Nayeem Ali

Prof. Ian Murphy

English 11000

March 31, 2022

How Bad is Obesity in the USA? 

What is Obesity?

Obesity is a serious chronic disease. It Is defined as abnormal fat accumulation and it is very common in the United States, and it continues to increase in the United States. Obesity is no less than an epidemic in the United States as it is putting a strain on American families, affecting their overall health, productivity, and wealth due to the health care costs. 

What are the causes of obesity or what contributes to increasing obesity? 

Everyone is prone to obesity, whether it be a bad diet which consists of excessive fast food or bad genetics, even people with good genetics can become obese if they don’t take care of themselves. I will be discussing obesity in children and adults and how it is bad for them. One of the main reasons obesity is so common in America is that Americans don’t eat healthy enough or get the right amount of physical activity. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), less than 1 in 10 children and adults eat the recommended daily vegetables, and less than 1 in 4 youth get enough aerobic physical activity, which is the reason only 1 in 4 adults meet the physical activity guidelines. The problem however is not only bad habits related to the diet or physical activity of Americans but also the availability of these things within a reasonable proximity. About 40% of all US households do not live within 1 mile of healthier food retailers and more than half of Americans do not live within half a mile of a park (CDC, 2021).  

How to measure or know you’re at risk of obesity? 

According to CDC, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumferences are the two screening tools to estimate whether a person is underweight or overweight and the potential disease risk they have. In order to calculate BMI height and weight must be measured. It is most accurate to measure height in meters and weight in kilograms. However, the BMI formula has been adapted for height measured in inches and weight measured in pounds. A high BMI can indicate high body fatness, and a low BMI can indicate low body fatness. If your BMI is less than 18.5, then it falls within the underweight range. If your BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, it falls within the normal or Healthy Weight range meaning this is the ideal BMI. If your BMI is 25.0 to 29.9, it falls within the overweight range meaning you should be careful with your diet and eat less. If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the obese range.

Obesity in children:

Childhood obesity is a significant, chronic health condition described as having excess body fat and categorized by a body mass index (BMI). Childhood obesity is most commonly caused by excessive caloric intake and/or low or no physical activity and is heavily influenced by the child’s environment or community (Kumar & Kelly, 2017). The number of calories intakes matters because if you take significantly more calories than what is needed for normal growth and development, it will cause a positive energy imbalance, which contributes to the high rates of obesity (CDC, 2021). Childhood obesity affects about 18.5% of the youth population in the United States, which averages to about 13.7 million children with obesity (CDC, 2021). This is no less than a disaster because childhood obesity is terrible for children, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  about one in five children and more than one in three adults struggle with obesity, and children with obesity are more likely to have obesity as adults (CDC, 2021). The prevalence of childhood obesity has been on the rise over the past few decades and now it has emerged into a challenging health care problem. Without early identification, prevention, and treatment during childhood, obesity may persist into adulthood with an increased risk for mortality (CDC, 2021). Children and ​​adolosencts can face so many health issues such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cancer, they also face issues unrelated to health, such as bullying, low self-esteem, social isolation, and discrimination.  

Obesity in adults:

While U.S. obesity rates have, overall, stayed steady since 2003, they have more than doubled since 1980. They remain worrisomely high-the highest among all of the high-income countries in the world. And obesity takes a heavier toll on some U.S. ethnic and racial groups than others, with rates continuing to rise. The major concern for obesity is needed because,  two out of three U.S. adults are overweight or obese (69 percent) and one out of three are obese (36 percent).About one in four young adults are too obese to serve in the U.S military (CDC, 2021). Obesity affects some groups more than others, obesity rates are higher in non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and Mexican American adults than in non-Hispanic White adults. The obesity prevalence was 40.0% among adults aged 20 to 39 years, 44.8% among adults aged 40 to 59 years, and 42.8% among adults aged 60 and older (CDC, 2021). If U.S. obesity trends continue to rise without any signs of slowing down, by 2030, it is predicted that roughly half of all men and women will be obese which is extremely bad because of the cost of health care, and that these people can suffer with so many health issues, the problem of obesity especially at such a high levle will only cause problems so it is definetly not something to be taken lightly.  

A map of obesity in America (CDC, 2021)

Consequnces due to obesity: 

Health Issues: There are many health issues possible from obesity, adults suffering from obesity compared to those with a healthy weight, are at increased risk for many serious diseases and health conditions, including the following: High blood pressure (hypertension), high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides (Dyslipidemia), type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke gallbladder disease, and osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage and bone within a joint) which must be extremely painful. Obesity can also lead to sleep apnea and breathing problems, many types of cancers, low quality of life, mental illness such as clinical depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders, at last body pain and difficulty with physical functioning. Anyone knwing about these diseases and that these diseases can result from obesity would definetly hit the gym multiple times a week and eat healthy and carefully taking in account for the calories in take. 

Economic issues: Obesity is such a big problem in the United States that it takes a toll on the economy, in 2008 obesity costs the US healthcare system about $147 billion dollars a year which is an insane amount of money. Also, medical costs for people who have obesity was $1,429 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight (CDC, 2021). The estimated cost of obesity in the United States was $480.7 billion in direct health care costs and $1.24 trillion in indirect costs due to lost productivity in 2016. Although these numbers are  ridiculous already, this economic issue can become incredibly worse in the future because obesity is the most prevalent disease and it is predicted to increase to 48.9% by 2030

How can we battle obesity?

There is no single or easy solution to the obesity epidemic in the USA especially because we are talking about solving the issue of obesity at the national level. It’s a complex problem, so there has to be a multifaceted approach, to fight obesity at a national level you need policymakers, state and local organizations, business and community leaders, school, childcare and healthcare professionals, and individuals working together to create an environment that supports a healthy lifestyle. There are several ways state and local organizations can create a supportive environment to promote healthy living behaviors that prevent obesity.

The obesity epidemic needs to be under control as soon as possible because, its impact on the cost of our health budget has become unbearable. Whatever we have been doing to fight obesity has not been effective, so we need a new plan that is more focused and centered around fighting obesity by helping patients individually. Patients with obesity need to receive a long-term, interdisciplinary, and personalized approach. It is important to identify the cause of obesity, in order to develop a therapeutic plan addressing nutrition, physical activity, and appetite control as well as sleep habits and psychological factors such as stress, anxiety, and depression. Currently, we have several medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat obesity; however, Health Care Professionals (HCPs) do not readily prescribe them. If this circumstance were to be applied to other chronic diseases, such as T2D, heart failure, or ulcerative colitis, we would be referring to such behavior as medical malpractice.  This is ridiculous because if we can help people with medications that work then why aren’t we doing so? It is better we do everything to help people fight obesity as soon as possible. 

Work Cited:

CDC. “Overweight & Obesity.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Feb. 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html. 

Henderson, Natasha N. “Childhood Obesity: Improving Outcomes Through Primary Care-Based Interventions.” Pediatric Nursing, vol. 47, no. 6, Nov.-Dec. 2021, pp. 267+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A688567428/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=09bd95cd. Accessed 3 Apr. 2022.

“Adult Obesity.” Edited by Harvard T.H. Chan , Obesity Prevention Source, 14 Apr. 2016, https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-trends/obesity-rates-worldwide/. 

Burguera, Bartolome, et al. “Obesity Medical Therapy: It Is Time to Take the Bull by the Horns.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, vol. 96, no. 12, Dec. 2021, pp. 2939+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A689992328/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=9b5c176d. Accessed 3 Apr. 2022.