are also good for weight control or control of obesity. Consumption of more calories from proteins helps in control of obesity and increasing weight. Proteins provide few calories making an individual fuller than consumption of more calories from carbohydrates. Vegetables and fruits digestion is a slow process. However, they are good for prevention of obesity and other disorders. Studies conducted shows that consumption of whole fruit has led to gain of less weight. Consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces calories from other food. This is because they contain fiber. Fiber slows down the process of digestion hence reducing hunger. Additionally, fiber makes a person fuller because of the stimulation it does to the body. Stimulation releases cholecystokinin sending the signals to the brain that an individual is full. Fibers do so because of its capabilities to stretch the walls of the stomach forcing it to release chelecystokini. However, there are other foods that have to be avoided because they are responsible for weight gain, obesity and heart diseases. Sugary food and beverages are some of the foods that increase obesity. The fact is that beverages digestion rate is much faster hence they are less satiating (Forsythe 2007). References Bellisari, A 2008, ‘Evolutionary origins of obesity’, Obesity Reviews: An Official Journal Of The International Association for the Study of Obesity, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 165-180. Dam, R, V and Seidell, J 2007, ‘Carbohydrate intake and obesity’, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 61, pp.75–99 Forsythe, C 2007, Womens Health Perfect Body Diet: The Ultimate Weight Loss and Workout Plan to Drop Stubborn Pounds and Get Fit for Life, Rodale, New York. Gesta, S, Tseng, Y & Kahn, C, R, 2007, ‘Developmental Origin of Fat: Tracking Obesity to Its Source’, Cell, vol.131, pp. 242-256. Lakhan, S, E & Kirchgessner, A 2013, ‘The emerging role of dietary fructose in obesity and cognitive decline’, Nutrition Journal, vol.12, no. 114, viewed 4 April, 2014, Leicester, A & Windmeijer, F (n.d.), The Fat Tax: Economic Incentives to reduce Obesity, The Institute for Fiscal Studies, London. Mead, M.N. 2004, "Origins of Obesity", Environmental health perspectives, vol. 112, no. 6, pp. 1. Mwatsama, M & Stewart, L 2005, Food Poverty and Health, Briefing statement, Faculty of Public Health, London. Symonds, M, E, Mendez, M, A, Meltzer, H, M, …… Eline M Beek , E, M 2013 ‘Early Life Nutritional Programming of Obesity: Mother-Child Cohort Studies’, Ann Nutr Metab, vol. 62, pp.137–145. Waumsley, J 2005, Obesity in UK and its Psychological perspective, The British Psychological Society, Leicester, UK. Read More

 

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