obesity a growing problem essay

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Obesity is a Disease: Why it Happens, and Why it Matters

Scientists now understand weight gain is not simply a problem of willpower..

T here has been a pervasive idea in society that obesity is a sign of personal failure—that it is caused exclusively by lack of willpower, laziness, and “gluttony.” The science does not agree. In 1998, the National Institutes of Health declared obesity a disease and the American Medical Association followed suit in 2013.

Let’s look at three key reasons obesity is more a disease then a personal failing, and how this knowledge can help you control your own weight—or be more understanding of others’ struggles.

Human Biology. The prevalence of obesity (a body mass index over 30) among U.S. adults is 42 percent and rising. Although lifestyle choices (like what we eat and how much we move) are important, our natural biology plays a key role in the current obesity epidemic. “Human biology is designed to encourage us to eat when food is there,” says Susan B. Roberts, PhD, a professor at the Friedman School and senior scientist on the Energy Metabolism Team at the Human Nutrtion Research Center on Aging. “This normal biology combines with an unhealthy food environment and food culture to cause weight gain. So-called ‘low willpower’ is normal human behavior, not some defect.”

What to do: Take control of your food environment. Stocking the house with healthy (whole and minimally processed) foods, watching portion sizes, preparing more food at home, and choosing wisely when eating out or ordering in can all help curb the natural tendency to overeat.

Metabolic Adaptation. In addition to storing energy (calories) for future use, fat (adipose tissue) acts as a powerful endocrine organ, secreting hormones and other molecules into the blood. “Many of the hormones released by adipose tissue are involved in regulating appetite, energy expenditure, and fat storage,” says Leon I. Igel, MD, a Tufts alum who is an endocrinologist and chief medical officer for Intellihealth. For example, adipose tissue releases the hormone leptin to signal we’ve had enough to eat. Individuals with obesity can develop a lack of sensitivity to leptin, or leptin resistance. With this condition, one doesn’t get the normal feelings of fullness and satiety and the body starts to burn less calories at rest. Leptin resistance thus contributes to a vicious cycle of obesity.

Many other hormones are released by fat cells, including those involved in glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, cell growth, inflammation, and the formation of blood clots in veins and arteries. “As levels of adipose tissue increase,” Igel explains, “multiple metabolic pathways stop working as they should. This leads to the development of a number of medical conditions associated with obesity.” Metabolic changes are also responsible for making it difficult to maintain weight loss.

What to do: Science suggests specific foods have different effects on weight gain. “Eat more minimally processed fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, whole grains, fish, and yogurt,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, dean of policy for the Friedman School and editor-in-chief of this newsletter. “Foods with live probiotics and fermented foods may also help protect against weigh gain. Eat less refined grains, starches, sugars, and red and processed meat. Avoid soda and other highly sweetened drinks. Alcohol is also associated with weight gain—if you drink, do so moderately. Other animal foods, like milk, cheese, poultry, and eggs, appear, in observational studies, to be relatively neutral for long-term weight gain.”

Getting adequate sleep, increasing physical activity, and finding ways to reduce or deal with stress can also help address some of the physiological reasons we gain weight.

Even metabolic adaptations that slow metabolism and make weight loss maintenance difficult may be responsive to dietary intake. “Recent controlled trials show metabolic adaptation is influenced by diet quality and composition,” says Mozaffarian. “This research found that after weight loss resting metabolic rate was best maintained on a high fat, low carb diet (60 percent energy from fat, 20 percent from carbs) compared to a low fat, high carb diet (20 percent energy from fat, 60 percent from carbs), leading to about 300 more calories of energy expenditure a day.” Effects were in between on a moderate fat, moderate carb diet (40 percent energy from each). All the carbohydrates in these diets emphasized fruits, non-starchy vegetables, beans, and whole and minimally processed grains, rather than refined grains and added sugars.

Health Impacts. Obesity is the root cause for many medical diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. It is also a risk factor for poor self-esteem, depression, obstructive sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gout, female infertility, gallstones, pancreatitis, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. “This makes obesity its own complex medical disease,” says Igel. “We treat each of these other weight-associated conditions individually, but if we are able to treat obesity itself, we reduce all of these other medical issues at the same time.”

What to do: As with the treatment of other conditions—like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes—medication may be necessary if lifestyle modifications are not enough. New medications, in combination with lifestyle changes, can help overcome the body’s metabolic adaptations and assist with weight loss. However, these tend to be expensive and are not yet widely covered by health insurance programs.

It is important to recognize that people with obesity who struggle to lose weight are fighting a real battle with their own bodies. It’s equally important to understand that we are not entirely helpless in the face of our genes, hormones, and metabolism. Lifestyle modification, including diet and physical activity, is still the cornerstone of obesity treatment. Accepting that obesity is a disease will help reduce stigma and discrimination, increase research dollars and insurance coverage, and move us all toward a healthier future.

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Why obesity is rising and how we can live healthy lives

More than 1 billion people are now living with obesity around the world. Image:  Unsplash/Bruna Branco

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Stay up to date:, global health.

• More than 1 billion people are now living with obesity, a new study finds, as global food systems and technology have led to changes in what and how much we eat.
• Obesity is a form of malnutrition and can lead to a range of non-communicable diseases.
• Experts at the World Economic Forum 2024 Annual Meeting in Davos discussed how governments and the public sector could tackle obesity.

The word malnutrition is most often associated with people who are underweight through hunger. But it equally applies to people who are obese.

Together, underweight and obesity are known as the ‘double burden’ of malnutrition – and globally, there are now more people who are obese than underweight.

In fact, more than 1 billion people are now living with obesity , according to recent research in The Lancet, which equates to one in eight.

Have you read?

The weight of inaction: why is the impact of obesity not being taken seriously, the global cancer burden is growing – here's what needs to happen, measles cases are rising – here’s what can be done.

The study used data from 197 countries, covering more than 99% of the world's population, to examine global shifts in underweight and obesity between 1990 and 2022, "a period of substantial change in food and nutrition".

It found that, over the three decades, the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled in adults and quadrupled in adolescents aged between 5 and 19.

The only region where more people are underweight than obese is Southeast Asia, while the highest combined rates of underweight and obesity in 2022 were island nations in the Pacific and the Caribbean and countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Obesity is more prevalent in women than in men, the study found. Meanwhile, separate studies have found that not only is there an obesity pay gap, but that there's an obesity gender pay gap , with women being paid less than men.

As Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said, the study highlights the “importance of preventing and managing obesity from early life to adulthood, through diet, physical activity, and adequate care, as needed”.

What is obesity and why is it an issue?

Zero Hunger is the second of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals , but the targets specify “ending all forms of malnutrition” by 2030, including obesity.

The WHO defines obesity and overweight as “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health”. It is both complex and multifaceted, caused by the interaction between biological, genetic, social, psychological and environmental factors . A common misconception is that obesity is a result simply of diet and exercise.

It’s thought that, in 2019, around 5 million deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were caused by being above the optimal BMI or Body Mass Index – a measure that looks at your height and weight to work out if you’re a healthy weight.

NCDs, which include cardiometabolic diseases (such as high blood pressure and diabetes) and cancer, are responsible for around three-quarters of all deaths .

Obesity is in fact linked with more than 200 comorbidities (when people live with more than one disease at a time), according to the American Medical Association , including heart disease and multiple types of cancer.

Studies on the ‘paradoxical state of malnutrition’ in obesity have found that obese people are lacking in essential nutrients more than people with a healthy body weight.

Malnutrition occurs when the body doesn’t get enough or is unable to absorb nutrients, which can have a negative effect on physical performance, cognitive functioning, and well-being.

Why are rates of obesity rising?

The rise in obesity is due to a combination of economics and technology that has altered global food systems and consumption patterns.

The Lancet study finds that in the decades leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher incomes around the world enabled people to spend more on food. At the same time, food systems shifted away from subsistence and local farming to an emphasis on transported commercial products.

Simply put, what we consume has changed. People in low- and middle-income countries are largely able to eat more calories, more animal products, and more sugar.

Meanwhile, food processing technology and the “industrialization of food” has meant we’re consuming more ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which lead to “higher caloric intake and weight gain than fibre-rich foods such as whole grains and fruits”.

In the US, for example, UPFs account for 58% of an adult’s diet , according to the British Medical Journal.

These foods are high in salt, sugar, additives and preservatives are designed to be cheap and convenient.

“Both poverty and the cost of food, especially nutrient-rich foods, have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine,” says the Lancet study.

“Together with the adverse impact of climate change on food production and supply, these factors risk worsening both underweight and obesity through a combination of underconsumption in some countries and households, and a switch to less healthy foods in others.”

At the same time, there has been a drop in adult energy expenditure, possibly due to shifts in work and transport, which may have contributed to the rise in obesity.

What needs to happen?

“There is an urgent need for obesity prevention, supporting weight loss and reducing disease risk in those with obesity,” the authors of The Lancet study said.

“Prevention and management are especially important because the age of onset of obesity has decreased, which increases the duration of exposure.”

Commenting on the study, the WHO’s Dr Tedros said meeting the global targets for curbing obesity would require “the work of governments and communities, supported by evidence-based policies from WHO and national public health agencies.

“Importantly, it requires the cooperation of the private sector, which must be accountable for the health impacts of their products.”

At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2024, experts came together to discuss Fighting the Obesity Epidemic .

Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, joined Glen Tullman, Founder and CEO of Transcarent, Shamsheer Vayalil, Founder and Chairman of Burjeel Holdings Plc, and Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of Novo Nordisk Foundation, to discuss how societies and health systems can better prepare for and respond to the challenge.

Foreshadowing Dr Tedros' comments, the panellists said addressing obesity was a whole-of-society and systems issue – requiring multi-stakeholder action.

They stressed the urgency of early intervention, beginning with education and awareness at the youngest levels of society alongside parents and families.

Solutions included the impact of food labelling, exercise, and creating access to healthy food.

"The largest amount of sodium is consumed in bread, but most consumers don't understand that," explained Brown.

She said integrating the prescribing of healthy food into the healthcare system could dramatically improve health outcomes in the US.

The Global Health and Strategic Outlook 2023 highlighted that there will be an estimated shortage of 10 million healthcare workers worldwide by 2030.

The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Health and Healthcare works with governments and businesses to build more resilient, efficient and equitable healthcare systems that embrace new technologies.

Learn more about our impact:

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• Mental health policy: In partnership with Deloitte, we developed a comprehensive toolkit to assist lawmakers in crafting effective policies related to technology for mental health .
• Global Coalition for Value in Healthcare: We are fostering a sustainable and equitable healthcare industry by launching innovative healthcare hubs to address ineffective spending on global health . In the Netherlands, for example, it has provided care for more than 3,000 patients with type 1 diabetes and enrolled 69 healthcare providers who supported 50,000 mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• UHC2030 Private Sector Constituency : This collaboration with 30 diverse stakeholders plays a crucial role in advocating for universal health coverage and emphasizing the private sector's potential to contribute to achieving this ambitious goal.

Want to know more about our centre’s impact or get involved? Contact us .

But healthy food and active lifestyles are “not accessible or affordable for people with low income and autonomy”, the study authors point out.

“Unaffordability and inaccessibility of healthy foods and opportunities for play and sports leads to inequalities in obesity, and could limit the impact of policies that target unhealthy foods.”

As it concludes: “There is an urgent need for programmes that enhance healthy nutrition, such as targeted cash transfers, food assistance as subsidies or vouchers for healthy foods, free healthy school meals, and primary care-based nutritional interventions.”

It's clear to me that, in dealing with obesity, we need to look at the wider healthcare picture and prioritize three key areas:

• Strengthen health systems so that obesity care and management can be included in routine primary healthcare
• Bolster healthcare professionals’ training as few are adequately trained on obesity or nutrition
• Increase investments in research and ensure there is equitable access to care as obesity disproportionately impacts certain groups – often lower-income populations

Businesses also have a role to play. The World Economic Forum's Healthy Workforces initiative is a multi-stakeholder collaboration focused on leveraging the workplace setting to promote the holistic well-being of employees, their families and society at large.

A vital part of this initiative is our work on Healthy Weight and Metabolisms , which focuses on increasing awareness, sharing best practices and supporting a whole-of-society approach to addressing obesity.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Home > Books > Adiposity - Epidemiology and Treatment Modalities

Obesity as a Growing Public Health Problem

Submitted: 03 May 2016 Reviewed: 12 September 2016 Published: 15 March 2017

DOI: 10.5772/65718

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Adiposity - Epidemiology and Treatment Modalities

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Obesity is one of the most important reasons for reduced life expectancy within the “modern” world. The prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to increase both in developing and in developed countries. It is common in every age group, from pediatric to geriatric individuals, which serve as our future and heritage in the universe. It was clearly seen in reported studies around the world that overweight and obesity are still growing epidemic health problems. It is well known that obesity results in impaired health and premature death. Obesity does not only impair the physical and mental health of people but also impairs economic wealth of most communities. The heavy burden of treatment cost and reductions in effective labor power leads to financial losses all over the world. Obesity has a higher morbidity rate than diseases emanating from underweight. Primarily, we have to find a reasonable and sustainable solution to this problem, in order to reach the longer life expectancy and more qualified life span in the twenty-first century. The policy makers in health services and health professionals in medicine have important roles to prevent and cure this “contemporary” epidemic. Additionally, the most crucial step for people is to get rid of the prevailing inertia and take personal responsibility for their health development.

• public health

Author Information

Hülya çakmur *.

• Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Kafkas, Kars, Turkey

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1. what is obesity and its health-related and economic consequences.

As far as we know, there was no obesity problem in the early age of life on Earth while the human being had lived as a hunter and gatherer. Unfortunately, improvements in agriculture, food processing, marketing, rural, and urban planning with low physical activity patterns, resulted in an “obese world” over time. The body weight is regulated by various physiological mechanisms that maintain the balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Obesity occurs when the body consumes more calories than it burns, through overeating and underexercising [ 1 ]. Obesity could be defined as a final picture of abnormal, excessive fat accumulation in the body because of increased feeding and decreased physical activity [ 2 ]. When the body weight exceeds 20% above what is considered normal, according to standard age, height, and weight tables, it is defined as obesity [ 3 ]. Obesity is not only a cosmetic concern, but it is also a complex disorder, which increases the risk of impaired health. According to various studies, overweight and obesity are important contributing factors for the development a variety of mental and physical disorders [ 4 , 5 ]. Excess bodyweight is the sixth most important risk factor contributing to the overall burden of disease, worldwide [ 6 ]. The obese individuals incur an elevated risk from all-cause mortality. It has been reported that obesity is the fifth leading risk factor for global deaths. The mortality rate from all causes in the obese population is at least 20% higher, compared to the normal-weighted society [ 7 ]. Information has been provided showing that obesity lead to several disorders including type 2 diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, kidney disease, breathing problems, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, malignancy, mental problems (such as clinical depression), anxiety, and eventually impaired health in general [ 8 – 11 ]. Since obesity tends to exert a global impact on inflammation, it increases the risk of many cancer types, such as breast, colon, endometrial, kidney, gallbladder, and liver cancers [ 12 ]. It has clearly been shown that obesity results in lowered quality of life, as well as a higher risk of premature death [ 5 ]. Overall quality of life could be diminished due to disability, depression, and social isolation of the obese person, besides impaired physical health. It has been proven that obesity markedly reduces life expectancy [ 13 ]. The severe consequences of obesity for physical health and emotional well-being already emerge in childhood [ 14 ], and it is well known that childhood obesity is the most serious public health problem, as children are more likely to become obese adults in their future life. Furthermore, it has been shown that overweight and obesity developed in childhood confers significant impact on both physical and psychological health in the future [ 1 , 14 , 15 ]. Overweight and obese children will also be exposed to higher risk of disability and premature death [ 16 ]. A vicious circle has been shown in children who are overfed, as they become overeating adults [ 15 ].

The childhood obesity has also been linked to cardiovascular disease risk during adulthood. This is compounded by the risk related to chronic hyperglycemia exposure in youth with type 2 diabetes mellitus [ 17 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that children in low- and middle-income countries are more vulnerable to inadequate prenatal, infant- and young-child nutritional states. And, at the same time, these kids are exposed to high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt, energy-dense, micronutrient-poor foods, which tend to be lower in cost and also lower in nutrient quality [ 18 ]. These dietary patterns, in conjunction with lower levels of physical activity, result in a sharp increase in childhood obesity, while undernutrition issues remain unsolved [ 18 ]. The obesity and overweight conditions are also pervasive among elderly people. It has been reported that obesity is also the problem of wealthy people. However, obesity now inversely affects the poor and uneducated people. It has been reported in several studies that obesity is higher in low social classes, amongst those on a low educational level, and within ethnic minority groups [ 7 , 18 ]. WHO reported that children in developing countries incur a risk of obesity and inadequate nutrition, simultaneously [ 18 ]. The obesity and overweight are also pervasive among elderly people. The prevalence of obesity is rising progressively among older age groups [ 19 ], and it is well known that main complications of obesity in elderly people is the metabolic syndrome (with glucose intolerance, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease) [ 20 , 21 ]. It is therefore not surprising that obesity increases the risk of heart failure in elderly. Other serious consequences of obesity in elderly people are the several cancer types, Alzheimer’s disease, pulmonary dysfunction, osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, and functional inactivity [ 20 , 22 , 23 ]. It has been proven that inactivity, (mostly depending on obesity), aging, and comorbidity reduced quality of life are commonly leading to frailty and premature death in elderly people [ 3 , 24 ]. The other dark side of obesity is the economy. It is obvious that obesity leads to many health problems, which can cost millions to treat.

Obese individuals are likely to have more medical and health problems [ 1 ]. Moreover, these reduce personal economic productivity, due to impaired health. It was reported that obese individuals have medical expenses that were approximately 30% greater than their normal weight peers [ 25 ]. Obesity is considered a top public health concern, due to the high level of morbidity and mortality in the United States [ 26 ]. It was reported that medical costs for obesity accounted for 40% of the healthcare budget in 2006. The medical care costs of obesity in the United States were estimated to be $147 billion in 2008. The annual nationwide productive costs of obesity-related absenteeism range between $3.38 billion ($79 per obese individual) and $6.38 billion ($132 per obese individual). Obesity affects 34% of children in the United States. For the pediatric healthcare delivery system, expenses were $179 per year higher in obese children versus children with a normal body mass index (BMI) [ 24 ]. Recently, it was reported that direct medical cost of overweight and obesity combined is approximately 5.0–10% of the United States healthcare spending [ 27 ]. The actual cost of obesity and related morbidity in developing countries have not been reported in any detail to date, but it is clear that prevalence of childhood and adulthood obesity is increasing in low-income countries, which lead to heavy treatment burden in their domestic budget.

1.2. Prevalence of overweight and obesity

Obesity threats public health more than communicable diseases in the present world. Overweight and obesity cause death in more people than those being underweight. The increased prevalence of obesity has occurred in the United States during the last 30 years [ 27 ], and according to WHO, the worldwide prevalence of obesity, more than doubled between 1980 and 2014 [ 18 ]. In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these, over 600 million were obese [ 28 ]. Historically, at the beginning of the era, obesity was only the problem of rich people and the affluent countries. However, obesity is now dramatically increased in lower and middle-income countries. Rural-urban comparisons and migration studies provide evidence for an effect of modernization in increasing the prevalence of obesity [ 7 ]. Fifty percent of the adults are overweight and obese in many countries [ 15 ]. The “WHO-MONICA” study revealed markedly different prevalence patterns within Europe, ranging from 7% in Swedish men to 45% in women from Lithuania [ 28 ]. It was asserted, in a research report from China, that 55.6% of the population express central obesity [ 10 ]. Obesity prevalence in the United States ranged from 29 to 50% [ 28 , 29 ], and around the world, rates of obesity are on the rise—since 1980, the global obesity rate has nearly doubled, and there are now over 200 million obese men and nearly 300 million obese women. However, the Japanese population is exempted from these trends [ 28 ].

Overweight and obesity affect every age group around the world. The National “Health and Nutrition Examination Survey” in the United States has reported that the prevalence of obesity is on the increase in all the pediatric age groups, in males and females, and in various ethnic and racial groups [ 1 ]. World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 39% of adults were overweight in the year 2014, especially in the urban area [ 18 ]. The more disturbing situation is that the 42 million children under the age of five were overweight or obese in the year 2013 [ 18 ]. The childhood overweight and obesity in developing countries have been 30% higher than in the developed countries [ 18 ], and childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries! Twenty-five percent of children in the United States are overweight and 11% are obese [ 18 , 30 , 31 ]. Although there is a paucity of data on the prevalence of childhood obesity in developing countries, the worldwide prevalence of pediatric obesity has increased several-fold in recent years [ 18 ].

1.3. What is the common reason?

There is no single cause for overweight and obesity. The mechanism of obesity development is not fully understood, and it is believed to be a disorder with multiple causes. In the human body, excess energy is stored as fat in the adipose tissue, in order to be used in case of an energy deficit. Formerly, the focus on adipose tissue and adipogenesis (which means the development of fat cells) has been on obesity. The molecular and biological studies in adipose tissue have displayed unpredictable results. But, the negative image of adipose tissue has been turned around with the discovery of its crucial role in immune responses, glucose homeostasis, as well as thyroid biology and reproductive functions [ 32 ]. During the past two decades, it has been recognized that adipose tissue, which contains both white and brown adipocyte, is regulating energy balance and substrate metabolism [ 33 , 34 ]. The white adipose tissue (WAT) is storing energy as triglycerides and is chiefly responsible for the obesity due to excess energy storage [ 35 ].

The regulation of energy intake and expenditure is a homeostatic process. Adipocytes secrete bioactive proteins, such as leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, omentin, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), cytokines, resistin, and retinol-binding protein 4, responsible for the regulation of overall energy homeostasis [ 32 ]. Therefore, obesity may be regarded as an inflammatory reaction in the human body, and consequently, WAT is mainly associated with obesity. The circulating inflammation-related adipokines are usually increased, as the adipose tissue expands [ 33 ]. However, the brown adipose tissue (BAT), which surrounds the hearth and large vessels during infancy, serve as important “furnaces” burning energy in the human body [ 35 ]. The amount of BAT decreases in adulthood as humans mature and can now only be found within white fat pads as scattered cells. The brown adipocytes are multilocular and contain less lipid than white adipocytes [ 32 , 35 ], and BAT exerts a very important role in the regulation of energy turnover by increasing when the environment turns cold, as well as with catecholamine discharge [ 36 ]. This knowledge points to the fact that various factors may serve as internal and external “regulators” in either combatting or preserving obesity. Environmental factors, lifestyle preferences, emotional problems, and cultural environment play pivotal roles externally in the rising prevalence of obesity worldwide [ 15 ]. However, one fundamental cause of overweight and obesity is an energy imbalance between consumed and expended calories. Once overweight, then obesity takes place, when the body consumes more calories than it burns. Factors, such as inactivity, unhealthy diet, eating habits, family lifestyle, metabolism, and genetics play important roles in the development of overweight and obesity [ 1 ]. It was reported that over the 90% of obesity causes are idiopathic and <10% are associated with genetic and hormonal causes [ 1 ]. Various countries, from America to Europe, from the Middle East to North Africa, have reported that obesity is a major health issue [ 29 – 31 , 37 , 38 ]. It was documented that every country (from developed to developing) has own particular contributing factors to obesity, including the fast food chains, adopting western like eating, traditionally lack of exercises and more. However, they have reported that low educational and socioeconomic level as a common point.

1.4. What can be done?

The studies have shown that understanding the biology of adipogenesis might lead to an effective solution treating the obesity epidemic. Researchers are specifically asserting that a manipulation of adipocyte biology, via enhancement of leptin and adiponectin synthesis, would be a sounder strategy combatting the obesity epidemic [ 32 ]. They reported that reactivation of BAT in adult humans is a potentially viable solution for successfully treating the obesity epidemic [ 32 ]. Almost all researchers agree that prevention is the key strategy for controlling the current epidemic of obesity. However, obesity prevention is one of the greatest public health challenges in the twenty-first century. The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) has been working with this purpose for a long time [ 18 ]. Although 50% of the adults are overweight and obese in many countries, obesity and overweight are preventable and curable [ 7 , 18 ]. It is well known that heavy children incur an increased risk of being overweight adults, and it is harder for them to reduce excessive weight, once it becomes established [ 39 ]. For this reason, prevention of obesity, especially in the low age group, is the key strategy for controlling this epidemic problem. The weight control must be constituted in early childhood [ 15 ]. Prevention may include primary prevention of overweight or obesity, secondary prevention or prevention of weight regains following weight loss, and avoidance of more weight increase in obese persons unable to lose weight [ 15 ]. There is no doubt that the primary prevention is the main strategy for controlling this growing public health problem. Supportive environments and communities are fundamental in shaping people’s choices and preventing obesity [ 15 ]. However, the clinical and epidemiological evidence demonstrated that lifestyle factors, like physical activity and nutrition, should be efficient to some degree to prevent and treat overweight and obesity in the adult population [ 2 , 8 ]. As part of the intervention strategies and staff in early life, parents should be primarily enlightened for the results of their act on their children. Management of obesity in children differs from adults and focusing on the prevention of weight gain is more important rather than weight loss during childhood. Effective health service should be established for the top priority groups, i.e., the children and adolescents. As the prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in low-income and uneducated people, the educational program should be implemented by institutions like schools and the media. Obesity and its comorbidities necessitate careful clinical assessment to identify underlying factors to allow coherent management. Effective long-term weight loss depends on permanent changes in dietary quality, energy intake, and activity [ 6 ]. There is no concern about personal responsibility being crucial for ongoing healthy life. For this reason, WHO describes the actions to support healthy diets and regular physical activity. WHO suggests that people should limit energy intake from total fats and sugars and increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as legumes, whole grains, and nuts, at an individual level. People can engage in regular physical activity (60 min a day for children and 150 min per week for adults) [ 18 ]. WHO also emphasizes that individual responsibility can only have its full effect where people have access to a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, at the societal level, it is important to support individuals through sustained political commitment. It is clear that the responsibility could be awakened with enhanced knowledge. The awareness derived from information may force people to take responsibility with their life. All weight management strategies need to educate people about healthy lifestyle. Weight management, to be achieved chiefly by behavior techniques that focus on lifestyle, includes dietary measures and physical activity. The public health policies should be established to prevent and avoid overweight and obesity in every age group. With this purpose, the policy makers in public health services should build sustainable strategies for a healthy environment for physical activity and non-processed (raw) food for healthy diet. WHO has developed the “Global Action Plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013–2020.” The countries commit to advance the implementation of the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, including, where appropriate, through the introduction of policies and actions aimed at promoting healthy diets and increasing physical activity in the entire population [ 18 ]. The government’s role in obesity has largely focused on interventions and policies, such as national surveillance, obesity education and awareness, grant-based food subsidy programs, zoning for food access, school-based nutrition programs, dietary guidelines, nutrition labeling, and food marketing and pricing policies. Over the last 50 years, the childhood obesity problem has caught researcher’s attention. Although they agree that prevention is basic, one still needs to understand why childhood obesity is a common problem, from east to west, and poverty to affluent countries around the world. Moreover, the low and middle-income countries experience a double burden of diseases derived from malnutrition and western like fast-food nutrition, simultaneously. To prevent the epidemic and find a sustainable solution for the childhood obesity problem primarily, it should be understood why children develop obesity. There is no doubt that unexpected changes in society’s way of living affect children’s lifestyle and well-being deeply. What are the changes in adult life, regarding the facilitation of reducing the incidence of obesity in their children? In order to shed some light on the problem in question, researchers, policy makers, doctors, healthcare providers, and finally, the whole society must think again on societal norms and man’s way of living. The lifestyle of human beings changed fundamentally in the twenty-first century, due to developing technology, agricultural changes, food processing, and marketing. The most striking change in human behavior is getting too familiar with a lifestyle ruled by technology. As a result, the essential chain between production and consumption disappeared. People’s behavior about consumption without sound skepticism reflects on their children. Children’s nature is prone to activity. Everybody has observed his or her unlimited energy. However, this “modem” way of living has repressed the “life energy” of children and turned it into “virtual energy”. A new approach is required for combatting the childhood epidemic obesity problem, since the present problem is environmental and not genetic. The frequency of “obesity” gene expression has not increased in the population, but the children’s environment has changed. Combatting the childhood obesity epidemic can be achieved with changing in societal norms. Children are hermeneutical entities like adults, and they need durable role models in their lives. Therefore, preventing the childhood obesity depends on the prevention of adulthood obesity. Society must be reconstructed and rid themselves of the vicious circle of overeating, overconsuming, inactivity, technology, impaired biorhythms, sleepiness, and finally meaningless activities. People will have to retrieve a sound purpose and meaning in their lives. There are two possible ways of fighting the obesity epidemic; reforming social norms or modifying people’s organ/cellular phenotypes, introducing a predefined diet and exercise program.

2. Conclusion

Lifestyle preferences, cultural environment, education, socioeconomic level, and environmental factors, play pivotal roles in the rising prevalence of obesity worldwide. It is important to emphasize that all of the given causes for the increased levels of obesity are predicated. It is essential to build sustainable strategies for a healthy lifestyle. The most crucial step for people is to take personal responsibility for their health. There is no doubt that the primary prevention is the main strategy for controlling this growing public health problem.

3. Key points

Overweight and obesity cause death of more people than underweight and communicable diseases.

Overweight and obesity reduce life expectancy.

Overweight and obesity impair health and reduce quality of life.

More than half of the population in the world is overweight and obese.

The worldwide prevalence of obesity more than doubled between 1980 and 2014.

Obesity in children is a major health concern in the developed world.

Almost a quarter of children around the world are overweight and obese.

Forty-two million children under the age of five are overweight or obese.

Obesity affects 34% of children in the United States.

Overweight and obese children are being overweight and obese when becoming adults.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in poor and uneducated people.

Education is the most important step for challenging obesity.

Primary prevention is essential for challenge obesity.

The policy makers in health services, and health professionals in medicine, play important roles in preventing and curing this “contemporary” epidemic.

People should take personal responsibility for their health development.

Combatting the childhood obesity epidemic can be achieved by changing social norms.

Obesity is preventable.

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Obesity as a Worldwide Problem and Its Solution Essay

Introduction, what exactly is obesity, reasons of obesity, healthy eating habits – the only solution, survey page.

The progress of a nation solely rests on the citizens. Of greater significance are their socio-economic, political conditions. A huge sum is spent every year by the government for the welfare of the subjects. With the change in policies every year, a novel decision is taken up. These decisions cater to individual interests in the larger interest of society in general.

Unfortunately, the world now witnesses an unhealthy scenario caused due to socio-economic, political imbalances. They affect the physical and mental health of individuals. Perhaps, one of the most glaring problems of the day seems to be obesity. Once, considered a symbol of wealth and social status, physical attractiveness, strength, and fertility by certain European cultures, western culture takes a negative stand on it. The obese are unattractive and negative stereotypes. They are a social stigma, targets of bullies, and shunned by peers. Above all, obesity is seen as a sign of lower socioeconomic status, more a medical condition in modern western culture. Ironically, the USA accounts for 64.5% of its population either overweight or obese.

The Times America has reported, “It’s not healthy to be obese, and if we keep going the way we are headed, the long-term medical costs may be more than we can bear” (Americas Obesity Crisis, 2004).

The problem of obesity is a worldwide issue that needs due attention. It has been medically proved that obesity could be fatal. What exactly is obesity? “The natural energy reserve, stored in the fatty tissue of human and other mammals is increased to a point where it is associated with certain health conditions or increased mortality. It is viewed as a serious and growing health problem which gives birth to certain other diseases like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus type 2, sleep apnea and osteoarthritis” (Obesity, 2008).

Visit: www win.niddk.gov/publications/health_risks.htm# sleep for more information on the relationship between sleep apnea and obesity.

BMI (body mass index) is a widely used method for estimating body fat. Calculated by dividing the subject’s weight by the square of his/her height, typically expressed either in metric or US “Customary” units, a frightening score could take away the cheer from every face.

The dreaded physical condition has umpteen reasons for its attack, the main being a sedentary lifestyle. The last quarter of the 20th century has witnessed a rapid acceleration of obesity in western society. Hence, it remains a persistent problem.

To arrive at a definite reason for a large number of obese in a nation, it would be sufficient to note the patterns of lifestyles of each individual. It would also suffice if the socio-economic conditions are taken into consideration. It would be wise to elaborate on the principal causes of this condition and arrive at a suitable solution to it.

The primary reason is we have seen earlier is an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and lack of activity. This causes the deposits of excess fat principally in the abdomen areas and hence enlargements of muscles concerned. Yet another reason could be the lower relative cost of foodstuffs. This enables people of all walks of life to take in food whether necessary or unnecessary. Increased marketing, accounts for the innumerable stock of junk food, preferred by children and adults alike. In two-income households, the clock never ticks in the kitchen, the occupants never bother to take care of their health. Food is often taken from restaurants where delicious and sumptuous food three or more times a day causes unhealthy eating habits.

Regular exercise and eating right are considered to be the best solution to the problem. Exercise requires energy (calories) stored as body fat. The body breaks down its fat stored to provide energy during prolonged aerobic exercise. Medical help ranging from pills to surgery is recommended in certain extreme cases of obesity. The probable reasons could be thyroid malfunction or other organ dysfunction.

It is the only problem that needs immediate remedy as the sufferers not only undergo physical torture but also mental anguish. In the years to come, a significant number of Americans could turn against themselves and the results could lead to disaster and deaths. I could sound embarrassing. But there is enough evidence to prove that the silent sufferers end up taking their own lives due to social pressures and inhospitable environment.

Concrete measures in this direction must be enforced by the government. Citizens should be given proper guidance. Measures to enhance awareness should be designed.

It is pathetic that America, the world’s most developed country has the ‘smallest fund of practical nutritional knowledge’ (Obesity in America).

To illustrate this point, Dr. Dean Ornish. M.D- Cardiologist said in an interview, “I’d love to be able to tell people that bacon and eggs are health food, but they are not.” “An easier way a fewer calorie is not just to change the amount of food but the type of food, because fat has 9 calories per gram, whereas protein and carbohydrates have only 4. So when you eat less fat, you eat fewer calories without having to eat less food.” (Interview Dean Ornish, M. D, 2004).

Dr. Ornish’s book Eat More, Weigh Less is based on this concept.

His method has been scientifically proven because it is based on abundance rather than on deprivation.

“You can eat when you’re hungry, you can eat until you’re full, and you still lose weight and keep it off…..” (Ornish).

Dr.Ornish further claims that his diet has been proven to stop or reduce heart disease and has been backed up by scientific studies. His claim and findings cannot be written off as our ancestors led a healthy life as they fed on food coming directly from the land. Obesity wasn’t even a word.

With modern technology, change in American diet and lifestyle, eating fast food, microwave dinners, and a diet of packaged, processed, and refined foods, the American finds himself digging his own grave. People with determination and a will to survive have succeeded in being healthy again. Alas! The number of such people is only a handful. Inevitably, processed food, fast foods, meat products, high sugar, and high sodium food have to be substituted by whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes.

To substantiate the above statement, Nathan Sorensen, a leading dietician has outlined 10 important tips for a healthy eating habit.

• Eat breakfast daily.
• Plan your daily meals.
• Pack a fruit snack for the commute.
• Choose the smaller portion food entrée’s, if you eat out for lunch.
• Eat a snack when you get home; tortillas with salsa.
• Before grocery shopping, write a shopping list.
• Plan and prepare fish and vegetable meals weekly.
• Choose not to add fat to prepared foods.
• Eat dinner every night before 7.30P.M.
• Have a snack an hour or so before food. (Sorensen, 2008).

There have been innumerable articles, journals, and books written on this concern. Medical science has advanced to such an extent that it can provide a remedy to almost all ailments. Health is probably the only field wherein the individual has to equip himself before approaching his specialist on his predicament. The most important factor seems to be willpower and self- control. Yet another fact is a change in his lifestyle. The doctor is only a medium through which the individual can find a solution to his ailment, but the ultimate cure lies in the hands of the patient.

A nation can be adjudged the best by the quality of its products, its approach on the socio-economic and political fronts, individual expertise, and above all health. America stands ahead of all the nations in the world in all the above respects except, general health. This problem has assumed a gigantic proportion which requires total co-operation to the reduction of its size. By total co-operation, I mean the individual, the market, the government, and medical science sitting together to arrive at an amicable solution.

Americas Obesity Crisis . Time Online addition. 2004. Web.

Obesity . Wikipedia. 2008. Web.

Obesity Trends. ObesityinAmerica.org. 1991-2003. Web.

Obesity in America . Down to Earth. Natural Foods .2008. Web.

Ornish, Dean M. D.Interview Frontline. 2004. Web.

Sorensen, Nathan. Obesity in America. Food & Nutrition . 2008. Web.

To show the depth of the gravity of the situation, a survey was conducted and the results obtained was quite alarming. Nearly, 65% of adults in America are prone to obesity due to circumstances of the modern man’s life.

The percent obese graph listed below supports the view.

Age group 1991 1995 1998 2000 2001

18-29 7.1 10.1 12.1 13.5 14

30-39 11.3 14.4 16.9 20.2 20.5

40-49 15.8 17.9 21.2 22.9 24.7

50-59 16.1 21.6 23.8 25.6 26.1

60-69 14.7 19.4 21.3 22.9 25.3

>.70 11.4 12.1 14.6 15.5 17.1

An alarming upward trend is seen. (Obesity Trends, 1991-2003).

The US has the highest rate of obesity in the developed world. In 2004, the CDC reported that 66.3% of the adults in the US are overweight or obese. True but unbelievable, a stressful mentally and insufficient sleep could also result in obesity. Genetic reasons seem to be silent killers in this direction.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Essay on Obesity

List of essays on obesity, essay on obesity – short essay (essay 1 – 150 words), essay on obesity (essay 2 – 250 words), essay on obesity – written in english (essay 3 – 300 words), essay on obesity – for school students (class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 standard) (essay 4 – 400 words), essay on obesity – for college students (essay 5 – 500 words), essay on obesity – with causes and treatment (essay 6 – 600 words), essay on obesity – for science students (essay 7 – 750 words), essay on obesity – long essay for medical students (essay 8 – 1000 words).

Obesity is a chronic health condition in which the body fat reaches abnormal level. Obesity occurs when we consume much more amount of food than our body really needs on a daily basis. In other words, when the intake of calories is greater than the calories we burn out, it gives rise to obesity.

Audience: The below given essays are exclusively written for school students (Class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 Standard), college, science and medical students.

Introduction:

Obesity means being excessively fat. A person would be said to be obese if his or her body mass index is beyond 30. Such a person has a body fat rate that is disproportionate to his body mass.

Obesity and the Body Mass Index:

The body mass index is calculated considering the weight and height of a person. Thus, it is a scientific way of determining the appropriate weight of any person. When the body mass index of a person indicates that he or she is obese, it exposes the person to make health risk.

Stopping Obesity:

There are two major ways to get the body mass index of a person to a moderate rate. The first is to maintain a strict diet. The second is to engage in regular physical exercise. These two approaches are aimed at reducing the amount of fat in the body.

Conclusion:

Obesity can lead to sudden death, heart attack, diabetes and may unwanted illnesses. Stop it by making healthy choices.

Obesity has become a big concern for the youth of today’s generation. Obesity is defined as a medical condition in which an individual gains excessive body fat. When the Body Mass Index (BMI) of a person is over 30, he/ she is termed as obese.

Obesity can be a genetic problem or a disorder that is caused due to unhealthy lifestyle habits of a person. Physical inactivity and the environment in which an individual lives, are also the factors that leads to obesity. It is also seen that when some individuals are in stress or depression, they start cultivating unhealthy eating habits which eventually leads to obesity. Medications like steroids is yet another reason for obesity.

Obesity has several serious health issues associated with it. Some of the impacts of obesity are diabetes, increase of cholesterol level, high blood pressure, etc. Social impacts of obesity includes loss of confidence in an individual, lowering of self-esteem, etc.

The risks of obesity needs to be prevented. This can be done by adopting healthy eating habits, doing some physical exercise regularly, avoiding stress, etc. Individuals should work on weight reduction in order to avoid obesity.

Obesity is indeed a health concern and needs to be prioritized. The management of obesity revolves around healthy eating habits and physical activity. Obesity, if not controlled in its initial stage can cause many severe health issues. So it is wiser to exercise daily and maintain a healthy lifestyle rather than being the victim of obesity.

Obesity can be defined as the clinical condition where accumulation of excessive fat takes place in the adipose tissue leading to worsening of health condition. Usually, the fat is deposited around the trunk and also the waist of the body or even around the periphery.

Obesity is actually a disease that has been spreading far and wide. It is preventable and certain measures are to be taken to curb it to a greater extend. Both in the developing and developed countries, obesity has been growing far and wide affecting the young and the old equally.

The alarming increase in obesity has resulted in stimulated death rate and health issues among the people. There are several methods adopted to lose weight and they include different diet types, physical activity and certain changes in the current lifestyle. Many of the companies are into minting money with the concept of inviting people to fight obesity.

In patients associated with increased risk factor related to obesity, there are certain drug therapies and other procedures adopted to lose weight. There are certain cost effective ways introduced by several companies to enable clinic-based weight loss programs.

Obesity can lead to premature death and even cause Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Cardiovascular diseases have also become the part and parcel of obese people. It includes stroke, hypertension, gall bladder disease, coronary heart disease and even cancers like breast cancer, prostate cancer, endometrial cancer and colon cancer. Other less severe arising due to obesity includes osteoarthritis, gastro-esophageal reflux disease and even infertility.

Hence, serious measures are to be taken to fight against this dreadful phenomenon that is spreading its wings far and wide. Giving proper education on benefits of staying fit and mindful eating is as important as curbing this issue. Utmost importance must be given to healthy eating habits right from the small age so that they follow the same until the end of their life.

Obesity is majorly a lifestyle disease attributed to the extra accumulation of fat in the body leading to negative health effects on a person. Ironically, although prevalent at a large scale in many countries, including India, it is one of the most neglect health problems. It is more often ignored even if told by the doctor that the person is obese. Only when people start acquiring other health issues such as heart disease, blood pressure or diabetes, they start taking the problem of obesity seriously.

Obesity Statistics in India:

As per a report, India happens to figure as the third country in the world with the most obese people. This should be a troubling fact for India. However, we are yet to see concrete measures being adopted by the people to remain fit.

Causes of Obesity:

Sedentary lifestyle, alcohol, junk food, medications and some diseases such as hypothyroidism are considered as the factors which lead to obesity. Even children seem to be glued to televisions, laptops and video games which have taken away the urge for physical activities from them. Adding to this, the consumption of junk food has further aggravated the growing problem of obesity in children.

In the case of adults, most of the professions of today make use of computers which again makes people sit for long hours in one place. Also, the hectic lifestyle of today makes it difficult for people to spare time for physical activities and people usually remain stressed most of the times. All this has contributed significantly to the rise of obesity in India.

Obesity and BMI:

Body Mass Index (BMI) is the measure which allows a person to calculate how to fit he or she is. In other words, the BMI tells you if you are obese or not. BMI is calculated by dividing the weight of a person in kg with the square of his / her height in metres. The number thus obtained is called the BMI. A BMI of less than 25 is considered optimal. However, if a person has a BMI over 30 he/she is termed as obese.

What is a matter of concern is that with growing urbanisation there has been a rapid increase of obese people in India? It is of utmost importance to consider this health issue a serious threat to the future of our country as a healthy body is important for a healthy soul. We should all be mindful of what we eat and what effect it has on our body. It is our utmost duty to educate not just ourselves but others as well about this serious health hazard.

Obesity can be defined as a condition (medical) that is the accumulation of body fat to an extent that the excess fat begins to have a lot of negative effects on the health of the individual. Obesity is determined by examining the body mass index (BMI) of the person. The BMI is gotten by dividing the weight of the person in kilogram by the height of the person squared.

When the BMI of a person is more than 30, the person is classified as being obese, when the BMI falls between 25 and 30, the person is said to be overweight. In a few countries in East Asia, lower values for the BMI are used. Obesity has been proven to influence the likelihood and risk of many conditions and disease, most especially diabetes of type 2, cardiovascular diseases, sleeplessness that is obstructive, depression, osteoarthritis and some cancer types.

In most cases, obesity is caused through a combination of genetic susceptibility, a lack of or inadequate physical activity, excessive intake of food. Some cases of obesity are primarily caused by mental disorder, medications, endocrine disorders or genes. There is no medical data to support the fact that people suffering from obesity eat very little but gain a lot of weight because of slower metabolism. It has been discovered that an obese person usually expends much more energy than other people as a result of the required energy that is needed to maintain a body mass that is increased.

It is very possible to prevent obesity with a combination of personal choices and social changes. The major treatments are exercising and a change in diet. We can improve the quality of our diet by reducing our consumption of foods that are energy-dense like those that are high in sugars or fat and by trying to increase our dietary fibre intake.

We can also accompany the appropriate diet with the use of medications to help in reducing appetite and decreasing the absorption of fat. If medication, exercise and diet are not yielding any positive results, surgery or gastric balloon can also be carried out to decrease the volume of the stomach and also reduce the intestines’ length which leads to the feel of the person get full early or a reduction in the ability to get and absorb different nutrients from a food.

Obesity is the leading cause of ill-health and death all over the world that is preventable. The rate of obesity in children and adults has drastically increased. In 2015, a whopping 12 percent of adults which is about 600 million and about 100 million children all around the world were found to be obese.

It has also been discovered that women are more obese than men. A lot of government and private institutions and bodies have stated that obesity is top of the list of the most difficult and serious problems of public health that we have in the world today. In the world we live today, there is a lot of stigmatisation of obese people.

We all know how troubling the problem of obesity truly is. It is mainly a form of a medical condition wherein the body tends to accumulate excessive fat which in turn has negative repercussions on the health of an individual.

Given the current lifestyle and dietary style, it has become more common than ever. More and more people are being diagnosed with obesity. Such is its prevalence that it has been termed as an epidemic in the USA. Those who suffer from obesity are at a much higher risk of diabetes, heart diseases and even cancer.

In order to gain a deeper understanding of obesity, it is important to learn what the key causes of obesity are. In a layman term, if your calorie consumption exceeds what you burn because of daily activities and exercises, it is likely to lead to obesity. It is caused over a prolonged period of time when your calorie intake keeps exceeding the calories burned.

Here are some of the key causes which are known to be the driving factors for obesity.

If your diet tends to be rich in fat and contains massive calorie intake, you are all set to suffer from obesity.

Sedentary Lifestyle:

With most people sticking to their desk jobs and living a sedentary lifestyle, the body tends to get obese easily.

Of course, the genetic framework has a lot to do with obesity. If your parents are obese, the chance of you being obese is quite high.

The weight which women gain during their pregnancy can be very hard to shed and this is often one of the top causes of obesity.

Sleep Cycle:

If you are not getting an adequate amount of sleep, it can have an impact on the hormones which might trigger hunger signals. Overall, these linked events tend to make you obese.

Hormonal Disorder:

There are several hormonal changes which are known to be direct causes of obesity. The imbalance of the thyroid stimulating hormone, for instance, is one of the key factors when it comes to obesity.

Now that we know the key causes, let us look at the possible ways by which you can handle it.

Treatment for Obesity:

As strange as it may sound, the treatment for obesity is really simple. All you need to do is follow the right diet and back it with an adequate amount of exercise. If you can succeed in doing so, it will give you the perfect head-start into your journey of getting in shape and bidding goodbye to obesity.

There are a lot of different kinds and styles of diet plans for obesity which are available. You can choose the one which you deem fit. We recommend not opting for crash dieting as it is known to have several repercussions and can make your body terribly weak.

The key here is to stick to a balanced diet which can help you retain the essential nutrients, minerals, and, vitamins and shed the unwanted fat and carbs.

Just like the diet, there are several workout plans for obesity which are available. It is upon you to find out which of the workout plan seems to be apt for you. Choose cardio exercises and dance routines like Zumba to shed the unwanted body weight. Yoga is yet another method to get rid of obesity.

So, follow a blend of these and you will be able to deal with the trouble of obesity in no time. We believe that following these tips will help you get rid of obesity and stay in shape.

Obesity and overweight is a top health concern in the world due to the impact it has on the lives of individuals. Obesity is defined as a condition in which an individual has excessive body fat and is measured using the body mass index (BMI) such that, when an individual’s BMI is above 30, he or she is termed obese. The BMI is calculated using body weight and height and it is different for all individuals.

Obesity has been determined as a risk factor for many diseases. It results from dietary habits, genetics, and lifestyle habits including physical inactivity. Obesity can be prevented so that individuals do not end up having serious complications and health problems. Chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart diseases and relate to obesity in terms of causes and complications.

Factors Influencing Obesity:

Obesity is not only as a result of lifestyle habits as most people put it. There are other important factors that influence obesity. Genetics is one of those factors. A person could be born with genes that predispose them to obesity and they will also have difficulty in losing weight because it is an inborn factor.

The environment also influences obesity because the diet is similar in certain environs. In certain environments, like school, the food available is fast foods and the chances of getting healthy foods is very low, leading to obesity. Also, physical inactivity is an environmental factor for obesity because some places have no fields or tracks where people can jog or maybe the place is very unsafe and people rarely go out to exercise.

Mental health affects the eating habits of individuals. There is a habit of stress eating when a person is depressed and it could result in overweight or obesity if the person remains unhealthy for long period of time.

The overall health of individuals also matter. If a person is unwell and is prescribed with steroids, they may end up being obese. Steroidal medications enable weight gain as a side effect.

Complications of Obesity:

Obesity is a health concern because its complications are severe. Significant social and health problems are experienced by obese people. Socially, they will be bullied and their self-esteem will be low as they will perceive themselves as unworthy.

Chronic illnesses like diabetes results from obesity. Diabetes type 2 has been directly linked to obesity. This condition involves the increased blood sugars in the body and body cells are not responding to insulin as they should. The insulin in the body could also be inadequate due to decreased production. High blood sugar concentrations result in symptoms like frequent hunger, thirst and urination. The symptoms of complicated stages of diabetes type 2 include loss of vision, renal failure and heart failure and eventually death. The importance of having a normal BMI is the ability of the body to control blood sugars.

Another complication is the heightened blood pressures. Obesity has been defined as excessive body fat. The body fat accumulates in blood vessels making them narrow. Narrow blood vessels cause the blood pressures to rise. Increased blood pressure causes the heart to start failing in its physiological functions. Heart failure is the end result in this condition of increased blood pressures.

There is a significant increase in cholesterol in blood of people who are obese. High blood cholesterol levels causes the deposition of fats in various parts of the body and organs. Deposition of fats in the heart and blood vessels result in heart diseases. There are other conditions that result from hypercholesterolemia.

Other chronic illnesses like cancer can also arise from obesity because inflammation of body cells and tissues occurs in order to store fats in obese people. This could result in abnormal growths and alteration of cell morphology. The abnormal growths could be cancerous.

Management of Obesity:

For the people at risk of developing obesity, prevention methods can be implemented. Prevention included a healthy diet and physical activity. The diet and physical activity patterns should be regular and realizable to avoid strains that could result in complications.

Some risk factors for obesity are non-modifiable for example genetics. When a person in genetically predisposed, the lifestyle modifications may be have help.

For the individuals who are already obese, they can work on weight reduction through healthy diets and physical exercises.

In conclusion, obesity is indeed a major health concern because the health complications are very serious. Factors influencing obesity are both modifiable and non-modifiable. The management of obesity revolves around diet and physical activity and so it is important to remain fit.

In olden days, obesity used to affect only adults. However, in the present time, obesity has become a worldwide problem that hits the kids as well. Let’s find out the most prevalent causes of obesity.

Factors Causing Obesity:

Obesity can be due to genetic factors. If a person’s family has a history of obesity, chances are high that he/ she would also be affected by obesity, sooner or later in life.

The second reason is having a poor lifestyle. Now, there are a variety of factors that fall under the category of poor lifestyle. An excessive diet, i.e., eating more than you need is a definite way to attain the stage of obesity. Needless to say, the extra calories are changed into fat and cause obesity.

Junk foods, fried foods, refined foods with high fats and sugar are also responsible for causing obesity in both adults and kids. Lack of physical activity prevents the burning of extra calories, again, leading us all to the path of obesity.

But sometimes, there may also be some indirect causes of obesity. The secondary reasons could be related to our mental and psychological health. Depression, anxiety, stress, and emotional troubles are well-known factors of obesity.

Physical ailments such as hypothyroidism, ovarian cysts, and diabetes often complicate the physical condition and play a massive role in abnormal weight gain.

Moreover, certain medications, such as steroids, antidepressants, and contraceptive pills, have been seen interfering with the metabolic activities of the body. As a result, the long-term use of such drugs can cause obesity. Adding to that, regular consumption of alcohol and smoking are also connected to the condition of obesity.

Harmful Effects of Obesity:

On the surface, obesity may look like a single problem. But, in reality, it is the mother of several major health issues. Obesity simply means excessive fat depositing into our body including the arteries. The drastic consequence of such high cholesterol levels shows up in the form of heart attacks and other life-threatening cardiac troubles.

The fat deposition also hampers the elasticity of the arteries. That means obesity can cause havoc in our body by altering the blood pressure to an abnormal range. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Obesity is known to create an endless list of problems.

In extreme cases, this disorder gives birth to acute diseases like diabetes and cancer. The weight gain due to obesity puts a lot of pressure on the bones of the body, especially of the legs. This, in turn, makes our bones weak and disturbs their smooth movement. A person suffering from obesity also has higher chances of developing infertility issues and sleep troubles.

Many obese people are seen to be struggling with breathing problems too. In the chronic form, the condition can grow into asthma. The psychological effects of obesity are another serious topic. You can say that obesity and depression form a loop. The more a person is obese, the worse is his/ her depression stage.

How to Control and Treat Obesity:

The simplest and most effective way, to begin with, is changing our diet. There are two factors to consider in the diet plan. First is what and what not to eat. Second is how much to eat.

If you really want to get rid of obesity, include more and more green vegetables in your diet. Spinach, beans, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, etc., have enough vitamins and minerals and quite low calories. Other healthier options are mushrooms, pumpkin, beetroots, and sweet potatoes, etc.

Opt for fresh fruits, especially citrus fruits, and berries. Oranges, grapes, pomegranate, pineapple, cherries, strawberries, lime, and cranberries are good for the body. They have low sugar content and are also helpful in strengthening our immune system. Eating the whole fruits is a more preferable way in comparison to gulping the fruit juices. Fruits, when eaten whole, have more fibers and less sugar.

Consuming a big bowl of salad is also great for dealing with the obesity problem. A salad that includes fibrous foods such as carrots, radish, lettuce, tomatoes, works better at satiating the hunger pangs without the risk of weight gain.

A high protein diet of eggs, fish, lean meats, etc., is an excellent choice to get rid of obesity. Take enough of omega fatty acids. Remember to drink plenty of water. Keeping yourself hydrated is a smart way to avoid overeating. Water also helps in removing the toxins and excess fat from the body.

As much as possible, avoid fats, sugars, refined flours, and oily foods to keep the weight in control. Control your portion size. Replace the three heavy meals with small and frequent meals during the day. Snacking on sugarless smoothies, dry fruits, etc., is much recommended.

Regular exercise plays an indispensable role in tackling the obesity problem. Whenever possible, walk to the market, take stairs instead of a lift. Physical activity can be in any other form. It could be a favorite hobby like swimming, cycling, lawn tennis, or light jogging.

Meditation and yoga are quite powerful practices to drive away the stress, depression and thus, obesity. But in more serious cases, meeting a physician is the most appropriate strategy. Sometimes, the right medicines and surgical procedures are necessary to control the health condition.

Obesity is spreading like an epidemic, haunting both the adults and the kids. Although genetic factors and other physical ailments play a role, the problem is mostly caused by a reckless lifestyle.

By changing our way of living, we can surely take control of our health. In other words, it would be possible to eliminate the condition of obesity from our lives completely by leading a healthy lifestyle.

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Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Obesity — Argumentative Essay On Obesity

Argumentative Essay on Obesity

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Published: Mar 5, 2024

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Is Obesity Really A Growing Problem in Canada? 2020 Canadian Obesity Guidelines

Posted by Dr. Sue Pedersen | Aug 13, 2020 | Uncategorized

Just how common is obesity in Canada, and is it really a growing problem?

The 2020 Canadian Obesity Guideline s Epidemiology chapter addresses these questions.

Here are some stats:

• Obesity affected 26.4% or 8.3 million Canadian adults in 2016.
• The prevalence of obesity in Canada has risen dramatically, increasing three-fold since 1985.
• Severe obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m 2 ), the fastest growing obesity sub-group, increased disproportionately over this same time period. Since 1985, severe obesity increased 455% and affects an estimated 1.9 million Canadian adults.
• Overweight, defined as a BMI between 25 and 29.9 kg/m 2 , affected an additional 34%, or 10.6 million adults in Canada. Note: adding it up, obesity and overweight together affects the majority of Canadian adults. 
• One in three children/youth between 6-17 years old are considered to have overweight or obesity, an increase from 1 out of 4 in 1978/79.
• The prevalence of obesity among boys, in particular adolescent boys is significantly higher than for adolescent girls (16.2% versus 9.3%).

What is the economic cost of obesity?

• Obesity affects individuals, families and society. The economic burden is significant. In 2014, the global economic impact of obesity was estimated to be US $2.0 trillion or 2.8% of the global GDP.
• In Canada, obesity and its related illnesses result in a large cost to society due to increases in direct (i.e., physician, hospital, ER use) and indirect costs (i.e., lost productivity, absenteeism, disability), estimated to be $7.1 billion in 2010.

Recommendations:

• We recommend that health care providers recognize and treat obesity as a chronic disease, caused by abnormal or excess body fat accumulation (adiposity), that impairs health, with increased risk of premature morbidity and mortality.
• The development of evidence-informed strategies at the health system and policy level can be directed at managing of obesity in adults.
• Continued longitudinal national and regional surveillance of obesity that includes self-reported and measured data (i.e., heights, weights, waist circumference) may be collected on a regular basis.

NOTE:  This blog is not intended to be a full synopsis of the chapter.  There is a wealth of information in this chapter that is beyond the scope of one blog post. I encourage everyone to read the recommendations and key messages in full, and to dig in to the entire chapter!

Stay tuned for much more on the Obesity Guidelines in coming weeks!

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About The Author

Dr. Sue Pedersen

I am a medical doctor, Specialist in Endocrinology & Metabolism, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. After completing my training as an Endocrinologist in 2005 at the University of Calgary, I have worked in Calgary, at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatchewan, and at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. I have a busy clinical practice at C-ENDO Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic in Calgary, caring for patients with diabetes, obesity, thyroid, and other hormone issues.

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I am a medical doctor, Specialist in Endocrinology & Metabolism, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. After completing my training as an Endocrinologist in 2005 at the University of Calgary, I have worked in Calgary, at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatchewan, and at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. I have a busy clinical practice at C-ENDO Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic in Calgary, caring for patients with diabetes, obesity, thyroid, and other hormone issues. I am also involved in clinical research in diabetes and obesity. I am the lead author of the 2020 and 2022 Pharmacotherapy Chapters of the Canadian Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines, and a member of the Expert Committee for the 2018 Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines as an author on the Weight Management chapter.  I am passionate, enthusiastic, and driven to help conquer the stigma against obesity; educate health care professionals and the public about obesity and diabetes; and to help us become a healthier society!

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Obesity: causes, consequences, treatments, and challenges.

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Obesity: causes, consequences, treatments, and challenges, Journal of Molecular Cell Biology , Volume 13, Issue 7, July 2021, Pages 463–465, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjab056

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Obesity has become a global epidemic and is one of today’s most public health problems worldwide. Obesity poses a major risk for a variety of serious diseases including diabetes mellitus, non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD), cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer ( Bluher, 2019 ).

Obesity is mainly caused by imbalanced energy intake and expenditure due to a sedentary lifestyle coupled with overnutrition. Excess nutrients are stored in adipose tissue (AT) in the form of triglycerides, which will be utilized as nutrients by other tissues through lipolysis under nutrient deficit conditions. There are two major types of AT, white AT (WAT) and brown AT, the latter is a specialized form of fat depot that participates in non-shivering thermogenesis through lipid oxidation-mediated heat generation. While WAT has been historically considered merely an energy reservoir, this fat depot is now well known to function as an endocrine organ that produces and secretes various hormones, cytokines, and metabolites (termed as adipokines) to control systemic energy balance. Studies over the past decade also show that WAT, especially subcutaneous WAT, could undergo ‘beiging’ remodeling in response to environmental or hormonal perturbation. In the first paper of this special issue, Cheong and Xu (2021) systematically review the recent progress on the factors, pathways, and mechanisms that regulate the intercellular and inter-organ crosstalks in the beiging of WAT. A critical but still not fully addressed issue in the adipose research field is the origin of the beige cells. Although beige adipocytes are known to have distinct cellular origins from brown and while adipocytes, it remains unclear on whether the cells are from pre-existing mature white adipocytes through a transdifferentiation process or from de novo differentiation of precursor cells. AT is a heterogeneous tissue composed of not only adipocytes but also nonadipocyte cell populations, including fibroblasts, as well as endothelial, blood, stromal, and adipocyte precursor cells ( Ruan, 2020 ). The authors examined evidence to show that heterogeneity contributes to different browning capacities among fat depots and even within the same depot. The local microenvironment in WAT, which is dynamically and coordinately controlled by inputs from the heterogeneous cell types, plays a critical role in the beige adipogenesis process. The authors also examined key regulators of the AT microenvironment, including vascularization, the sympathetic nerve system, immune cells, peptide hormones, exosomes, and gut microbiota-derived metabolites. Given that increasing beige fat function enhances energy expenditure and consequently reduces body weight gain, identification and characterization of novel regulators and understanding their mechanisms of action in the beiging process has a therapeutic potential to combat obesity and its associated diseases. However, as noticed by the authors, most of the current pre-clinical research on ‘beiging’ are done in rodent models, which may not represent the exact phenomenon in humans ( Cheong and Xu, 2021 ). Thus, further investigations will be needed to translate the findings from bench to clinic.

While both social–environmental factors and genetic preposition have been recognized to play important roles in obesity epidemic, Gao et al. (2021) present evidence showing that epigenetic changes may be a key factor to explain interindividual differences in obesity. The authors examined data on the function of DNA methylation in regulating the expression of key genes involved in metabolism. They also summarize the roles of histone modifications as well as various RNAs such as microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs, and circular RNAs in regulating metabolic gene expression in metabolic organs in response to environmental cues. Lastly, the authors discuss the effect of lifestyle modification and therapeutic agents on epigenetic regulation of energy homeostasis. Understanding the mechanisms by which lifestyles such as diet and exercise modulate the expression and function of epigenetic factors in metabolism should be essential for developing novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of obesity and its associated metabolic diseases.

A major consequence of obesity is type 2 diabetes, a chronic disease that occurs when body cannot use and produce insulin effectively. Diabetes profoundly and adversely affects the vasculature, leading to various cardiovascular-related diseases such as atherosclerosis, arteriosclerotic, and microvascular diseases, which have been recognized as the most common causes of death in people with diabetes ( Cho et al., 2018 ). Love et al. (2021) systematically review the roles and regulation of endothelial insulin resistance in diabetes complications, focusing mainly on vascular dysfunction. The authors review the vasoprotective functions and the mechanisms of action of endothelial insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 signaling pathways. They also examined the contribution and impart of endothelial insulin resistance to diabetes complications from both biochemical and physiological perspectives and evaluated the beneficial roles of many of the medications currently used for T2D treatment in vascular management, including metformin, thiazolidinediones, glucagon-like receptor agonists, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitors, as well as exercise. The authors present evidence to suggest that sex differences and racial/ethnic disparities contribute significantly to vascular dysfunction in the setting of diabetes. Lastly, the authors raise a number of very important questions with regard to the role and connection of endothelial insulin resistance to metabolic dysfunction in other major metabolic organs/tissues and suggest several insightful directions in this area for future investigation.

Following on from the theme of obesity-induced metabolic dysfunction, Xia et al. (2021) review the latest progresses on the role of membrane-type I matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP), a zinc-dependent endopeptidase that proteolytically cleaves extracellular matrix components and non-matrix proteins, in lipid metabolism. The authors examined data on the transcriptional and post-translational modification regulation of MT1-MMP gene expression and function. They also present evidence showing that the functions of MT1-MMP in lipid metabolism are cell specific as it may either promote or suppress inflammation and atherosclerosis depending on its presence in distinct cells. MT1-MMP appears to exert a complex role in obesity for that the molecule delays the progression of early obesity but exacerbates obesity at the advanced stage. Because inhibition of MT1-MMP can potentially lower the circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cancer metastasis and atherosclerosis, the protein has been viewed as a very promising therapeutic target. However, challenges remain in developing MT1-MMP-based therapies due to the tissue-specific roles of MT1-MMP and the lack of specific inhibitors for this molecule. Further investigations are needed to address these questions and to develop MT1-MMP-based therapeutic interventions.

Lastly, Huang et al. (2021) present new findings on a critical role of puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase (PSA), an integral non-transmembrane enzyme that catalyzes the cleavage of amino acids near the N-terminus of polypeptides, in NAFLD. NAFLD, ranging from simple nonalcoholic fatty liver to the more aggressive subtype nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, has now become the leading chronic liver disease worldwide ( Loomba et al., 2021 ). At present, no effective drugs are available for NAFLD management in the clinic mainly due to the lack of a complete understanding of the mechanisms underlying the disease progress, reinforcing the urgent need to identify and validate novel targets and to elucidate their mechanisms of action in NAFLD development and pathogenesis. Huang et al. (2021) found that PSA expression levels were greatly reduced in the livers of obese mouse models and that the decreased PSA expression correlated with the progression of NAFLD in humans. They also found that PSA levels were negatively correlated with triglyceride accumulation in cultured hepatocytes and in the liver of ob/ob mice. Moreover, PSA suppresses steatosis by promoting lipogenesis and attenuating fatty acid β-oxidation in hepatocytes and protects oxidative stress and lipid overload in the liver by activating the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, the master regulator of antioxidant response. These studies identify PSA as a pivotal regulator of hepatic lipid metabolism and suggest that PSA may be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for treating NAFLD.

In summary, papers in this issue review our current knowledge on the causes, consequences, and interventions of obesity and its associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes, NAFLD, and cardiovascular disease ( Cheong and Xu, 2021 ; Gao et al., 2021 ; Love et al., 2021 ). Potential targets for the treatment of dyslipidemia and NAFLD are also discussed, as exemplified by MT1-MMP and PSA ( Huang et al., 2021 ; Xia et al., 2021 ). It is noted that despite enormous effect, few pharmacological interventions are currently available in the clinic to effectively treat obesity. In addition, while enhancing energy expenditure by browning/beiging of WAT has been demonstrated as a promising alternative approach to alleviate obesity in rodent models, it remains to be determined on whether such WAT reprogramming is effective in combating obesity in humans ( Cheong and Xu, 2021 ). Better understanding the mechanisms by which obesity induces various medical consequences and identification and characterization of novel anti-obesity secreted factors/soluble molecules would be helpful for developing effective therapeutic treatments for obesity and its associated medical complications.

Bluher M. ( 2019 ). Obesity: global epidemiology and pathogenesis . Nat. Rev. Endocrinol . 15 , 288 – 298 .

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Cheong L.Y. , Xu A. ( 2021 ). Intercellular and inter-organ crosstalk in browning of white adipose tissue: molecular mechanism and therapeutic complications . J. Mol. Cell Biol . 13 , 466 – 479 .

Cho N.H. , Shaw J.E. , Karuranga S. , et al.  ( 2018 ). IDF Diabetes Atlas: global estimates of diabetes prevalence for 2017 and projections for 2045 . Diabetes Res. Clin. Pract . 138 , 271 – 281 .

Gao W. , Liu J.-L. , Lu X. , et al.  ( 2021 ). Epigenetic regulation of energy metabolism in obesity . J. Mol. Cell Biol . 13 , 480 – 499 .

Huang B. , Xiong X. , Zhang L. , et al.  ( 2021 ). PSA controls hepatic lipid metabolism by regulating the NRF2 signaling pathway . J. Mol. Cell Biol . 13 , 527 – 539 .

Loomba R. , Friedman S.L. , Shulman G.I. ( 2021 ). Mechanisms and disease consequences of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease . Cell 184 , 2537 – 2564 .

Love K.M. , Barrett E.J. , Malin S.K. , et al.  ( 2021 ). Diabetes pathogenesis and management: the endothelium comes of age . J. Mol. Cell Biol . 13 , 500 – 512 .

Ruan H.-B. ( 2020 ). Developmental and functional heterogeneity of thermogenic adipose tissue . J. Mol. Cell Biol . 12 , 775 – 784 .

Xia X.-D. , Alabi A. , Wang M. , et al.  ( 2021 ). Membrane-type I matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP), lipid metabolism, and therapeutic implications . J. Mol. Cell Biol . 13 , 513 – 526 .

Author notes

Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200233, China E-mail: [email protected]

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Childhood and Adolescent Obesity in the United States: A Public Health Concern

Adekunle sanyaolu.

1 Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Nigeria

Chuku Okorie

2 Essex County College, Newark, NJ, USA

3 Saint James School of Medicine, Anguilla, British West Indies

Jennifer Locke

Saif rehman.

Childhood and adolescent obesity have reached epidemic levels in the United States. Currently, about 17% of US children are presenting with obesity. Obesity can affect all aspects of the children including their psychological as well as cardiovascular health; also, their overall physical health is affected. The association between obesity and other conditions makes it a public health concern for children and adolescents. Due to the increase in the prevalence of obesity among children, a variety of research studies have been conducted to discover what associations and risk factors increase the probability that a child will present with obesity. While a complete picture of all the risk factors associated with obesity remains elusive, the combination of diet, exercise, physiological factors, and psychological factors is important in the control and prevention of childhood obesity; thus, all researchers agree that prevention is the key strategy for controlling the current problem. Primary prevention methods are aimed at educating the child and family, as well as encouraging appropriate diet and exercise from a young age through adulthood, while secondary prevention is targeted at lessening the effect of childhood obesity to prevent the child from continuing the unhealthy habits and obesity into adulthood. A combination of both primary and secondary prevention is necessary to achieve the best results. This review article highlights the health implications including physiological and psychological factors comorbidities, as well as the epidemiology, risk factors, prevention, and control of childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States.

Introduction

Childhood and adolescent obesity have reached epidemic levels in the United States, affecting the lives of millions of people. In the past 3 decades, the prevalence of childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents. 1 The latest data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey show that the prevalence of obesity among US children and adolescents was 18.5% in 2015-2016. Overall, the prevalence of obesity among adolescents (12-19 years; 20.6%) and school-aged children (6-11 years; 18.4%) was higher than among preschool-aged children (2-5 years; 13.9%). School-aged boys (20.4%) had a higher prevalence of obesity than preschool-aged boys (14.3%). Adolescent girls (20.9%) had a higher prevalence of obesity than preschool-aged girls (13.5%; Figure 1 ). 1 Moreover, the rates of obesity have been steadily rising from 1999-2000 through 2015-2016 ( Figure 2 ). 1 According to Ahmad et al, 80% of adolescents aged 10 to 14 years, 25% of children younger than the age of 5 years, and 50% of children aged 6 to 9 years with obesity are at risk of remaining adults with obesity. 2

Prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years, by sex and age: the United States, 2015-2016.

Trends in obesity prevalence among children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years: the United States, 1999-2000 through 2015-2016.

Obesity can affect all aspects of children and adolescents including but not limited to their psychological health and cardiovascular health and also their overall physical health. 3 The association between obesity and morbid outcomes makes it a public health concern for children and adolescents. 4 Obesity has an enormous impact on both physical and psychological health. Consequently, it is associated with several comorbidity conditions such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, sleep apnea, poor self-esteem, and even serious forms of depression. 5 In addition, children with obesity who were followed-up to adulthood were much more likely to suffer from cardiovascular and digestive diseases. 3 The increase in body fat also exposes the children to increase in the risk of numerous forms of cancers, such as breast, colon, esophageal, kidney, and pancreatic cancers. 6

Due to its public health significance, the increasing trend in childhood obesity needs to be closely monitored. 7 However, these trends have proved to be challenging to quantify and compare. While there are many factors and areas to consider when discussing obesity in children and adolescents, there are a few trends that are evident in recent studies. For example, the prevalence of obesity varies among ethnic groups, age, sex, education levels, and socioeconomic status. A report published by the National Center for Health Statistics using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey provides the most recent national estimates from 2015 to 2016 on obesity prevalence by sex, age, race, and overall estimates from 1999-2000 through 2015-2016. 1 Prevalence of obesity among non-Hispanic black (22.0%) and Hispanic (25.8%) children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years was higher than among both non-Hispanic white (14.1%) and non-Hispanic Asian (11.0%) children and adolescents. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of obesity between non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic Asian children and adolescents or between non-Hispanic black and Hispanic children and adolescents. The pattern among girls was similar to the pattern in all children and adolescents. The prevalence of obesity was 25.1% in non-Hispanic black, 23.6% in Hispanic, 13.5% in non-Hispanic white, and 10.1% in non-Hispanic Asian girls. The pattern among boys was similar to the pattern in all children and adolescents except that Hispanic boys (28.0%) had a higher prevalence of obesity than non-Hispanic black boys (19.0%; Figure 3 ). 1 This review article is aimed at studying the health implications including physical and psychological factors and comorbidities, as well as the epidemiology, risk factors, prevention, and control of childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States.

Prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years, by sex and race and Hispanic origin: the United States, 2015-2016.

Methodology

We performed a literature search using online electronic databases (PubMed, MedlinePlus, Mendeley, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Global Health, and Scopus) using the keywords “childhood,” “adolescents,” “obesity,” “BMI,” and “overweight.” Articles were retrieved and selected based on relevance to the research question.

Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

Ethics approval and informed consent were not required for this narrative review.

Definition of Childhood Obesity

Defining obesity requires a suitable measurement of body fat and an appropriate cutoff range. 8 Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared, rounded to 1 decimal place. Obesity in children and adolescents was defined as a BMI of greater than or equal to the age- and sex-specific 95th percentile and overweight with a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles of the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts. 9

However, the use of the BMI percentile according to the age/sex of the CDC growth charts for very high BMIs can result in estimates that differ substantially from those that are observed, 10 , 11 and this constrains the maximum BMI that is attainable at given sex and age. 12 , 13 These limitations have resulted in the classification of severe obesity as a BMI ≥120% of the 95th percentile rather than a percentile greater than the 95th percentile. 11 , 14 A BMI of 120% of the 95th percentile corresponds to a BMI of ~35 among 16 to 18 year olds.

Physiology of Energy Regulation and Obesity

Obesity is a chronic multifactorial disease, characterized by an excessive accumulation of adipose tissue, commonly as a result of excessive food intake and/or low energy expenditure. Obesity can be triggered by genetic, psychological, lifestyle, nutritional, environmental, and hormonal factors. 15

Obesity is found in individuals that are susceptible genetically and involves the biological defense of an elevated body fat mass, the mechanism of which could be explained in part by interactions between brain reward and homeostatic circuits, inflammatory signaling, accumulation of lipid metabolites, or other mechanisms that impair hypothalamic neurons. 16

Normal energy regulation physiology is under tight neurohormonal control. The neurohormonal control is performed in the central nervous system through neuroendocrine connections, in which circulating peripheral hormones, such as leptin and insulin, provide signals to specialized neurons of the hypothalamus reflecting body fat stores and induces appropriate responses to maintain the stability of these stores. The hypothalamic region is where the center of the regulation of hunger and satiety is located. Some of them target the activity of endogenous peptides, such as ghrelin, pancreatic polypeptide, 17 peptide YY, and neuropeptide Y, 18 as well as their receptors.

The physiology of energy regulation may result in obesity in susceptible people when it goes awry from genetic and environmental modulators. There is strong evidence of the majority of obesity cases that are associated with central resistance to both leptin and insulin actions. 19 , 20 The environmental modulators equally play critical roles in obesity. Changes in the circadian clock are associated with temporal alterations in feeding behavior and increased weight gain. 21 Stress interferes with cognitive processes such as executive function and self-regulation. Second, stress can affect behavior by inducing overeating and consumption of foods that are high in calories, fat, or sugar; by decreasing physical activity; and by shortening sleep. Third, stress triggers physiological changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, reward processing in the brain, and possibly the gut microbiome. Finally, stress can stimulate the production of biochemical hormones and peptides such as leptin, ghrelin, and neuropeptide Y. 17

The lateral hypothalamus (LH) plays a fundamental role in regulating feeding and reward-related behaviors; however, the contributions of neuronal subpopulations in the LH are yet to be identified thoroughly. 22 The LH has also been associated with other aspects of body weight regulation, such as physical activity and thermogenesis. 23 The LH contains a heterogeneous assembly of neuronal cell populations, in which γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons predominate. 23 LH GABA neurons are known to mediate multiple behaviors important for body weight regulation, thus altering energy expenditure. 23

Etiology and Risk Factors

Excess body fat is a major health concern in childhood and adolescent populations. The dramatic increase in childhood obesity foreshadows the serious health consequences of their adult life. As obesity begins from childhood and spans through adult life, it becomes increasingly more difficult to treat successfully. Being able to identify the risk factors and potential causes of childhood obesity is one of the best strategies for preventing the epidemic. 24

According to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released in 2011, there is an acceptance that there is no single cause of childhood obesity and that energy imbalance is just a part of the numerous factors. 25 Many children have a discrepancy between what is taken in and what is expended. 26 For example, children with obesity consume approximately 1000 calories more than what is necessary for their body to function healthily and to be able to participate in regular physical activities. Over 10 years, there will be an excess of 57 pounds of unnecessary weight. With excessive caloric intake, as well as sedentary lifestyles, childhood obesity will continue to rise if no changes are implemented. Adding daily physical activity, better sleep patterns, as well as dietary changes can help decrease the number of excess calories and help with obesity-related problems in the future.

Also, during childhood, excess fat accumulates when the increase in caloric intake exceeds the total energy expenditure. 26 Furthermore, children living in the United States today compared with children living in the 1900s are participating in more than 6 hours per day activities on social media. This includes but is not limited to traditional television, video gaming, and blogging/Facebook activities. An additional economic rationalization for the increase in childhood obesity is technology. In other words, Americans can now eat more in less time.

In a study, Cutler et al found that an increase in consumption of food tends to be related to technology innovation in food production and transportation. Technology has thus made it increasingly possible for firms to mass prepare food and ship to consumers for ready consumption, thereby taking advantage of scale economies in food preparation. The result of this change has been a significant reduction in the time costs for food production. These lower time costs have led to increased food consumption and, ultimately, increased weights. 27 Eliminating the time cost of food preparation disproportionately increases consumption for hyperbolic discounters because time delay is a particularly important mechanism for discouraging those individuals from consuming. 27 Society today prefers immediate satisfaction with regard to food and convenience over the long-term goals of living a long, healthy life. The availability of high-caloric, less-expensive food coupled with the extensive advertisement and easy accessibility of these foods has contributed immensely to the rising trend of obesity. 28 For example, there have been reductions in the price of McDonalds and Coca-Cola (5.44% and 34.89%, respectively) between 1990 and 2007, while there was about a 17% increase in the price of fruits and vegetables between 1997 and 2003. 29

Likewise, only 16% of children walk or bike to school today as compared with 42% in the late 1960s. However, the distance, convenience, weather, scanty sidewalks, and anxiety about crimes against children could all contribute to this difference. Furthermore, with elementary, middle, and high school combined, only 13.8% of these schools provide adequate daily physical education classes for at least 4 hours a week. 30

Some other potential risk factors have been reported through research studies that involve issues that affect the child in utero and childhood. Table 1 represents potential risk factors and confounders of childhood obesity. 31

Potential Risk Factors of Childhood Obesity.

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; SES, socioeconomic status.

Catalano et al argues that maternal BMI before conception, independent of maternal glucose status or birth weight, is a strong predictor of childhood obesity. 32 Infants at the highest quarter for weight at 8 and 18 months are more likely to become children with obesity at age 7, than children in the lower quarters. Certain behaviors have been linked to childhood obesity and overweight; these are a lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating patterns (eating more food away from home, drinking more sugar-sweetened drinks, and snacking more frequently), resulting in excess energy intake. 22 , 31 In addition, when one parent presents with obesity, there is an increased potential for the child to become obese over the years. Naturally, the risk is higher for the children when both parents present with obesity. Furthermore, a study that followed children over time observed that children who got less sleep <10.5 hours at age 3 were 45% more likely to be children with obesity at the age of 7, than children who got greater than 12 hours of sleep during their first 3 years of life. 33 , 34

While all the above-mentioned factors are informative, there is still the need for further research concerning childhood and adolescent obesity and obesity in general. Risk factors for obesity in childhood are still somewhat uncertain, and evidence-based research for preventative strategies is lacking. Moreover, effective action to prevent the childhood obesity epidemic requires evidence-based on early life risk factors, and this evidence, unfortunately, is still incomplete. Furthermore, a research study has attempted to capture the complete picture of childhood obesity early life course risk factors. In the study, they identified that parental BMI and gestational weight gain among other factors should be considered in prevention programs. 35

Health Effects of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is known to have a significant impact on both physical and psychological health. Sahoo et al stated that “childhood obesity can profoundly affect children’s physical health, social and emotional well-being, as well as self-esteem.” They associated poor academic performance and a lower quality of life experienced by the child with childhood obesity. They also stated that “metabolic, cardiovascular, orthopedic, neurological, hepatic, pulmonary, and menstrual disorders among others are consequences of childhood obesity.” 36 There are many health consequences of childhood obesity, and three of the more common ones are sleep apnea, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. 36

Psychological Consequences of Obesity

Several studies related to childhood and adolescent obesity have focused primarily on physiological consequences. Other studies have been conducted regarding the association between psychiatric disorders and obesity; these have resulted in conflict due to obesity being found to be an insignificant factor for psychopathology. However, a comparative study by Britz et al found that high rates of mood, anxiety, somatoform, and eating disorders were detected among children with obesity. The study also observed that most psychiatric disorders began after the onset of obesity. In this large population-based study, it was found that a staggering 60% of females and 35% of males reported that they have engaged in binge eating and expressed a lack of control over their diet. 37

Goldfield et al conducted a study among 1400 adolescents with obesity, overweight, and normal weight in grades 7 to 12. Their BMIs, as determined by the International Obesity Task Force, were the criteria used to define each group. Each participant completed a questionnaire on body images, eating behaviors, and moods. Adolescents with obesity reported significantly higher body dissatisfaction, social isolation, depression symptoms, anhedonia, and negative self-esteem than those of normal weight. 38 There is widespread stigmatization of people with obesity that causes harm rather than the intention to motivate people to lose weight. Stigma contributes to behaviors such as binge eating, social isolation, avoidance of health care services, decreased physical activity, and increased weight gain, which worsens obesity and creates additional barriers to healthy behavior change. 39 Weight-based bullying in youth is considered a common, serious problem in many countries. 40 In a study conducted by O’Brien et al, to test whether the association between weight stigma experiences and disordered eating behaviors, that is, emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, and loss-of-control eating, are mediated by weight bias internalization and psychological distress among 634 undergraduate university students, and results of statistical analyses showed that weight stigma was significantly associated with all measures of disordered eating, and with weight bias internalization and psychological distress. 41

Asthma and Obesity

There is mounting evidence that childhood obesity is a risk factor for the development of asthma. 42 A research study was conducted by Belamarich et al to investigate 1322 children aged 4 to 9 years with asthma. Obesity, as defined by the CDC, is the BMI, with weight and height being greater than the 95th percentile. This was the criteria used to identify the 249 children with obesity, while the BMI between the 5th and 95th percentile identified the children who were not obese. After a baseline assessment was done, the 9-month study found that the children with obesity had a higher number of days of wheezing over 2 weeks (4.0 vs 3.4) and as well had more unscheduled emergency hospital visits (39% vs 31%). 42

Obesity directly correlates with the severity of asthma, as well as poor response to corticosteroids. 43 In fact, children with obesity who also have a history of asthma are more challenging to control and linked to worse quality of life. 44 A prospective trial found that weight loss in patients with obesity and a history of asthma can significantly aid them to control the asthma attacks. 43

Chronic Inflammation and Childhood Obesity

Lumeng and Saltiel reported that obesity in children affects multiple organ systems and predisposes them to diseases. The effect of obesity on the tissue can manifest in the development of insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes, the risk of cancer, and pulmonary diseases. 45

The inflammatory response to obesity triggers pathogens, systematic increases in circulatory inflammatory cytokines, and acute-phase reactants (eg, C-reactive proteins), which inflames the tissues. This is often caused by the activation of tissue leukocytes. Chronic inflammation in children with obesity can induce meta-inflammation that is unique when compared with other inflammatory paradigms (eg, infection, autoimmune diseases). 45 Researchers have reported that children with obesity are at risk of lifelong meta-inflammation. In these children, the inflammatory markers are elevated as early as in the third year of life. 45 , 46 This has been linked to heart disease later in life. 19 The long-term consequences of such findings can cause cumulative vascular damage that correlates with the increased weight status. 47

The short-term and long-term effects of obesity on the health of children is a significant concern because of the negative psychological and health consequences. 46 The potential negative psychological outcomes are depressive symptoms, poor body image, low self-esteem, a risk for eating disorders, and behavior and learning problems. Additional negative health consequences include insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, asthma, hypertension, high total, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the blood, sleep apnea, early puberty, orthopedic problems, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis 46 , 47 ( Figure 4 ). Children with obesity are more likely to become adults with obesity, thus increasing their risk for several diseases before they even reach their teen years. 48

Comorbidities and potential health consequences of childhood obesity. 47

Prevention and Control

There are two primary components to the prevention and control of childhood obesity.

The first is to educate parents on proper nutritional requirements for their children and the second is to implement the learned information. Educating parents on proper nutrition and dietary caloric intake requirements for their children is at the forefront for the prevention of obesity; however, the way the information is disseminated may affect the usefulness of the information. For example, one of the main limitations to the education of parents about childhood obesity is that typically written information is used as the conduit to health information and disease prevention. 49 The Growing Right Onto Wellness (GROW) trial used a systematic assessment of patient education material that was used for the prevention of childhood obesity in the low health literate population. 49 Results suggest that the average readability is of grade 6 level (SMOG [Simple Measure of Gobbledygook] Index 5.63 ± 0.76 and Fry graph 6.0 ± 0.85) and that adjustment of education material must be done for low health literate populations to adequately comprehend educational material and maintain motivation on the prevention of childhood obesity. 49 A similar study was conducted to further support this improvement when using color-coordinated diagrams to help parents visualize instead of trying to comprehend with numbers and words. It proved to be successful as parents were able to see where they were going wrong and make the necessary changes in their children’s diet. 49

Similarly, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development conducted a study on 744 adolescents and parents, and analyzed data to determine if parental (maternal and paternal, individually) reactions to children’s behavior was related to childhood obesity. 50 The study concluded that informing parents that their attitude toward their children’s behaviors will play a prominent role in preventing childhood obesity. 50 Parental education on nutrition, health, and the involvement of politicians, physicians, and school personnel are key for the prevention of childhood obesity. However, community and educational institutions have begun legislating and incorporating programs such as providing healthy foods at schools and also health information sessions directed toward young individuals, aimed at preventing childhood obesity in the United States and Canada. 51

Another effective prevention measure against childhood obesity is the awareness of parents on the meal and snack portion sizes. In a systematic review conducted on the effects of portion size manipulation with children and portion education/training interventions on dietary intake with parents, it was determined that the ability of adults to accurately estimate portion size improved following education/training. 52 Education of parents and children on diet requirements has its limitations in that the information must be easy to understand and be easily accessible in order to be practical. Making the available education materials easier to understand from just tables and numbers to more relatable aspects such as colors or figures, parents were able to visualize the changes they need to make whether it is with regard to portion sizes or even seeing how much childhood obesity is present in their family. Although much of the literature provided to parents is targeted to help those with lower numeracy skills, many parents benefited from the information being comparative from right/wrong and good/bad with regard to dieting. 49

The study recommended that proper educational materials, including useful and understandable literature, be used to control meal portion sizes and to help parents identify when children are at risk of obesity. Similarly, healthy eating practices should be taught by schools as a mandatory and essential method in the prevention of childhood obesity. 52

The implementation of healthy eating practices and adequate exercise regimes are essential in the prevention and control of childhood obesity. For example, information from systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, and well-designed observational studies indicate that evidence-based prevention and control of childhood obesity can be accomplished with the collaboration of community/school, primary health care, and home-based/family-based interventions that involve both physical activity and dietary component. 53 In particular, the control of children with obesity is of significant value, as is the prevention of obesity. Two randomized control trials of 182 families were conducted from November 2005 to September 2007, and they studied the efficacy of US pediatric obesity treatment guidelines in children aged 4 to 9 years with a standardized BMI (ZBMI) greater than the 85 percentile. 54 Briefly, Trial 1 studied the impact on ZBMI by reducing snack foods and sugar-sweetened beverages and increasing fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy. 54 Trial 2 studied the impact on ZBMI by decreasing sugar-sweetened beverages and increasing physical activity and increasing low-fat milk consumption and reducing television watching. In Trial 1, the resulting ZBMI reduced within 6 months, and this was maintained through to the 12th month (ΔZBMI 0-12 months = −0.12 ± 0.22). 53 In Trial 2, the resulting ZBMI reduced within 6 months and continued to improve till the 12 months (ΔZBMI 0-12 months = −0.16 ± 0.31). 50

A similar cluster-randomized trial in England studied the effects of the reduction of carbonated beverages on the number of children with obesity in 29 classes (644 children). 51 Results indicate that a decrease of 0.6 glasses of carbonated drinks (250 mL) over three days per week decreased the number of children with obesity by 0.2%, while the control group increased by 7.5% (mean difference = 7.7%, 2.2% to 13.1%) at 12 months. However, diet control is only one component of the control and prevention of childhood obesity, while adequate exercise is another. 55

A systematic review and meta-analyses of the impact of diet and exercise programs (single or combined) was done on their effects on metabolic risk reduction in the pediatric population. 56 Analyses indicated that the addition of exercise to dietary intervention led to greater improvements in the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (3.86 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.70 to 4.63), fasting glucose (−2.16 mg/dL; 95% CI = −3.78 to −0.72), and fasting insulin (−2.75 µIU/mL; 95% CI = −4.50 to −1.00) over 6 months. 56 Diet and exercise are both important factors in the control and prevention of childhood obesity. It is our recommendation that parents and community (teachers and doctors) should be involved in identifying children at risk based on their BMI and participate in implementing practices such as good diet control through the reduction of sugary drinks, fatty foods, and also encouraging safe exercise programs to prevent and control childhood obesity in the society. 56

While all of the previous data express the more obvious prevention methods with regard to childhood obesity, it is imperative to note that ensuring that the whole family is involved in the intervention will yield the greatest results. 2 All current studies indicate that families must be included in childhood treatment of obesity. However, for the success of the child’s weight loss program, it is vital that the parents understand that the causes of obesity are often a mixture of four factors: genetic causes, parental habits, overeating, and poor exercise habits. Thus, instilling some responsibility on the parents and informing them that controlled food preparation, diet control, and family participation in physical activities will all assist in the treatment and control of obesity in their children. 2

Childhood obesity has increased significantly in recent decades and has quickly become a public health crisis in the United States and all over the world. Its increase in prevalence has provoked widespread research efforts to identify the factors that contributed to these changes. 57 Obesity starts with an imbalance between caloric intake and caloric expenditure. 58 Children with obesity are at greater risk of adult obesity; therefore, if we can educate and improve the health habits of families even before they start having children, this can help reduce the increasing rate of childhood obesity in the United States. Parents and caregivers with proper education on the causes and consequences of childhood obesity can help prevent childhood obesity by providing healthy meals and snacks, daily physical activity, and nutrition education to their family members. 59 Families need to take the approach of not adapting to their family being on a diet but more of a healthy lifestyle. A family’s home environment can influence children at a young age; therefore, making changes starting in the household early can educate and influence them to grow up healthy. Although prevention programs may be more expensive in the short term, the long-term benefits acquired through prevention are much more likely to save an even greater amount of health care costs. Not only will the children have a better childhood and self-esteem, but prevention programs can also decrease the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, stroke, and possibly cancers in adulthood. 60 The overall need to decrease the obesity rate will help children and their families in the generations to come by building a healthy lifestyle and environment. In order to tackle the climbing obesity rate, overall health and lifestyle needs to be a priority as they balance one with the other. 49 While effective interventions to thwart childhood obesity still remain elusive, the sustainability of the interventions already in place will enable children and their families to adopt these important health behaviors as lifelong practices and improve their health. 58

Treatment of Obesity and the Physiology of Energy Regulation

As discussed previously, a variety of mechanisms participate in weight regulation and the development of obesity in children, including genetics, developmental influences (“metabolic programming” or epigenetics), individual and family health behaviors, and environmental factors. Among these potential mechanisms, only environmental factors are potentially modifiable during childhood and adolescence.

Unfortunately, despite intensive lifestyle modifications and support for healthy practices within the children’s environment, some children will continue to struggle with extreme excess weight and associated comorbidities. 61 , 62 Therefore, a combination of pharmacotherapy and lifestyle modification can be considered. 61 Overweight children should not be treated with medications unless significant, severe comorbidities persist despite lifestyle modification. The use of pharmacotherapy should also be considered in overweight children with a strong family history of type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular risk factors. Constant bidirectional communication between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract, as well as the brain and other relevant tissues (ie, adipose tissue, pancreas, and liver), ensures that the brain constantly perceives and responds accordingly to the energy status/needs of the body. This elegant biological system is subject to disruption by a toxic obesogenic environment, leading to syndromes such as leptin and insulin resistance, and ultimately further exposing individuals who are obese to further weight gain and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Currently, the only Food and Drug Administration–approved prescription drug indicated for the treatment of pediatric obesity is orlistat (Xenical; Genentech USA, Inc, South San Francisco, CA). 63 Orlistat works by inhibiting gastric and pancreatic lipases, the enzymes that break down triglycerides in the intestine. Moreover, imaging studies in humans are beginning to examine the influence that higher- order/hedonic brain regions have on homeostatic areas, as well as their responsiveness to homeostatic peripheral signals. With a greater understanding of these mechanisms, the field moves closer to understanding and eventually treating the casualties of obesity.

The number of children with obesity in the United States has increased substantially over the years; due to its public health significance, the increasing trends need to be closely monitored. While a complete picture of all the risk factors associated with obesity remains elusive, many of the studies agreed that prevention is the key strategy for controlling the current problem. Since the combination of diet, exercise, and physiological and psychological factors are all important factors in the control and prevention of childhood obesity, primary prevention methods should be aimed at educating the child and family and encouraging appropriate diet and exercise from a young age through adulthood while secondary prevention should be targeted at lessening the effect of childhood obesity by preventing the child from continuing unhealthy habits and obesity into adulthood. A combination of primary and secondary prevention is necessary to achieve the best results. Thus, a combined implementation of both types of preventions can significantly help lower the current prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States. Failure to take appropriate actions could lead to serious public health consequences.

Author Contributions: AS: Contributed to conception and design; drafted manuscript; gave final approval; agrees to be accountable for all aspects of work ensuring integrity and accuracy.

XQ: Contributed to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation.

JL: Contributed to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation.

SR: Contributed to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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IELTS essay about causes of obesity

by Manjusha Nambiar · Published December 12, 2015 · Updated March 24, 2024

Essay topic

All over the world societies are facing a growing problem with obesity. Obesity affects both children and adults. What are the reasons for this rise in obesity? How can it be tackled?

Sample essay

Obesity is one of the biggest health problems that we face today. Obese people are more likely to develop diabetes, heart problems and strokes. Obesity affects children as well as adults. In this essay, I will explain the causes of obesity and suggest ways to tackle it.

Obesity is a byproduct of our modern lifestyle. Everybody is busy now. No one has the time or mind to cook proper meals. So we buy packaged foods that are high in calories, additives and preservatives. Many families now subsist of pizzas, burgers, chips, cheese and fish. They don’t eat fruits or vegetables.

Another cause of obesity is the sedentary lifestyle that most of us lead. Our jobs don’t require us to get physically active. After sitting for hours in front of a computer, we go home to sit many more hours in front of the television. As a result, we don’t get any opportunities to burn the calories that we consume.

The government can discourage people from eating fast foods by spreading awareness about the health problems caused by them and by increasing the taxes on them. When high taxes are imposed on packaged foods, they will become unaffordable to many people. This will reduce their consumption. Employers can also help. They should equip workplaces with gyms so that employees can work out. A quick workout will improve their energy levels and efficiency.

To conclude, obesity is a serious health problem. The only way to solve this problem is to make appropriate changes to our lifestyle. People should be encouraged to get physically active and reduce their consumption of fatty foods. The governments and the media can play an importance role in creating awareness about the ill effects of obesity.

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Manjusha Nambiar

Hi, I'm Manjusha. This is my blog where I give IELTS preparation tips.

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Ielts writing task 2 sample 238 - societies are facing a growing problem with obesity, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, all over the world, societies are facing a growing problem with obesity. this problem affects both children and adults. what are the reasons for this rise in obesity how could it be tackled.

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