Obesity is a condition where the body weight increases due to having an unnecessary amount of fat caused by an unhealthy lifestyle or sometimes, genetics.

Obesity in Our World

Obesity is a condition where the body weight increases due to having an unnecessary amount of fat caused by an unhealthy lifestyle or sometimes, genetics. This have been one of the most concerned about problems about health recently, especially in most developed countries. The world’s obesity rate has increased rapidly because of a lot of advancement in technology and people’s lack of control to what they eat and do. There are several reasons that can cause obesity, but the majority starts with laziness in exercising. The effects of obesity might be underestimated, but obese people are jeopardizing their health with heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and certain kinds of cancer. It can also cause depression and low self esteem. The number of overweight people has increased so much – in fact, nearly more than half the population of America are obese. It is time to look more carefully and pay our attentions to this problem. [1] [2] [3]

Thanks to today’s modern and advanced technologies, science has come up with various ways to reduce obesity. One of the treatments is diet pills and drugs that can suppress one’s appetite. For the more serious cases, people turn towards surgery. There are two existing procedures. One of them is stomach stapling or gastric banding, where staples and bands are used to make the stomach smaller. The other method, called Roux-en-Y, makes the stomach smaller as well and food can go around part of the small intestine. These treatments, however, have some risks to the patient. All of these things have the same effect – making the patient eat less (since their stomach is smaller, or a smaller appetite). The less food patients eat, the fewer calories are consumed, therefore lessening obesity. The safety of the diet pills have been questioned as they can have dangerous side effects and the surgeries can develop gallstones and bone diseases to some. But if the method works, it can benefit largely – most patients lose approximately 50 percent of excess fat for 12 to 18 months. [4] [5] [6]

Even science can help lessen obesity, it can have some limitations. Even with all the medication available, it all depends on the person. Whether they choose to live with their condition or seek out treatments, it is their choice. Though if someone did choose to take on surgery, they can lose weight for several years but there might be a time when the effects stop, and weight will be gained again. The obese patient must change their lifestyle in order to have a long term weight loss, and that is something that science cannot interfere with. Also, not everyone ...

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Culture can have many things to do with being obese or not. Race is not a factor, as obesity affects all races, genders and ages. One’s nurtured environment can play a big part in this. It all depends on how you were raised and where you lived. It is shown that the poorest 25% of a population is twice the amount of people in the upper classes of the economy. People living in poverty are more drawn towards cheap food, which includes packaged, high calorie soft drinks and fast food and away from the costly fruits and vegetables. [7]

Healthy diets and eating habits from different parts of the world aren’t the same to each other. The American and the Asian cultures can give the most apparent example on this statement. American people are willing to, or in other words, automatically choosing the short-term benefits over long-term health benefits in their daily habits. Due to the America’s accelerated and furious lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle is being replaced with all the fast-food that creates convenience in people’s daily life. Furthermore, Western culture has a stable and open fixation on their body’s shapes and sizes. On the contrary, Asian people are more concerned about their body’s figures. Asian youths believe that being thin and slim is the only way to be normal, therefore they created all kinds of restriction about their food choices in order to stay in shape. Since most Asians have the type of strong anti-fat attitudes, obese people can get isolated within their own community. Therefore, the openness and acceptance about obesity in Western’s culture has leads to the increasing in rates of overweight and obese people.

In many places, obese people are treated differently from others, particularly school aged children as they are often teased by their peers. It can lead to low self esteem, depression and eating disorders, which, in severe cases, can lead to suicide. [9]

Obesity is one of our society’s problems right now. Unfortunately, it is a reality that many of us are underestimating the effects of obesity. We just know that being fat and ugly are unhealthy, yet very few of us can actually have the consciousness to prevent it. Working on staying fit is not only beneficial for our internal but also external body. Based on many researches, obesity is a disease that we can prevent all the time. Therefore, why wouldn’t parents, spare some more time to avoid our children from junk foods and eat-out? As us, teenagers, why wouldn’t we show some more concerns to this health hazard and start living a healthy lifestyle? Vigorous and balanced diets with daily exercises will definitely be a big step for a future healthy life for all of us.

Bibliography

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2. "Overweight and Obesity." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 19 Aug. 2009. Web. 8 Sept. 2009. <http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/index.html >.

3. Dibez, Soline. "Cause and Solution to Obesity." Ezine Articles. 11 Aug. 2005. Web. 7 Sept. 2009. <http://ezinearticles.com/?Cause-and-Solution-to-Obesity&id=59257>.

4. "Medications." ObesityinAmerica.org. The Endocrine Society. Web. 8 Sept. 2009. <http://www.obesityinamerica.org/combatingObesity/meds.cfm>.

5. Rea, Caroline. "Obesity." Yahoo! Health: Diet & Fitness, Mind & Mood, Longevity, Conditions & Diseases, & Drug Guide. 4 Apr. 2007. Web. 9 Sept. 2009. <http://health.yahoo.com>.

6. "BBC NEWS | Health | Q&A: Obesity." BBC NEWS | News Front Page. 17 Mar. 2006. Web. 9 Sept. 2009. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/medical_notes/3189930.stm>.

7. "Culture matters in the obesity debate." Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times, 21 Sept. 2007. Web. 10 Sept. 2009. <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-dustup21sep21,0,5946625.story>.

8. "Obesity." Yahoo! Kids. Web. 7 Sept. 2009. <http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=obesity>.

9. "Stereotypes and the Effects of Obesity." Obesity Focused. Web. 9 Sept. 2009. <http://www.obesityfocused.com/articles/effects-of-obesity/index.php>.