Children obesity in the global world - Research Paper Example

?Outline Obesity has become a very common phenomenon all over the world and has been the leading cause of widespread diseases. This research paper has studied obesity comprehensively in the lights of various components such as reasons; statistics, causes, treatment. All the factors contributing to the phenomenon of obesity provide a through framework. There are several reasons for obesity, which include thrifty genes, availability of fatty foods, lack of muscular movement, food addiction and endocrine problems. Furthermore, statistics reveal that America has the highest number of obesity cases due to the fast food culture prevalent. There are also numerous fast food restaurants in America, further enhancing the fast food culture. Obesity and its relationship with lack of sports, exercise, lack of awareness of food has also been comprehensively explained. Furthermore, obesity can be very detrimental, for instance; it can lead to a high level of cholesterol, diabetes and can also result in heart and renal failure. All of these consequences have been explained. Treatment has also been explained in detail which includes healthy eating, dieting and appropriately exercising and seeking medical advice. If all these treatments are practiced collectively, then a person will be able to get rid of the undesirable and excessive weight. Children Obesity in the Global World A. Obesity In the developing life, obesity is impacted more and more due to the increase of fast food restaurants and working mothers etc. To highlight the problem, we have to educate people, stop eating fast food and exercise more.  I. Definition Obesity is generally referred to as anomalous or tremendous accumulation of fat that can have a detrimental impact on health. Body mass index (BMI) is a measurement of weight-for-height, which generally classifies overweight and obesity in adults. A person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters is the most commonly used definition of body mass index. The World Health Definition is as follows: A body mass index which is greater than or equal to 25 is overweight. A body mass index greater than or equal to 30 is obesity. It should be noted that Body Mass Index is the most practical and functional indicator of overweight and obesity, which can be applied to both the genders and caters to all age-groups of adults. However, it may not hold the same for different individuals, since that is primarily dependant on their degree of fatness (Puska, R, 1). II. Reasons for Obesity 1. Thrifty Genes: The people who possess the ‘thrifty genes’, an attribute that does not help the built in appetite suppressants to kick in, can be related back to the times when food was available in seldom and the people who were “leptin resistant” (which means that their bodies did not answer the stop storing fat messages), were better off since they ate a lot and gained weight during the times when food was on hand and survive till long with the stored fat. People who are believed to have such ‘thrifty genes’ are the PIMA Indians and African Americans. A study conducted on rats which was said to have proved that by giving less calorie food to rats made them live longer actually turned out to have many loop holes in them. This was because on an average a rat sheds more calories catching the food than the ones he gains after consuming that food. Therefore the experimental rats which were not in their natural habitat were just fed and had no exercise turned out to have shorter life spans. 2. Availability of fatty foods: With the advent of technology and concept of fast food developing rapidly amongst the generation today, it is very easy for a person to gain access to quick and delicious food. However, there are many side effects to such products. They are designed to have more calories than our normal homemade meals and are processed to make us hungrier than we were before we consumed the food. This processed food makes us even fatter. For example; an ordinary McDonald’s meal of burger, fries and a shake will have an estimate of 1200 calories, which is more than an average calorie intake per day. This will result in gaining 1 pound per month and 12lbs annually. 3. Total lack of muscular movement required in daily life: As compared to the olden days, people of this generation work less. Here, work means physical work, not mental. Due to the invention of machines which have taken over for the labor work, the calorie burning cycle in an average human being has decreased. The work we do now is sitting in front of the computer for 10-12 hours, which results in minimum calorie burn-out. According to the research conducted by the Surgeon General’s Report 1996, Americans burn 800 calories less than their parents did. Similarly the percentage of people exercising is only 25%. Recently the phenomenon of taking cars everywhere has sprung up. Even if the store is only a few miles away, it is necessary to take the car rather than a healthy and environment friendly option of cycling or walking. People doing such activities are usually frowned upon by others even though they are clearly more fit. The lack of movement of muscles, therefore, is one of the major reasons for obesity in people. The forms of entertainment have also changed in the recent times. Now sitting in front of the TV or surfing the internet is considered recreation, and hiking, jogging, biking etc are termed as too extreme for ‘normal’ people. Apart from this, the most vital reason is the habit of eating as a form of pass time. The unhealthy food that we eat also causes problems for our body along with other factors mentioned. 4. Food Addiction: Studies have shown that the type of people who often become addicted to the habit of eating or food itself as per say, have less dopamine receptors in their brain. Our body has some natural heroine-endorphins- which is caused by addiction to eating (or drinking, drugs etc). This is like a natural pain killer and allows more food to be entered into the body fooling the brain into thinking its good for the system. With the availability of artificially created delicious food, such disorders occur in people. Weight Watchers offer many tools in recognizing the symptoms of such eating disorders and how to solve such problems. 5. Endocrine Problems: This is one of the most often given reason for obesity. However, research has not supported this as a factor in people commonly. The present medical thought offers the view that such endocrine deficiencies are responsible for less than 1 percent of obesity. There are many solutions to endocrine related obesity. In cases such as Dave Alexander, people who are fat and fit may have an endocrine problem, but as research suggests that if a healthy life style is adopted, an individual should not have any risks from said obesity (Gumbiner, 1). III. Statistics According to the Center for Disease, Control and Prevention, more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. Also, no state has ever managed to meet the nation’s utmost goal to lower obesity prevalence, which consequently leads to widespread diseases. The number of states, which report obesity prevalence of about 30%, has increased considerably. Come 2012, there are about 12 states which report 30% obesity as opposed to 2009 and 2012, where the obesity rate was only prevalent in 9 states. In 2000, there was no state, which reported an obesity prevalence of 30% or even more than that. The prevalence of obesity essentially differs across different states and regions. In the past two decades, the United States has witnessed a dramatic increase in obesity and the rates have been very high. As per different states, the prevalence of obesity was 21.0% in Colorado and it was 34.0% in Mississippi in 2010. There was no state, which had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Around thirty six states reported a prevalence of 25% and 12 of the states (Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee West Virginia, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas South Carolina and Michigan had a prevalence, which accounted for 30 percent or more. South America had the highest prevalence of obesity which accounted for 29.4%, which was followed by Midwest i.e. 28.7%, Northwest accounted for 24.9% and West had a prevalence rate of 24.1%. The chart below depicts the prevalence of obesity in United States from 1985 to 2010. 2010 State Obesity Rates State % State % State % State % Alabama 32.2 Illinois 28.2 Montana 23.0 Rhode Island 25.5 Alaska 24.5 Indiana 29.6 Nebraska 26.9 South Carolina 31.5 Arizona 24.3 Iowa 28.4 Nevada 22.4 South Dakota 27.3 Arkansas 30.1 Kansas 29.4 New Hampshire 25.0 Tennessee 30.8 California 24.0 Kentucky 31.3 New Jersey 23.8 Texas 31.0 Colorado 21.0 Louisiana 31.0 New Mexico 25.1 Utah 22.5 Connecticut 22.5 Maine 26.8 New York 23.9 Vermont 23.2 Delaware 28.0 Maryland 27.1 North Carolina 27.8 Virginia 26.0 District of Columbia 22.2 Massachusetts 23.0 North Dakota 27.2 Washington 25.5 Florida 26.6 Michigan 30.9 Ohio 29.2 West Virginia 32.5 Georgia 29.6 Minnesota 24.8 Oklahoma 30.4 Wisconsin 26.3 Hawaii 22.7 Mississippi 34.0 Oregon 26.8 Wyoming 25.1 Idaho 26.5 Missouri 30.5 Pennsylvania 28.6   (House of Commons, 1) It should be noted that obesity can affect certain groups more profoundly than others. For instance; non-Hispanic groups have the highest obesity rate (44.15) as opposed to Mexican Americans who have an obesity rate of 39.3%, Hispanics account for 37.9% and non-Hispanic whites account for 32.6% (Anderson, 2). Obesity is also greatly dependant on the socioeconomic status of a person. For example; non-Hispanics blacks and Mexican-American men with high incomes are more likely to be obese than those with lower incomes. Women with higher income are less likely to be obese than women with lower incomes. No relationship has been found between obesity and the level of education in men. However, there has been a trend observed in women i.e. women with college degrees are less likely to be obese as opposed to those women who have a lower level of education. It was observed that between 1998 and 2007-2008, obesity faced a dramatic rise in adults at all levels of income and education. B. Obesity and its relationship with fast food and lack of sports Fast foods are those foods, which have a high level of fats, sugar and salts and are served in a very hefty supply. It is a commonly known fact that children have a very proactive lifestyle; hence they are able to break down foods, which have a large supply of fat. Although, it is a universally agreed fact, this assumption can often prove to be wrong because children leading an active lifestyle are seen to develop large amounts of fact on excessive consumption of fast food. Thus it can be ascertained that obesity and fast food do have a very close association. This has become a very grave problem in the U.S. The culprit is concealed under the shroud of low cost happy meals and a scrumptious taste. A study conducted revealed that almost one-third of all the Americana residing in the age-group of 4-19 consume fast food on a consistent basis. Furthermore it also revealed that children tend to put on weight, about 6lbs per year due to regular consumption of food. This is a very astounding fact that requires immediate attention. The proportion of people who eat fast food and calorie intake Fast foods have a surplus quantity of calories, fats and sugars as compared to regular food items; this reduces their nutritional value considerably. It can be deduced that fast food and obesity have a close association because of the growing popularity of fast food dishes available in plentiful supplies. Some of the following facts are not known to most people: Sugar: A large amount of sugar level can make children susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes. Becoming vulnerable to diabetes at such an early age can prevent the child’s body from producing insulin, which can be extremely detrimental. Fats Fast foods consist of saturated fats and needless to say, this can pose a major risk to the health of the child and also results in an increment in the level of blood cholesterol and triglycerides, which leads to a lot of early age problem and heart problems such as cardiovascular diseases. Salt An increased amount of salt supply in fast food causes high blood pressure and results in the bursting of veins and arteries. In order to fix these damaged blood vessels, the body amasses lipoprotein, converts it into cholesterol and this results in an increased level of cholesterol in the blood (Gumbiner, 1). While growing up, children require an adequate supply of vitamins and iron. Excessive consumption of fast food makes children vulnerable to illnesses such as constipation, loss of appetite and also makes them sluggish and weary. It also increases their risk to diseases such as anemia, which are generally caused due to the deficiency of vitamin. All of these diseases and some others are caused due to the excessive consumption of fast food. Fast foods contain a very high level of starch, which increases the food cravings of children and in turn makes them eat more and thus gain more weight. Furthermore, it also makes the consumption of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and other natural foods to disappear from the regular diet of children. This results in the deficiency of calcium, which has a detrimental impact on the teeth and nails of children (Gumbiner, 2). Fast food causes extreme obesity, one of the prime reasons of making children susceptible to illnesses which can be irreversible in some cases. Due to this obesity, children get tired more often than normal kids. They want to sit at home and do not want to engage in physical activities. It also results in the development of inferiority complex, causing further aggravation of the problem of obesity (Fletcher, 1). I. Lack of Awareness of Food Sometimes it so happens that mothers give their children too much of choice and do not guide them effectively on eating habits. Furthermore, advertisements confuse people which have claims for certain types of processed foods and contradicting information on healthy eating and a well-balanced moderated diet. This leaves many people very confused. II. Lack of Exercise A study conducted in UAE revealed that most people have changed their lifestyle completely. Where they use to walk, do physical and outdoor activity, their life style has experienced a major transition and become sedentary with hardly any exercise. Most of the people i.e. emirates and expatriates take cars to work and do office jobs. The domestic workers are given the task of doing all the housework and the manual labor (Balentine, 2). C. Obesity and its relationship with disease Obesity has been the leading cause of a number of diseases worldwide. Some of them are mentioned as follows: I. Obesity leads to heart diseases There was a study conducted by the researchers of Monash University to find out how obesity leads to type 2 diabetes. Although, obesity is considered a prime cause of diabetes, people weren’t able to comprehend how obesity restrains the body’s ability to utilize insulin, consequently leading to diabetes, until very recently. The research team found out that fat cells produce a novel protein called PEDF i.e. pigment epithelium-derived factor, this creates a chain of events and interactions and causes type 2 diabetes. When PEDF is discharged in the blood, it results in the muscles and liver becoming desensitized to insulin. This causes the pancreas to produce more insulin to thwart the effect. The discharge of insulin results in the pancreas becoming extremely overworked. This slows down the ability to stop the discharge of insulin from the pancreas and eventually causes Type 2 diabetes. It has also been seen that the more amount of fat tissue a person has, the less sensitive they are to insulin. Hence, a larger amount of insulin is needed to regulate the blood-glucose level in the body (Dugade, 1). II. High Cholesterol As reiterated earlier, there are numerous health problems linked with obesity. Thus, it can be said that obesity is not just a cosmetic problem, but actually a health hazard. A person who is 40% overweight has twice the chances of dying prematurely as compared to a normal-weight person. Obesity leads to an increased level of cholesterol and this leads to severe medical conditions postulated below: Diabetes Cancer Gout High Blood Pressure Heart Disease and Stroke Breathing Problems etc Doctors unanimously have agreed that the more overweight a person is, the more likely he is to develop health problems. People who are overweight are also very susceptible to chronic diseases as compared to individuals with normal weight. Furthermore, it also said that people with an increased amount of weight can acquire significant health benefits from losing weight. A person is regarded as obese if he weighs 20% more than the maximum healthy weight as per his/her height (Medical News Today, 1). Those at greatest risks for overweight/obesity related conditions include: Family history of certain chronic diseases: Individuals whose immediate family or close relatives have had diabetes or heart diseases are more likely to develop these problems if they are obese. Pre-existing medical conditions: Individuals who show symptoms of high blood pressure, high sugar levels or high cholesterol levels show danger signs of obesity related diseases. Apple shape: Furthermore, it has been found that people whose weight is most focused around their stomach area are most susceptible to diabetes, cancer and other heart related diseases as opposed to people who are pear shaped whose weight is concentrated around their hips and buttocks (Champagne, 3). Even a modest weight loss of about 10 to 20 pounds can result in crucial health improvements and can lower one’s cholesterol level and blood pressure considerably. III. Heart Disease and Stroke Heart Disease and stroke are the foremost cause of disability and death for people in the U.S. People who are overweight are likely to develop high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor resulting in heart disease and stroke as opposed to people who are not overweight. A high level of cholesterol can increase the risk to heart diseases, linked with being overweight. D. Treatment and Prevention I. Eating healthy People who are obese should only incorporate timely, effective and easy lifestyle changes. One should change their behavior to eat everything healthy meals and the size of the meal should also be regulated. Everything should be eaten in moderation. Such are the key components for preventing obesity, irrespective of the age or body type. II. Dieting and Exercising A person who is obese should maintain a stringent diet consisting of healthy and nutritional food and avoid rich, fatty foods at all cost. This will also get their metabolism working. They should also exercise regularly. This does not involve very drastic measures. Even simple things like taking the elevator, be it at work, library; hitting the staircase and climbing up is one of the best forms of exercise. Taking the stairs is a great way in reducing calories and also infuses energy after giving considerable working hours at a desk or a sedentary job. III. Medical Advice Medical advice should be sought to get rid of obesity. Doctors and nutritionists can provide the patient with the relevant advice and can also chalk a diet plan, replete with balanced, nutritional good, which will aid the individual in getting rid of the undesirable weight (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 1). In conclusion, it can be said that obesity has become a very prevalent phenomenon and the statistics in the start of the paper show the frequency with which it is steadily rising. In order to prevent it, the practices mentioned above should be adopted. 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