Obesity in the U.S.: The 21st Century Epidemic

This year roughly 400,000 Americans will die from obesity related problems. Obesity in the U.S. has reached epidemic proportions in the last twenty years and will soon replace tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death. Even more troubling news points out that obesity is not discriminatory. Obesity in children has doubled since the early eighties. How could this happen?

Obesity in the U.S. did not happen over night. The epidemic took several years of dietary changes and inactivity to grow to such numbers. It also took several years for national health experts to recognize obesity as a public health issue and not an issue of cosmetic appeal. 

The basic fact exists: calories in, calories out. In the seventies we drank soda out of a four-ounce Welch's jelly jar. The sixteen-ounce can of cola was divided between the three of us with some left over. Now, a small soda is often twelve ounces and comes with free refills.

Over the last several years the portion sizes have tripled in restaurants and fast food establishments. Before our very eyes but ever so gradually, plate size has grown until food portions spill over the sides. Now, when eating at a fine restaurant with realistic portion sizes, one is apt to wonder where all the food went. In the U.S. the excess portions are given the term "value." Value meals mean more food for your dollar. More food, more calories, more weight.

Value is one of the contributing factors to obesity in America. As obesity in America grows to 64 percent of the adult population and fifteen percent of children, the idea of value is being challenged. Value has cost Americans their health with obesity related illnesses like hypertension, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. 

A great deal of the responsibility for obesity in the U.S. comes from our lifestyle. In the last twenty years obesity in children has doubled and in teenagers has tripled. Statistics show that as many as 43 percent of teens watch more than two hours of television a day. Television is but one offender causing obesity in children and teenagers. Computer and video games are other sedentary activities contributing to obesity in America's children. Unfortunately, children and teens are increasingly choosing these activities over sports and other calorie-burning activities. 

What many people don't realize is that the same severe health consequences that occur with obesity in adults also occur with obesity in children. Type 2 diabetes, once considered an adult health problem related to obesity, is now occurring in children at an alarming rate. High levels of cholesterol, high blood pressure and other weight-related conditions once only seen in the adult population are now increasingly seen in children.

As if health problems aren't enough, obesity is leading to discrimination against children in school. One study suggested that disabled children were less discriminated against than obese children. And discrimination doesn't stop there. Advocacy groups offer support to individuals who are discriminated against in healthcare and the workplace. 

Now that Medicare and other insurance companies recognize obesity as a public health priority advocacy groups and other programs are available to educate, treat and support adults and children with obesity issues. National health officials hope to reduce obesity by fifteen percent in the next five years. We are key players in the effort to fight obesity. Each of us can help win the fight. 

Resources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2004, June). Factors contributing to obesity.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (nd). The Surgeon General's call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity.