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Introduction
Obesity is one of America’s biggest problems. This is a problem that even young or old and male or female Americans face nowadays. In the nutritionist’s point of view, obesity is having 20% more of the should be and/or ideal body weight. So, why is obesity considered as a major problem of the Americans? The response can be explained better by the statistics related to obesity.
In America alone, obesity is already considered an epidemic as it has affected, and continuously affecting millions of its populace. The recent statistics reveal that (Middleton, 2006):
- 58 Million Americans are overweight, 40 Million are considered obese and 3 Million are considered morbidly obese.
- Eight of every 10 Americans are found to be overweight.
More so, other studies disclosed that at the start of the millennium (from 2000 to 2001) the rate of obesity has started to gradually increase. In fact, it started from 19.8% and moved higher to 20.9% of the population of American adults. Same studies also prove that among the American adult population, 34% of the people that fall under the ages 20-74 are overweight and 27% are considered obese (CDC, 2002).
Because of this data, there is really a strong need for the American people – males or females, young and adults – to be informed of the importance of proper diet and exercise so that the increasing rate of obesity will be gradually stopped. This is also the very reason why students, teachers and everybody should all be interested in knowing how to maintain healthy lifestyle not only for their own benefits but also for the chance of sharing the knowledge to other people.
The Need for Immediate Action
Problems on degenerative diseases has long been affecting the entire US. The table below presents the magnitude of the problem of degenerative diseases in the United States as of 1980, note that this is based on the statistics of 1980 alone, how much more if today is data will be looked upon? (Crane, 2002).
There are several factors that contributed to these problems. Improper diet and nutrition, inactive lifestyle or unavailability of activities, continuously having chronic stress, destructive habits, exposure to environmental contaminants, internal pollution, and genetic expression are just some of these contributing factors. The first two reasons have been proven to be the highest factor affecting degenerative health.
Medical studies associating obesity with chronic disease and decreased life expectancy lend credibility to the “thin movement (UCLA, 2005).a magazine about body image revealed that health clinics constantly do body weight and height measurements and they normally put tag categorizing each individual into underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese. Some healthcare practitioners are encouraging their patients to lose weight especially those who have been categorized as obese. At In some instances, they clinicians would even recommend their patients to consult other dietician or have some drug prescriptions or even surgery based on these numbers, without even asking about eating and exercise habits or considering level of fitness (Body Image, n.d.).
It may be considered that poor weight measurements is a reflection of bad eating habit but this has not always been the case. In fact, there are thousands of people who are categorized as overly weight but they revealed that they always maintain a balanced diet, do exercise regularly and do not suffer in any other medical or health problem aside of course, from being tagged as over weight. In the same manner, there are people who are categorized to have a healthy weight, but they are the ones who have poor diet and sedentary lifestyle (Body Image, n.d.).
It should be noted that body image and self esteem always suffer every time a person becomes a victim of malicious tagging, categorizing or prejudice on weight measurements. It really never fails to bring a feeling of guilt, shame and/or self-loathing when powerful and respected members of society or health practitioners will classify a person “obese” or over weight (Body Image, n.d.).
However, it should be noted that weight is and should never be use as the best or only indicating factor of health and fitness. Instead, the eating habits, exercise patterns, and metabolic measures such as blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood glucose levels should be used as the indicators of health (Body Image, n.d.). Lifestyle factors, such as nutrition, physical activity level, stress, as well as genetics and socioeconomic status may be more important in determining one’s health and longevity than weight alone (UCLA, 2005).
Poor Diet and nutrition in Relation to Obesity
With regards to poor diet and nutrition, government and university studies revealed that at least 95% of all Americans have at least one nutrient deficiency in their diet. Most US citizens are dependent on the convenience of just getting and eating manufactured foods. It should be noted that such manufactured foods do not support good health. Most Americans nowadays do not eat enough vegetables and fruits which are the most important food that people should take in on a regular basis. Instead, most Americans now have the habit of eating foods with extremely high amount of fat such as animal products and foods with refined carbohydrates such as flour and sugar. Despite looking delicious or yummy, these types of food can cause depletion of the body from essential nutrients for proper functioning and overloaded with unwanted toxic substances (2004).
Meanwhile, it should not be forgotten that the human body is meant and supposed to be active most of the time, and this is used as a reflection of lifestyle. But, most recent statistics show have revealed that the average American now watches about 6 hours of television per day. More so, most Americans now prefer having inactive type of jobs (like being in front of a computer 8 hours day, 5 days a week). Lastly, most Americans now seem to forget or ignore the body’s need for exercise on a regular basis. The entire nation is more overweight than at any time in its history. Even children are becoming increasingly obese and out of shape. Physical movement and exercise are necessary for the lymphatic system to operate. Cells live in a “sea” of lymph, a clear-to-white fluid through which nutrients are delivered to the cells and into which cells dump their metabolic waste. One of the functions of the lymphatic system is to be the body’s “sewer system”, drawing toxins from the cells and dumping them into the blood. The heart powers the blood system. Body movement powers the lymphatic system. Therefore, metabolic waste products cannot be completely cleared unless you are physically active. A second important reason for exercise is perspiration. The skin is a major outlet for waste products; when you perspire, you are disposing of waste products through the skin. A third benefit of an active lifestyle is to retain muscle mass. Muscle cells are where fat is burned. T he more muscle cells a person has and the stronger he/she is, the more fat he/she burns (2004).
Effects of Ads Related to Food
Based on records, most of the TV programs nowadays, greatly highlight foods or food products. However, most of these food products being advertised are not good to health, or are unhealthy, and viewers who are in their young minds, can be extremely affected.
“The number of TV programs directed at children viewers has steadily increased over the last twenty years, and has roughly doubled since the 1970s. The number of ads aired for foods such as frozen dinners, which are typically high in fat and sodium, has more than doubled in the last twenty years.”
Because of the increasing rates of unhealthy foods being shown in conjunction with the TV programs, the number of viewers with abnormal weight also increases. In fact, the rate of obesity in the general population increased up to three times during the same period when the numbers of unhealthy diet commercials were advertised. Because of this, it can be easily concluded that controversial TV programs such as this (i.e. unhealthy diet and lifestyle) can “lead otherwise healthy children to develop unhealthful eating habits and become overweight and already overweight children to further exacerbate their weight problem”.
Unfavorable advertisements also affect people’s preference to food in a sense that “the influence of ads for unhealthful foods seems to be stronger than the influence of ads for healthful foods.” Because the advertisements of unhealthful foods seem to be more appealing than the healthful foods, it has been revealed that more and more viewers do prefer having candies, chocolates, sodas and other junk and/or processed foods as part of their diet, and eating on fast food restaurants or having instant noodles as part of their lifestyle.
“Studies have found that commercials not only influence children to eat more of the foods that they do not need, but also cause them to eat less of the foods that they do need. A study that showed one group of children ads for fruit and fruit juice and another group of children ads for candy and Kool-Aid found a significant correlation between the ads the children watched and their food and drink choices. Another study indicated that viewing ads for unhealthful foods may lead children to eat fewer fruits and vegetables” (Horgan, et. al., 2001).
Association between Infant Breastfeeding and Overweight in American Children
An article made by Mary L. Hediger, PhD, Mary D. Overpeck, DrPH, Robert J. Kuczmarski, DrPH, RD, and W. June Ruan, MA discussess the aspect of obesity which is occurring even to American children. The research started with the question of whether breastfeeding can be protective against the development of overweight in children. This is taken from the context regarding one of the growing problems in the United States today which involves cases of obesity and being overweight even at the onset of early childhood. The study wanted to investigate the claims of earlier researches that stated how the duration of breastfeeding can have a dose-dependent effect, implying that a longer time of breastfeeding equates to building more protection against being overweight in children. The objective of the study was then “to determine whether breastfeeding and its duration are associated with a reduced risk of being overweight among young children in the United States.” (American Medical Association, 2001).
According to the research, the data gathering proceeded by utilizing information on infant feeding and child overweight status from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). This is a cross-sectional health examination survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (NCHS/CDC) from 1988-1994. Through a stratified, multi-stage probability design, a sample of 2685 US-born children between the ages of 3 to 5 years (36-71 months) was taken. From this sample, birth certificates, details regarding height and weight measures, and information on infant feeding were obtained.
The statistical results showed that there was a weak association between duration of full breastfeeding and child body mass index (BMI). However, there were factors that were significantly associated with child overweight in the multiple logistic regression models. By far the strongest predictor of child BMI status was the mother’s concurrent BMI. Children were at moderately increased risk for being at risk of overweight with an overweight mother but nearly 3 times more likely to be at risk of overweight with maternal obesity. Furthermore, overweight in early childhood was nearly 3-fold greater with maternal overweight and more than four-fold greater with maternal obesity. The study concludes with “there are inconsistent associations among breastfeeding, its duration, and the risk of being overweight in young children. Breastfeeding continues to be strongly recommended, but may not be as effective as moderating familial factors, such as dietary habits and physical activity, in preventing children from becoming overweight.” (American Medical Association, 2001).
The manner by which this research is conducted is very much ethical in the sense that there was no need to actually study and ‘experiment’ on the children. This would have had negative effects on the young children since their weights and eventual self-images are in question. The use of existing records and information as well as corresponding statistical analyses have been sufficient in arriving at the conclusion. The research design which used an ethnically-diverse sample also leads to a more consistent generalization of the results.
From the findings of this research, a call for the more active role of the nursing clinical practice can be very beneficial in helping a population who is increasingly having problems with early childhood overweight. Because the association between duration of breastfeeding and being at the risk of overweight is inconclusive, then the emphasis should go back to the different socio-demographic and intervening familial factors among children. The challenge for the nursing clinical practice is then to apply the results of the study. This can be done by implementing healthier patterns of food consumption among children aged 3 to 5. Being overweight that arises from genetics or unhealthy dietary practice of the family can be countered by the nursing clinical practice by promoting healthier and active lifestyles. Lastly, the challenge for the clinical nursing practice is to also influence families and parents especially mothers to initiate healthy living for the sake of their children.
What to Do?
With all facts and figures presented, it can be realized that in order to prevent suffering from the burden of obesity thereby avoiding from any degenerative diseases, it is the people’s responsibility to be conscious enough about the kinds of food to take and the kind of life style to participate with.
Among the most common diseases on today’s time, issues on heart failure surely concern everybody. This is because it is believed that this disease is closely interconnected with other health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, etc. And with this, it is then strongly suggested to understand the importance of maintaining good and proper diet coupled with a healthy lifestyle. That is what all American people must do in order to keep themselves away from various degenerative illnesses. And this is also what should be shared with other people, including friends and companions, in the hope that that they too shall pass this along so as to somehow help other people too.
In today’s world, it can easily be noted from the news – prints and on TVs and radios – and published journals that American people have been neglecting their diet. In fact, there was a survey done which revealed that in most of degenerative diseases nowadays (diabetes, high blood pressure, heart ailments, etc.), the most contributing factors affecting these is poor diet and nutrition (Crane, 2002). There are 95% of all Americans have at least one nutrient deficiency in their diet. This is because most Americans enjoy the convenience of eating manufactured foods that do not support good health. Added to this is the American’s dislike over vegetables and fruits; but utterly ‘love’ on fats, animal products, and refined carbohydrates such as flour and sugar (2004).
That is why proper education is really a must. May be what is lacking for many of the Americans is the general knowledge of what disadvantages can this bad behavior towards foods and lifestyle can bring to them. Thus living by example is one of the best possible thing to do. If one has to take immediate action by eating the right kinds of food, having a regular exercise and maintaining a productive lifestyle, others will surely follow.
It will be like a domino effect. One starts it and the others will do the same. This is the right time to take action. This is the right moment for each and every one to be concerned with their health. Start with yourself, and the next thing you know it, the world is doing the same.
Reference
Body Image. (n.d.). 2008. Web.
CDC. (2002). Overweight and Obesity: Obesity Trends among Adults-1985-2001. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Crane, Milton G. M.D. 2004.The Massive Problem of Degenerative Diseases. 2002.Get Healthy Get Smart. Web.
Hediger, Mary L., Overpeck, Mary D., Kuczmarski, Robert J. and Ruan, W. June. (2001). Association Between Infant Breastfeeding and Overweight in Young Children.
Horgan, K.B. et al. 2001. “Television Food Advertising: Targeting Children in a Toxic Environment,” The handbook of Children and the Media.
Middleton, J. 2006. “Extreme obesity in women and associated risks.” JAMA. 5;296(1):79-86.
Seven Key Factors that Determine Health or Illness. 2004. Connecticut Center for Health. Web.
UCLA. (2005). A Healthy “Weight and See” Attitude. Student Nutrition Awareness Campaign. Web.
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