Chelsea Graham
ENG 132
Gruelich
April 24, 2012
Healthy
Living: Risks of Obesity
“Only
some overweight people are obese, but all obese people are overweight.” (Wexler
pg 7). In 2010 reports showed that one third of Americans were overweight, of
these, 72 million are considered obese. Obesity rates in the United States have
been on the rise as years pass. In 2009, Americans were reported “fatter than
ever before.” Americans were the heaviest since the U.S governments started
tracking patterns of body weight of the U.S. adult population of the 20th
century (Wexler pg 5). Americans weren’t born overweight, although there are
prenatal factors that tie into potential obesity in childhood and adulthood; it
is our society that has encouraged unhealthy habits that lead to obesity. There
are many ways to prevent obesity, that is, if you’re willing. Obesity is far
more dangerous than people realize, it is said to be the second, preventable,
leading cause of death after smoking (Wexler pg 3).
The
term overweight is defined as excess weight in relation to height. Not all
overweight people are obese though; some people have an increase weight due to
lean muscle mass, which often weighs more that fat itself. People with an
average height that are ten to thirty pounds overweight are at risk of
premature death (Wexler pg 7). Obesity usually effects middle to older age
groups and is seen differently throughout different races. Compared to whites,
African Americans’ obesity rates were 51 percent higher, while Hispanics were
21 percent higher than whites (Wexler pg 7).
Clinically
severe obesity is considered one hundred pounds over desirable weight (Wexler
pg.3). Diseases of the heart and stroke are the leading causes of death,
because of obesity. Overweight people are more likely to have high blood
pressure, which can be a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke (Weight
loss:..). Averages of 652,091 deaths have occurred because of various diseases
of the heart. Another major cause of illness and often death is diabetes.
Diabetes reduces your ability to control blood sugar which can cause early
death, heart disease, and stroke (Weight Loss:..).
Type
2 diabetes occurs when the body can't use the insulin that's produced, a
condition called insulin resistance. Because of the current epidemic of obesity
among U.S. children, type two diabetes is increasingly found in teenagers.
Diabetes has long been linked to obesity and being overweight. Research at the
Harvard School of Public Health showed that the single best predictor of type 2
diabetes is being obese or overweight (Risk Factors…). All of the access weight
on your body can leave stress on your heart, kidneys, nerves, and other organs,
and over time this buildup causes damage to these major organs.
It
is shocking to know that obesity,
chronic disease, cancer, and type two diabetes is not only being seen in
all ages of adults but are now being see in children. Children who are overweight in their younger
years of life are more likely to be overweight in adulthood. A child may not be
getting enough physical activity because they could be spending too much time:
watching television, playing video games, or sitting at the computer too often.
A child with a TV in their bedroom is 30 percent more likely to have a BMI greater
than the 85th percentile (Causes of Childhood…). In 2006 nearly three times as
many American children were seriously overweight compared with those children
overweight in 1976. In the last 20 years the prevalence of adolescence children
overweight has increased from 7.2 percent to 11 percent for age two to five and
from 11.3 percent to 15.1 percent for children aged six to eleven. Among
teenagers aged twelve to nineteen years old the percentage has nearly doubled,
from 10.5 percent to 17.8 percent (Wexler pg 57)! This is unfortunate, because children and
teenagers are not over weight just because they eat a lot or don’t get enough
exercise; other factors tie into why one might be overweight and/or obese.
Prenatal
factors often tie into obesity in childhood. Being overweight during pregnancy
can lead to low birth weight which is linked to future health problems. Rapid
weight gain as an infant can predict childhood obesity also. Research has found
that boys are at greater risk for obesity than girls (Wexler pg 57). Controlling
you child’s food intake and what they are eating is crucial. Give your child
three meals and only one or two snacks per day. Early on, encourage your child
to eat a variety of foods like: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy
foods, lean meat, and beans. You should never force your child to eat all the
food on their plate. These small changes by you, the parent, will make a big
difference in the cause of childhood obesity and your child's life (Causes of
Childhood…).
Being
overweight can take a toll on a child. Affected individuals could be at an
increase risk for emotional, psychological, and social problems. Overweight
teens sometimes suffer from depression and low self-esteem. Believe it or not,
over weight individuals are faced with weight-based discrimination in school
and in the workplace and may find themselves excluded from social
opportunities.
Researchers
have found that obesity is not only a result from willful overeating and
laziness, but from a combination of genetic, metabolic, behavioral, and
environmental factors (Wexler pg.25).
Geneticists show that if one parent is obese, then there is a 50 percent
chance that the child will be obese, and if both parents are obese, the child
has an 80 percent chance of becoming obese (Wexler pg. 61). Some feel that
obesity should be declared a disease and enabling more people to seek treatment
for obesity by providing health insurance coverage for treatment (Wexler pg
26). People who are ten pounds overweight are at risk of developing arthritis
in their joints, in their knees especially. When your knees and ankles,
especially, have to support and carry around all that extra weight, it can
eventually disable you to walk.
There
are ways to prevent obesity. Yes, it has been proven that genetics takes some
of the blame for childhood obesity, but environmental factors are also to blame.
For one, we have to blame the convenience of fast foods. It’s so much easier to
order from the drive through, where food is made quickly and sold for cheap, than
to make a balanced and healthy meal. It’s a fact that the later you eat, the
more of a chance you have to gain weight, depending on what you eat (Breus).
Most McDonalds are open 24/7, making it tempting and easy to eat whenever you
want, even late at night. Social media sites, such as, Facebook and Twitter,
have encouraged, teens, especially, to be on the internet, updating their
statuses, and keeping up with the latest gossip, instead of being outside,
doing something active.
To
some people it is so hard to eat healthy and nutritional food because there is
such a variety of “junk food” in today’s society. Unhealthy food is often cheap and easy to get and
prepare, this is why obesity levels are so high. Knowing how many meals a day you should eat and what
they should consist of will have you on your way to a better future. It is said that you should
eat three or four times daily with two or three snacks, such as a granola bar or a piece of fruit, in
between each meal, one
of these meals must be breakfast. Two benefits of eating breakfast are that it increases your
metabolism and also
helps you to eat less total calories by the day’s end. Skipping breakfast
encourages you to over eat throughout the day. They key to controlling your weight is keeping your
food intake and physical activity in balance. If you
consume one hundred more calories more than your body needs a day, you will gain approximately
ten pounds per year (Fitness Fundamentals). Our diet should be packed full of all different
nutrients to keep our bodies regular and free of diseases and cancer.
Obesity
has been a major health concern on the rise for many decades now. Obesity has
many risks that people, so often, look past. Health risks including: heart
disease, diabetes, and arthritis (to name a few), all are major risks linking
to obesity. It can be genetic if one of your parents is obese, but a higher
chance if both of your parents are overweight. Genetics can’t be blamed
entirely though; environmental factors have a huge toll on obesity, with the
convenience of fast food and the distraction of the Web. Parents should be more
concerned with their children’s’ weight from when their born to their toddler
stages; they should be teaching them right from wrong when it comes to eating
and getting an adequate amount of physical activity. Obesity can be prevented
by a combined, personalized approach for each patient. Every person has
different medical issues that spurred their weight-problem, including heredity,
lifestyle, and pre-existing medical conditions. A personalized plan addresses
all of these issues most successfully.
According to the article, “Nutrition
Guidelines Update” obesity has nearly doubled over the last three to four
decades. Living a
healthy life style should mean living a life in a way that helps one,
personally, be both physically and emotionally healthy (Healthy Lifestyle). People live all different
lives; some can’t afford adequate foods, others aren’t educated on the risks of
not keeping your body healthy.
It is important to know what nutrients the body needs to function daily; also
we need to know what variety of foods give us each nutrient the body needs. We must do some type of
physical activity each day, whether it’s just walking a distance or scheduling
a time to go to the gym each day.
Making a commitment, because we only have one body and one life, is the first
step to a healthy lifestyle and a better future (Fitness Fundamentals). As we age people begin to
develop more and more problems with their overall health, whether it’s your
body’s outer image or internal body. Eating healthy and maintaining regular physical fitness is
crucial because what we aren’t doing today to promote a healthier life will
catch up with us in later years of life.
Wellness
involves both choice and action (Healthy Lifestyle). It’s a wonder why some people are in denial about
their unhealthy lifestyle.
They do not believe the things they’re doing on a day-to-day basis will affect
them later on in life.
Some people don’t know what being healthy involves. When referring to a healthy lifestyle, one might ask
to themselves, “Do I get an adequate amount of rest, do I follow appropriate
nutrition, do I have
positive relationships in my life, and do I exercise regularly?” Making a commitment to a healthy life style
can reduce the effects of chronic illness, gives you more energy, and increase your self
esteem (Healthy Lifestyle).
It is important to keep a regular bed and wake time schedule. Make it a priority to allow,
seven to nine hours in bed nightly to get sufficient sleep and rest (Ten Simple
Things…).
When
asking yourself, what you should eat note that your goal is to feel healthy to
avoid any illnesses in the future and losing weight or maintain a healthy
weight is a guaranteed bonus.
You have to have some type of carbohydrate in your diet; any food with whole
grains would be a good choice.
Your body needs protein, so
it would be a good idea to keep a jar of nuts handy for a snack or incorporate
fish into your dinner menu.
When we think of fat in food it sounds like a red flag to stay away from it but
we need healthy fat in our diet,
such as, plant oils, and again, nuts and fish. Limit saturated fat and avoid
Trans fat (What Should I Eat). Fiber
gives us energy on a daily basis, fruit and whole grains are the main sources
of fiber. We all know
that we must keep up with our fruit and vegetable intake, but the most nutritional is the dark green,
yellow, orange and red ones. Calcium gives us strong bones, so drinking a glass of milk
and other dairy products will guarantee your daily supply of calcium. Eating
less salt is good for everyone’s’ health. Choose more fresh foods and less processed foods (What
Should I Eat). More than
80 percent of people consume less that the recommended daily allowance (Ten
Simple Things…). Taking
a multivitamin will help to improve immune functioning; some extra vitamin D
will help to boost your health.
The importance of drinking water and keeping your body hydrated cannot be overestimated.
Water is needed to survive and it can be used as a natural defoliant for your
body; eight glasses of
water is required for daily intake (Ten Simple Things…). Incorporating all these essential nutrients
into your diet with keep you on track to a healthier future.
Exercise to some people is such a
burden¸ and that is why
it is not a subject used in their daily lives. Exercise is one of those things that you do without
question. If you are just starting to add exercise in to your daily routine, be
patient and start simple,
like going on a ten minute walk each day. Physical
fitness helps us look, feel, and do our best. When beginning to exercise you
should consider your present fitness level, your age, health, skills, interest,
and convenience. Maybe
you are physically unable to go for a run, that’s ok, you can walk instead. Maybe you aren’t interested
in joining a gym; you would rather enjoy the outdoors and work out. You may not have time
everyday to take to work out, so before bed, do some leg lifts, or pushups and sit ups. Avoid
elevators, take the stairs instead. Jog to the mail box in the morning (even if it’s just a little
ways from your house).
If you consume only as many calories as your body needs along with exercising
daily, your weight will usually remain consistent. If you stop exercising, much of the fitness you have
gained will be lost within two weeks.
We learn from the examples of those
we look up to. Our
parents and role models play a big influence in how we lead our lives. Many of the habits that
people have today come from the way they were raised as a child. If parents didn’t make a
conscious effort to teach their children what is involved in a healthy life
style then it will be harder for people to grow into good habits. If all we were raised with
was junk food and too much television then it is going to be harder in the long
run to break those habits.
Although it is very possible to turn your life around it would take a lot of
hard work and effort.
More than it would take if you had been raised with the proper healthy eating
habits and life style.
Media also plays a big part today in
our lives. We daily see
television shows and movies that show people of all ages participating in
activities that can be dangerous to our bodies. Alcohol and drugs can hurt our bodies and be a
disadvantage to our lifestyle choices. Not only do they hurt our bodies but they cause us to not feel
good about ourselves. If
a person doesn’t have a positive attitude about trying to maintain a healthy
life style then they are less likely to go out and pursue it. Instead, they are consumed
by the longing to go out and party when what their body needs is something
completely different.
Sleep can also play a major role in
our lives. An individual
needs to have regular sleeping patterns and for an appropriate amount of time. If someone is not getting
enough sleep then their body is too tired to function correctly. It may cause them to not
care as much about dieting and working out because their body feels the need to
crash instead of push itself.
On the other hand, if someone is sleeping too much they may feel like there is
no time for them to do what they need. They use the few hours they have left to do other work and
neglect the options they have to help their body. Regular sleep patterns are also important; the body
needs to be on a set schedule so that it is working to its fullest potential
during the day
It
is very important that every person does everything within their ability to
live a healthy lifestyle.
Obesity is dangerous to your health and can lead to diabetes, heart disease,
and strokes; even worse, it can lead to death. There is no excuse for being so
over weight that you are at risk of potential death. Aerobic exercise is a must
in the everyday life, if you are serious about leading a good life; healthy
eating is a conscious decision that needs to be made at each meal. Poor eating habits combined
with lack of exercise and high stress can have been connected to health
problems such as: obesity, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes (Healthy
Lifestyle). You need to be intentional with your actions and
how you choose to spend your time. Take your health seriously, because you only have one body. Leading
a good lifestyle, while understanding your own body and the risks of not taking
care of it, will lead you on to a better, healthier life.
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