Obese Children As Normal Weight example essay topic

Obesity Did you know that 20% of Idaho's population is obese? According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million adults are obese, and 9 million adults are severely obese. One-third of the American adult population is affected by obesity each year and is increasing. "The definition of obesity varies depending on what one reads, but in general, it is a chronic condition defined by an excess amount of body fat. A certain amount of body fat is necessary for storing energy, heat insulation, shock absorption, and other functions. The normal amount of body fat (expressed as percentage of body fat) is between 25-30% in women and 18-23% in men.

Women with over 30% body fat and men with over 25% body fat are considered obese". # Obesity is the second leading preventable disease in the U.S... We chose this topic because as athletes representing Lewis Clark State College we think it is important to live a healthy life style. Are you obese? This is a question that can be solved by a calculation.

Divide your weight, in kilograms, by the square of your height, in meters. Calculating BMI #Top of Form 1 [Weight (lbs) : height (in) 2 ] x 704.5 = BMI Bottom of Form 1 This is called your BMI (Body Mass Index). If the ratio is roughly 27 or more you are considered obese, but if the ratio is 40 or more you are considered severely obese. Other methods of finding out if you are obese is by your waist circumference, blood tests, or skin-fold measures. There aren't any specific symptoms, but with obesity there are major health problems that contribute to the disease. Some risks from obesity are arteriosclerosis, sleep apnea, skin disorders, gallstones, type two diabetes, cancer (prostate, breast, uterus, colon, and gallbladder) arthritis, and depression.

These risk factors will have a higher probability on an obese or overweight person with one or more of these health-related problems. Obesity has been seen in America since the 1960's, but now it has become a health concern. The CDC reported that in 2005 obesity would reach a 500,000 death toll, over taking smoking as the leading cause of death if the trend continued in 2004 of 400,000 deaths. There is no real reason or understanding why one culture will grow bigger than another, but it is obvious why a certain individual will gain weight.

Some psychologists say that it is the age of new technology that brings less activity in the American culture with T.V., Video games, Computers, fast food, and cars. People are more liking to stay at home than to take a walk outside. Some risks of individuals gaining weight are obese parents, obese childhood, food, pregnancy, medications, hormone problems, activity level, and age. People may have passes down genes or learn inactive lifestyles from their older peers. Some children are able to store more fat than the average child. Some people develop eating disorders.

Women are not able to lose weight after pregnancy. When people use medications like steroids or antidepressants to gain weight they are not able to lose the weight they gain. Hormones can effect the weight a person puts on because they are not able to control their body. When people are inactive the body is not able to burn off as much fat needed. A person will lose muscle to as they age adding to the risk of gaining weight. In some cases experts even believe that when a person is obese their body is able to set an ideal weight higher than it should be.

This makes it harder for a person to lose weight and to keep it off. An article in the Breaking News tells a story of a child's family in Britain thinking it was normal for their child to be obese. It stated that "researchers found that only a quarter of parents recognized when their child was overweight". # This is interesting because today in America's society the media promotes having the "Perfect Barbie doll body". It seems now that with the increase of obesity societies are gradually excepting obesity as normal. This is not good though because obesity causes many health problems.

To prevent obesity a person can see their doctor or dietitian about diets, exercise, and nutrition. Other methods are exercising, taking different methods of transportation (ex. Riding a bike to work or walking), count your calories, reduce alcohol, check your BMI, join a club or group for motivation, expert setbacks, and avoiding stress because it can sometimes make a person eat more. If this doesn't work treatments of dietary therapy, physical activity, behavior therapy, drug therapy, combined therapy, and surgery are other options to defeat obesity. Obesity impacts a lot of peoples lives in today's societies. Seeing people die from a preventable disease like obesity, in a world full of motivation and exercise is sad.

Living a healthy life style is important to a persons well being. As athletes representing Lewis Clark State College we work hard to stay in shape to set good examples for others. We hope that one day obesity will be defeated in numbers. Check to see if you are obese today. It could change your life!

Work Site The American Accreditation HealthCare Commission, "Obesity", Symptoms guide, All Refer. com Health, Copyright 2003 A.D.A.M., web gain. html The American Heritage (R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright (c) 2004, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Finally A Cure For Obesity, "What is Obesity?" , American Obesity Association, Copyright (c) 2002, web perspective: Parents see obese children as normal weight, Breaking News, Nov. 5, 2004, web.