Obesity in the United States is getting worse every year. Many classify obesity as a disease. The statistics according to the National Institute for health in 2014 show that 68.5% of adults are overweight or obese; 34.9% being obese. In 2009, the obesity rate had more than doubled in the United States since the 1970’s, but has somewhat plateaued in more recent years. Obesity has even reached epidemic proportions globally, with a minimum of 2.8 million people dying annually as a result of being overweight or obese. Once associated with high-income countries, obesity is now also prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. This is a major epidemic in our country and is one of the leading causes of health problems. Obesity leads to health issues such as: heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, gallstones, osteoarthritis and gout.
At the grocery store the other day I saw a gentleman, somewhat overweight, pushing a cart full of soda, chips, macaroni and cheese, and some other items of which had absolutely no nutritional value. I asked myself why this overweight man chose to buy foods like this because an increased intake of highly calorific foods, without an equal increase in physical activity, leads to an unhealthy increase in weight. People don’t want to be overweight, but do they have the knowledge to do anything about it? Nearly thirty-two percent of adolescents and children are overweight or obese; bad eating habits are bred into them. Society needs to focus on helping our youth lead more healthy and nutritional lives.
Parents need to be an active part of their children’s health. This includes managing their children’s weight and diets. Statistically speaking, if you are obese, your children will also be obese, so the buck stops with
