This paper provides
some information about the issue of obesity, its
prevalence, reasons, medical hazards and principles
for treatment.
Obesity increased from 19.8 percent to 20.9 percent
of American adults between 2000 and 2001. More
than 44 million Americans are considered obese,
reflecting a 74 percent increase in the past decade.
The JAMA study showed that prevalence of obesity
varied widely among states. Mississippi had the
highest obesity rate (26 percent), and Colorado
had the lowest (14 percent). The study found significant
associations between overweight, obesity, diabetes,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma
and arthritis. Compared to adults with healthy
weight or a body mass index of 18.5 to 24.9, those
with a BMI of 40 or higher had an increased risk
of being diagnosed with those health conditions.
BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight
in kilograms by the square of her or his height
in meters. While Obesity is problem that cuts
across gender, racial and ethnic divisions, the
study found that blacks had the highest rate of
obesity (31 percent).
It is found from the studies that green tea is
very effective in reducing weight. It sounds to
be good news for people suffering from obesity.
(Taylor, 1998)
Another big problem with obesity is the cost.
In the USA, the direct cost, that is hospital
expenses, was $US51.6 billion, which is 5.7% of
the health budget. The indirect costs were $47.6
billion. Overweight and obesity-related illnesses
cost this country $117 billion annually. And,
health care costs are increasing again at double
digit rates in part due to obesity, diabetes and
other chronic diseases. What are some things public
health must do to reverse this trend? (Wickelgren,
p. 1364)
First, the future is a blur to Americans. We live
for today and don't fully understand or value
investing in our future health and quality of
life. For example, similar to how we don't save
and live on borrowed money to enjoy the material
pleasures of life today; Americans are living
dangerously and enjoying the immediate pleasures
of eating and sedentary living. Being surrounded
by opportunities to eat tempts the willpower of
people to limit consumption. The endless choice
of TV programs and allure of the Internet today
draw people away from getting regular physical
activity. (Hill & Peters, p. 1371-2)
Second, Americans live a life of contradictions.
We drink diet soda because it has no calories;
yet consume it with a huge bag of potato chips
or large piece of chocolate cake, both of which
are loaded with calories and fat. Infomercials
that pitch celebrity-endorsed exercise programs
and the latest exercise equipment fill the airwaves.
Yet, we often only go so far as purchasing these
products and trying them out for a few short weeks
at most. The funding for physical education has
essentially been eliminated in schools. This makes
the offer of revenue from vending machine sales
of soda and snack foods in schools too attractive
to refuse. Soda's contribution to obesity among
children has become a secondary consideration.
(Hill & Peters, p. 1371-2)
Third, we want our cake and to eat it too, stubbornly
believing that effective quick. Faxes exist. Knowing
this, many have become rich off of our pursuit
of the magic answer to weight loss, the perfect
body and more years of youth. Fen-Phen was all
the rage as the answer to obesity a few years
ago. Today, personal injury lawyers advertise
for Fen-Phen clients whose health may have been
harmed using this medication. The pharmaceutical
industry continues to pump millions of dollars
into discovering that magical-but-safe weight-loss
drug. There is a huge and eager market for this
product. Weight-loss books that promote every
diet imaginable fill bookstores and new ones are
being written every day. Liposuction has practically
become commonplace. (Tenney & Garcinia, 1997)
Medical Hazards of Obesity
Obesity is associated with an increased risk for
insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia,
cardiovascular disease, non-insulin-dependent
diabetes mellitus, gallstones and cholecystitis,
respiratory dysfunction, and certain forms of
cancer. (Pi-Sunyer, p. 655-671)
Principles for the Treatment of Obesity
• The core treatment of obesity must emphasize
permanent lifestyle changes-improvements in eating
and exercise habits and other behavioral changes
that support weight reduction and the maintenance
of a reduced weight.
• Neither pharmacotherapy, nor surgery,
nor the use of special dietary products is as
substitute for the changes in lifestyle-both eating
and exercise-that must be made.
• The risk of a given treatment modality
must be weighed against the health risk faced
by the patient because of obesity. The use of
high-risk treatments in low-risk patients is to
be assiduously avoided.
• Obesity is a chronic disease requiring
life long attention and follow-up. Failure to
appreciate this contributes to the high recidivism
rate of obesity treatment. (Pi-Sunyer, p. 655-671)
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