Free Essays on Obesity

Obesity is a disease that affects nearly 1/3 of Americans, and is one of the largest diseases in this country. I picked this disorder, because I know many people that suffer with it, and don’t even realize it. I hope to learn information more on it, and inform them more about it. My motivation behind this whole paper is to get a better understanding of what obesity is, and how come more than one out of three people in our country are obese. Some of the questions I was hoping to answer is: â€Å"are there there different kinds of obesity?† â€Å"Is obesity a medical condition, or can people make themselves obese without having a problem?† After doing research, I found out that I already knew of information about this subject, which I had learned previously. I knew generally what obesity was, but didn’t really know more than it being an â€Å"extremely overweight person†. I did not know the details, such as the fact that there is a Body Mass Index (BMI) which is a mathematical formula which represents weight levels associated with the lowest overall risk to health. Obesity can be measured with height and weight charts, although they are not always accurate due to muscle mass, and different things in which different bodies vary. Obesity is actually defined as an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue in relation to lean body mass. Body fat can be estimated in many ways, including skinfold measures, waist-to-hip circumference ratios, and even ultrasound, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging. I found the answer to the questions that I wanted answered, and found out that obes ity in some is a medical condition, which cannot be controlled, and they may have an overactive thyroid. In some scenarios, however, it is not a medical issue, and is just that of laziness, and being a sloth. There are different stages of obesity, from mild to extreme. Some people are considered â€Å"slightly† obese, while others a... Free Essays on Obesity Free Essays on Obesity Currently, in the United States obesity has become an epidemic. Everywhere you look your sure to see an individual’s that is overweight or even obese. â€Å"Results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2000 indicate that an estimated 64% of U.S adults are either overweight or obese, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more† (Defining Overweight and Obesity 1). What causes obesity? Is it our genetic make up? Is it Metabolic or Behavioral? Many different people from Doctors to scientist and even your plain Jane or average Joe would agree that the problem is within our society. As a whole we just plain over eat and have a lack of activity in our life. We need to watch our caloric intake of food by eating healthier. In addition, we as a nation need to get away from the â€Å"couch-potato† lifestyles and get a moving. The human body needs to burn the calories which we have consumed by some form of exercise. Walki ng, running, or riding your bike is a few activities we can do to improve our physical health. Obesity is defined as an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue in relation to lean body mass. How could we measure the amount of body fat to determine our body mass? Desirable weight stands are derived in a number of way, one way is by using a mathematical formal known a Body Mass Index (BMI), you can use heights and weights measured and collected on people who represent the U>S population by the National Center for Heath Statistics. You can measure Waist Circumference or even waist to hip ratio (WHR). * All of the following will give you a general standard to go by. Humans with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered overweight and a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese. But lets say your are eating healthy foods and are very active and you still seem to have a bit of a weight problem. Is their an obesity gene that can treated? Over the past many years, scientists ha... Free Essays on Obesity Obesity is a major problem to many Americans as well as many people around the world. â€Å"Obesity is a complex, multi-factorial chronic disease involving environmental (social and cultural), genetic, physiologic, metabolic, behavioral, and psychological components† (American Obesity Association). Obesity is the cause of many diseases and psychological problems. There are many causes of overeating. The young to the old are susceptible to obesity. Being excessive overweight can cause many problems to adolescence and to people who are considered senior adults. Many treatments are available to those who are suffering from excessive weight. Obesity is a disease that has some very harmful side effects, but in most cases can be brought to a minimum. Obesity is widespread among Americans. About a third of the adult population of the United States is obese. This is right at 60 million people being obese. The total amount that is overweight or obese is an astonishing 64.5 percent (American Obesity Association). Like other eating disorders overeating and obesity come from psychological, biological, and sociological factors. Doctors have even said that obesity might be a result from a resistance or a diminishing production of the hormone leptin (Kirkpatrick and Caldwell, 60). Many times overeating is the result of loneliness or stress (Arenson, 19). â€Å"Eating disorders arise when you learn to apply comforting activities involving food as solutions to life’s problems, just as you apply a Band-Aid to a cut† (Arenson, 21). In many studies it was proven that loneliness and low self esteem can cause overeating. Some cases of overeating come from the reaction to being raised in a broken home. Some turn to food b ecause they have a fear of not being accepted and are afraid of being rejected (Arenson, 33). Obesity has been linked to personal trauma, factors relating to the environment, and even to genes (Mayer, 59). A key fact... Free Essays on Obesity Obesity is a disease that affects nearly 1/3 of Americans, and is one of the largest diseases in this country. I picked this disorder, because I know many people that suffer with it, and don’t even realize it. I hope to learn information more on it, and inform them more about it. My motivation behind this whole paper is to get a better understanding of what obesity is, and how come more than one out of three people in our country are obese. Some of the questions I was hoping to answer is: â€Å"are there there different kinds of obesity?† â€Å"Is obesity a medical condition, or can people make themselves obese without having a problem?† After doing research, I found out that I already knew of information about this subject, which I had learned previously. I knew generally what obesity was, but didn’t really know more than it being an â€Å"extremely overweight person†. I did not know the details, such as the fact that there is a Body Mass Index (BMI) which is a mathematical formula which represents weight levels associated with the lowest overall risk to health. Obesity can be measured with height and weight charts, although they are not always accurate due to muscle mass, and different things in which different bodies vary. Obesity is actually defined as an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue in relation to lean body mass. Body fat can be estimated in many ways, including skinfold measures, waist-to-hip circumference ratios, and even ultrasound, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging. I found the answer to the questions that I wanted answered, and found out that obes ity in some is a medical condition, which cannot be controlled, and they may have an overactive thyroid. In some scenarios, however, it is not a medical issue, and is just that of laziness, and being a sloth. There are different stages of obesity, from mild to extreme. Some people are considered â€Å"slightly† obese, while others a...