Increased Obesity
Throughout our lifetime we learned about how we should practice healthy habits and its benefits, but now it should be taken more seriously than ever. Obesity is the result of people consuming more calories than their bodies can burn, America's obesity has not doubled but tripled in the last fifty years. Obesity has now been labeled by the CDC as the 2nd leading cause of death in the United States. “Approximately nine million american children over 6 years of age are already considered obese”(Health in the Balance 22).
We are constantly fighting the battle of promoting fitness but the problem isn't only through physical activity but also within our foods. The reason this issue should be taken so seriously is because of the chronic diseases that come along with obesity. You are much more prone to illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and the list goes on. Now obesity can affect more than just physical health, we also are concerned about the toll it takes on mental health.
The goal is to take precautions starting at a young age to prevent the development of obesity and its diagnosis of illnesses that were once considered “adult” conditions such as type 2 diabetes. “This dynamic, in turn, sets the stage for a vicious cycle of obesity and metabolic disorders that could adversely affect the health of the population for generations. Additional evidence suggests that high rates of weight gain during infancy may increase a person's later risk of obesity. Thus, the trend toward stabilization of obesity rates could be temporary”(The New England Journal of Medicine 989). If we do not take action now to decrease the rate of obesity we will face the long term effects it holds over our youth.
References
Institute, O. M., Board, O. H. P. A. D., Food, A. N. B., & Committee, O. P. O. O. I. (2005). Preventing childhood obesity : Health in the balance. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.unlv.edu
Yanovski, S. Z., M.D., & Yanovski, Jack A,M.D., PhD. (2011). Obesity prevalence in the united states -- up, down, or sideways? The New England Journal of Medicine, 364(11), 987-9. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.unlv.edu/10.1056/NEJMp1009229