Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide and its prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate (Barness et al, 2007). For thousands of years obesity was rarely seen, it was not until the 20th century that it became common, some much so that in 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally recognized obesity as a global epidemic (Caballero, 2007).
Overweight and obesity now affects at least 1.7 billion people. With the largest proportion in developing countries: In 2010, almost 2 billion people of the world’s population are overweight (BMI between 25 and 29.9 kg/m2) and more than half a billion are obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2). Using standard international criteria by 2015, the figure will be nearer 2.3 billion overweight and
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This is largely due to the fact that severely obese men often are dead of comorbid medical conditions, especially cardiac arrhythmias and coronary artery disease, by age 50 (Monteiro et al., 2004).
Obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects health or wellbeing. As methods that determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity and its many adverse health effects, it is being recognized as a serious public health concern (Lobstein and Leach, 2007).
The term overweight rather than obese is often used in children as it is less stigmatizing. Changing diet and decrease of physical activity are believed to be the two most important causes of the increase in obesity rate in children (Bessesen,
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The increased prevalence of obesity among high income groups in nonindusrialized countries may have changed as non-indusrialized countries become more affluent and obesity becomes more prevalent in individuals who have low socioeconomic status (Monteiro et al., 2004).
Egypt studied the prevelance of obesity and overweight among their populations and results were annoying. Salem et al. (2002) found that the prevalence of obesity among Egyptian children was 14.7% and 15.08% for male and female respectively.
In United States of America (USA), the prevalence of obesity was 10% among children 2 to 5 years of age and 15% among adolescents. When children at risk for obesity (overweight) were included, the values increased to 20% and 30%, respectively. Therefore, > 1 of every 4 patients examined by pediatricians either is obese or is considered to be at high risk for developing this challenging health problem (Ogden et al.,
Obesity or overweight has become, a common factor for millions of people in America and other countries. Since the 1980’s the number of obesity or overweight adults and children has more than doubled. Today nearly one third of 2.1 million people are either overweight or obese. Here in the
Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% .
Obesity is a big problem in our world today. From the beginnings of 1970’s, America is known for the country on the fast track for being overweight. Obesity can cause health related issues among the people. From the early childhood onwards kids got attacked by the type II diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and some other lifelong diseases.
The last decade has welcomed, with open arms, a new epidemic: obesity. Currently in the United States, more than one-third of adults, 35.7%, and approximately 17% of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is not only a problem in the US but also worldwide with its prevalence doubling in high income and economically advanced countries and is also growing in under-developed areas. Its incidence rate is continually increasing with each successive generation and in each age group, including the elderly (Byles, 2009; Dorner and Rieder, 2011).
Affecting over 36% of the population, obesity is a rising epidemic within the United States. An estimated 75% of adults over the age of twenty are classified as overweight or obese (Kolata, 2016). The disease affects women more significantly than men, with a greater prevalence within African American and Hispanic ethnic groups. Extreme obesity (BMI >40), affects six percent, and growing, of the American populace. This rise in obesity correlates not lonely with a lower life expectancy but also a rise in numerous other non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, pulmonary ailments, cardiovascular diseases, and mental health issues. Although the obesity epidemic is seen mostly within developed countries, such as the United States, the non-communicable disease is showing advancing prevalence and incidence rates worldwide, including low and middle income countries. The World Health Organization estimates one billion people are classified as overweight or obese (Kapil, 2016). In addition to the plethora of additional health care problems, obese patients are often hard to treat as the health care system does not yet have the equipment to detect, measure, or treat possible underlying problems. The treatment of obesity and related conditions is currently estimated to reach $100 billion within the United States (Kapil, 2016). Accounting for more than 100,000 premature deaths each year, the disease is the second highest noncommunicable and preventable disease
Adult overweight and obesity have become a worldwide issue that has very dangerous consequences on health. World Health Organization defines obesity as the “epidemic of the 21st Century”. WHO reports show that 1.9 billion people with 18 years age and older are overweight, and 600 million of them are obese. In the United States, obesity is a serious problem today that results from overconsumption of high-fat food and sugary food with lack of exercise. The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention reports show that the obesity rates are above 20 percent in all states. Overweight and obesity have become a major public health issue because of their high rates of mortality and morbidity. People who are considered overweight or obese are at increased
Thesis Statement: While there are many causes of childhood obesity, most are, in fact, preventable.
Besides, studies have shown that “The obesity epidemic ranks among the leading causes”. (WHO, 1998) are “poor diet and physical inactivity were the second leading cause of death in the USA in 2000 and may soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of avoidable death” (Mokdad et al.,2004). “Obesity is a complex medical condition, which has social and psychological dimensions and some major economic aspects.” (WHO, 2000). “It affects people of all ages and socio-economic groups, and of both genders, and is not restricted to developed countries” (WHO, 2000). From
Summary: This article goes on to tell us what a problem obesity is becoming. It’s becoming such a problem that nowadays Overweight and obesity are the main risk factors for many non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, and some types of cancers. Statistics show, in both developed and developing countries, that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is growing. It used to be in just developed countries that obesity and overweight was a problem. But now, it’s a problem in both developed and developing
The prevalence of obesity in the United States has doubled over the last two decades (Pomerantz et al, 2010) and tripled over the last three decades (Taylor et al, 2006); similar trends are also occurring worldwide (Sabharwal and Root, 2012).
It is no surprise that obesity is becoming an increasingly prominent health concern. In fact, since 1980 global obesity has almost doubled. (1) “The percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12-19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.” (2) “35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese.” (1) To put these percentages into perspective, in 2008 the world population was at almost 7 billion, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight, roughly 500 million were obese. (1) Obesity can no longer simply be a concern; it is a
Obesity remains an extremely serious problem worldwide. Once considered a problem for wealthier counties, overweight and obesity are now rapidly increasing in low and middle income countries (WHO, 2011). In American, the rates of obesity continues to rise. NIH (2012) recognizes obesity as a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other health problems. According IFT over two-thirds of the US are overweight or obese, and over one-third are obese (Fast food restaurants ‘not to blame’ for American obesity 2012). IFT.org (2012) in September it was predicated that 75% of Americans would be overweight in 2020. The problem is thought to cause Americans $150-170 billion in annual medical costs. Many people argue that the
There is no denying that obesity is becoming more global & problematic. More than half of people today, struggle with obesity, but also the credited disease, obesity causes. Coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and gallstones are examples of these diseases ("Obesity Disease and Condition"). Despite of researchers and their efforts to overcome this serious problem, obesity is still a threatening
Obesity is a condition in which the over accumulation of adipose fat tissue causes the weight of a person to increase abnormally. Their weight exceeds by 20%, as a factor of their ideal body weight. According to recent analysis, statistics show that more than one third of the world’s population is targeted by obesity. Research shows that overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. Obesity occurs greatly amongst adults who are 18 years or older. An estimated 600 million adults were obese out of the 1.9 billion that were overweight, around the world in 2014. One in three adults in Mexico, New Zealand and United States are obese, and one in four adults in Australia, Canada, Chile and Hungary are obese. In contrast, rates of obesity are much lower in Asian countries, where approximately 2-4% of adults have obesity. In countries such as Mexico and the United States, Latino and Africans have the highest rates of obesity amongst all the individuals. However, along with adults, statistics show that the rates for obesity are also high among children within and below the age of 5. As calculated in 2013, the number of children across the world that were either overweight or obese was 42 million. Since then, the rates have increased by 30% more in in low- and middle-income countries than in developed countries. Due to the fact that this condition continues at higher rates across the world, several organizations, such as the World Health Organization, are working with and
Obesity is classified as one of the extremely common and serious public health problems in the world. Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading global risks of mortality in the world (World Health Organization, 2009). Furthermore, they are one of the major factors of for a number of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer (World Health Organization, 2005). According to NHS UK, obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more for adults, and the UK 1990 growth reference curves are used to define obesity for Children (Cole TJ, Freeman JV, Preece MA, 1995). The growing challenge of obesity of Europe countries is remarkable among Asian countries .In 2008, 1.4 billion adults (35%) aged 20 and over were overweight and 500 million were obese (11%). More than 40 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2012(World Health Organization, 2014). That is the global obesity situation. Furthermore, the obesity problem in the UK is not optimistic, the UK has the highest obesity rates among Europe countries, and this trend has strikingly increased over the recent years to the point where more than 20% of the population are now obese. (University of Birmingham, 2014) However, the obesity situation in Singapore is more worrisome. In 2010, 40% adults aged 18 to 69 were overweight and 10% were obese which is more than double the level seen in 1992. (Ministry of Health Singapore, 2010) This essay will