Obesity Essay

One in every three Americans is obese. Worthy of notice is the statistical record showing that in the United States, roughly 300,000 deaths per year are directly related to obesity (http://www. medicinenet. com/obesity_weight_loss/page6. htm, 2003). This is alarming. The present day is perfectly described as a product of Mcdonaldization. In all walks of life, fast food restaurants are visible. This is a fact which greatly affects the health conditions of citizens particularly at an early age. One thing is attributable to this: people are not walking enough and people are not physically working enough! Worthy of notice are the effects of less walk and less physical activity. These include obesity and overweight. Obesity and overweight issues has been a subject of many inquiries nowadays. To define the two may be useful to distinguish one from the other. Obesity is simply one having excess fats in the body. Overweight on the other hand is one having excess weight over and above than the normal relative to one’s sex, gender and height (http://www. naturesintentionsnaturopathy. com/weight-loss/facts. htm, no year). More often than not, only cases of obesity result to various physical or health trouble ((http://www. annecollins. om/lose_weight/overweight. htm, no year)). But why tackle on both issues? Both obesity and overweight have physical and social adverse impact in day to day activities. First, on overweight. Experience tells us that having an overweight body is physically heavy to carry. Thus, oversized individuals tend to work less and move less. Resulting as it does to becoming more overweight and eventually becoming obese. Second, on obesity. Obesity, being a health dilemma may result to chronic diseases including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, heart attack, cancer osteoarthritis, to name a few (http://www. medicinenet. om/obesity_weight_loss/page6. htm, 2003). More importantly, obesity decreases life expectancy (http://www. annecollins. com/lose_weight/overweight. htm, no year). This is because studies show that obesity is associated with several diseases leading to early death. Caveat to all is the fact that not all overweight are obese and that not all obese are overweight. Thus, health problems associated with obesity may not be present in individuals who are merely overweight. nevertheless, it can be observed that solution to obesity is not in any way a hindrance. It does not have any adverse effect on the health of indidividuals, whether young or old. The way of resolving the problem is to first determine the causes. What causes obesity and overweight? One major reason of obesity and overweight is laziness. This means the refusal of one person to transport one’s self from home to gym. Research shows that over 34% of female and 12% of male adolescents take to time for leisure physical activity during a one-week period (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Social_influences_on_fitness_behavior, no year). Moreover, present leisure among teenagers and youngsters are focused on accessing computers and the internet. Thus, having little time or worst, no time at all for any physical activity. Considering these causes, attention may now be focused on resolving the problem. First is the Wellness on Wheels in England (WOW). England created a mobile gym with electronic fitness monitoring equipment. This was resorted to because of there is greater probability for individuals to involve in physical activity. Second is the Walking School Bus project. This was initiated by the Heritage Elementary School in San Diego. This allows the students to walking to their respective designated spots for purposes of waiting for people for a train of people to pick them up. This gives the students the opportunity to walk along with their peers in going to school (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Social_influences_on_fitness_behavior, no year). In this way, children at an early age are already exposed to physical activity. Because we have to remember that obesity starts at an early age. It is but proper that solution or shall I say prevention should likewise start at these ages. Both these projects boil down into one, physical activity or physical exercise. As said, people are not walking enough; people are not physically working enough! Walking and physical exercise of 30 minutes a day, for three days a week can lose up to a quarter-pound of fat a week. Constant activity could lose 12 to 15 pounds of fat from exercise alone. Take note, this is permanent solution (http://www. annecollins. com/lose_weight/overweight. htm, no year) as opposed to drastic ones. Constant physical activity and exercise such as walking help burn calories (http://www. medicinenet. com/obesity_weight_loss/page6. htm, 2003). More importantly, the United States is nowadays focusing projects in reducing obesity starting at early childhood. Thus, schools are the subject of various projects not only dealing with physical activity but on the health diet as well (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Obesity#Environmental_factors, no year). This is amazing but true. Thus, it is highly encouraged for people to take time to walk and participate in an activity which requires movement of the body, the best way being is walking. More importantly, notice should be given that prevention is better than cure. Thus, prevention particularly at an early age should be given particular attention.