This week I am in a serious mission to attack the problem of obesity in america. I wake up every morning ready to jump out of bed because I want to get more information out to this world about how we have become bigger and how we can overcome this preventable disease. America needs help. It needs to be educated right now!
The more I look around, people are looking for weight loss surgery or crash diets. This is not the solution they need. People who have become overweight and obese need to know how to help themselves and not depend on someone else. They need to know how they got there, so they can prevent it when they solve it, and help others in the future.
Last year when I was tipping the scales at 186, at only 5’7″, I felt horrible and even at that weight, I felt pains in my chest, slower on a daily basis, and I literally felt depressed and went to food for comfort at times. This is what happens to everyone.
My family came into my life and helped me realize the dead-end road I was traveling. I realized that it wasn’t me suffering if my life ended earlier than it should due to being overweight, but it would be my family to suffer for the rest of their lives, losing someone they care deeply for. That’s family, that’s friendship.
Here are some important things we all need to know about obesity in America.
Obesity in America has dramatically risen throughout the years. Two thirds of America’s population is overweight. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third (35.7%) of American adults are obese.
Approximately 12.5 million (17%) of children and teens ages 2 to 19 years old have been accounted as obese based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey. This is three times more than obesity prevalence since 1980. The impact of obesity in the American economy is one of the nation’s well-tracked chronicles.
The list below is only a sample of how obesity has affected the country.
- Hospitals are now investing on plus-size medical supplies and equipment such as larger wheel chairs and mini-cranes to support obese patients. Those who want to get better at home should find out the role of hospital beds in palliative care at home.
- The Federal Transit Administration is now considering having bus brakes and steering tests with consideration to heavier commuters.
- The Citi Field and new Yankee Stadium increased their seats’ width by 1 to 2 inches.
- Even gasoline consumption of cars with obese passengers is nearly in the billions. To be more exact, 938 million gallons yearly.
America’s health care reform of 2010 gives employers permission to charge 30% to 50% more in health insurances for obese employees who decline participating in wellness programs. This law also encourages Medicaid and Medicare owners to seek physicians’ help to lose weight as well as fund community driven demonstrations for weight loss programs.
Statistics of Obesity in America: What You Should Know
The numbers involved in obesity rates is a little overwhelming. The information below makes it a whole lot more difficult to merely disregard.
- Obesity is in the number 2 spot on the roster of preventable death causes in America. That’s approximately in the range of 100,000 to 400,000 obesity caused deaths per year
- Medical costs for obese people are at an average of $1,400 more than normal weight ones. To be more precise, an obese male spends $1,152 more on annual health care expenses while a female’s average is at $3,613
- At this continuing rate, health costs for obesity-related diseases will balloon to $300 billion dollars in 2018. That’s double the 2008’s cost which was reported at $147 billion
- In a more recent article by Cornell University’s Chronicle Online, obesity is now accounted to be responsible for 20.6% of health care costs in America
- A person who has diabetes spends an average of $6,600 more in a year than one who doesn’t have the disease
- Leading on the 7th spot of top U.S. death causes is diabetes
- The economic impact of obesity has caused America more than 117 billion worth of US dollars ranging from health care to work-related expenditures including absenteeism and future earning loss due to early death. That’s more than health care costs from people who smoke or have drinking problems.
- A more recent and controversial article released by Reuters shows an estimated $190 billion breakdown of medical costs, increased insurance rates and dropped productivity of obese U.S. employees.
- According to John Cawley, a Cornel University economist, with the average US citizen earning $669 a week, $76 is weekly obesity tax.
- Based on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health report, more than half of the population will be obese by 2030. Each state will have more than 44% of its adult population obese.
Medical Facts of Obesity in America
In 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that more than 57 million adults, 20 and older, were pre-diabetic. Furthermore, out of the 23.6 million diabetic, between 90 to 95% of them have type 2 diabetes. These men and women end up being more prone to complications brought about by the disease.
According to the director of CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, Dr. William Dietz, 33% of children born in 2000 will most likely develop diabetes in their lifetime at the current rate the country is heading to.
Five out of the top 10 causes of death have been linked to obesity as one of its contributing factors.
These following diseases are:
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
Pregnancy and childbirth is also complicated by obesity. The likelihood of newborn babies from obese women to die within a month of birth or to be stillborn is three times and almost twice, respectively. This is in comparison to babies born to normal weight women.
The Roots of Obesity in America
The assumption that sugar has been the main perpetrator of obesity in Americans may no longer hold true. More recently, the consumption of high carb diets that aren’t burned by the body due to inactivity seemed to been an underlying culprit. Changing the way we eat and knowing what healthy food is and isn’t, is the start. Exercising will complete your transition along with a healthy eating lifestyle.
Restaurant and fast food joint portion sizes have also increased up to 60% throughout the past two decades. Most people have not noticed this, which is why nothing much was said about it. For instance, the bagel’s average size doubled from three inches to six inches from 1983 to 2003. Genetically modified foods may have saved a lot of nations from starving, however, the effects of the over consumption is considered unhealthy.
The lack of physical education and activities in low-income schools due to fund shortage has also increased children and adolescent obesity. Fortunately, more states are rectifying this problem by removing all sugar-sweetened drinks and fryers in schools as well as providing free breakfast for students. Such are the implementations of Philadelphia.
Now that you know the facts, it is important for us to take action as individuals to promote a healthy lifestyle. Let us work together to prevent future casualties of obesity in America.
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Live Passionately,
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