Obesity in the United States

Paper Summary:

This paper claims that it is becoming obvious that there are numerous causes for the obesity epidemic in America, ranging from easy accessibility of food of all sorts, diminished opportunities to walk as part of daily life, invention of attractive sedentary activities such as computer game playing, genetic factors and possibly others as yet undiscovered. The paper contends that in order to change this process, the attention and cooperation of adult Americans is needed. The paper assesses that pointing out the immediacy of the problems caused by obesity is a place to start; educating American adults about the most effective food choices is another, as is encouraging exercise. The paper explains that because the connection between the myriad health problems is not of concern to most Americans, until they have experienced ill health, it might be necessary not to frighten them away from ineffective behaviors, but to reward them for adopting effective ones. With the cost of obesity to the nation as a whole, it would seem worthwhile to investigate the possibility of rewarding companies for creating foods that more closely follow the updated guidelines and rewarding citizens for participating in nutritional education and exercise programs that enhance, rather than damage, health.
Outline
Introduction
Pockets of Obesity
Obesity in Adults
Obesity in Youth
Children in WIC Program
Costs of Overweight and Obesity in Georgia
Epidemic Proportions
Etiology of Overweight and Obesity
Effects of Obesity and Overweight
Reducing the Incidence of Obesity
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"There are various concepts concerning the development of overweight and obesity, from the purely genetic to the purely environmental to a combination of the two. Spence-Jones notes that "The chronic nature of obesity develops as a result of the interaction between an individual's genetic structure, cultural influences, lifestyle behaviors, and other environmental factors" (2002). As subsets of those findings, Spence-Jones notes that some view obesity as a behavioral problem based on poor nutritional knowledge and poor eating habits, along with scant exercise. Acknowledging that possibility, Spence-Jones notes that society has experienced increased reliance on motor vehicles because of urban sprawl, removing significant daily walking from human behavior in those areas. In addition, such leisure activities as video games and computer surfing have increased the number of hours people spend in sedentary activities. In addition, Spence-Jones notes, some believe the abundance and easy accessibility of 'junk' food has contributed to the problem, as has advertising: "The food industry spends an estimated $26 billion on annual advertisement" (Spence-Jones 2002) and much of it is for fast-food chains and snack foods."

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