The Pros And Cons Of Obesity

The basics to living a healthy lifestyle are to eat right, exercise daily, and tend to mental health. What happens when we take away the basis of this formula? Eating healthy and getting a daily dose of exercise amounts to great mental and emotional health. Without these key components, our lives would be unbalanced and we would feel sluggish. Imagine, we would have a sedentary life and become less and less productive. These are characteristics that may lead to one being overweight which can then gradually transform into obesity. “Overweight” or “obese” are defined as having abnormal or excessive fat that may impair health. To measure this quality, there is a BMI index that we can utilize.

Obesity has become a worldwide sweeping pandemic and

Obese children are more likely to have high blood pressure, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, respiratory problems, joint problems, and experiences of social stigma. The fiscal impact of obesity is very high. It is estimated that the United States spends an estimated $147 billion dollars in 2008 on medical care costs related to obesity. 23% of this total is financed by Medicare and 19% by Medicaid. If states have interest and drive to promote healthy behavior, citizens could live longer and contribute to a productive society. This is vital to the local economy and community stability. An unhealthy population, conversely, has higher medical costs which results in poorer health outcomes and lowered work productivity which accounts for a poorer economy. Again, all of this is because of poor nutrition and lack of physical activity. It is important to implement policies that are evidence based practiced to prevent obesity which in turn will help alleviate and reduce the financial burden in the

Companies like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, and more are effortless ways for Americans to get their food. A contributor to this is that Americans see fast food as convenient and simple to feed families due to the high impact of lengthy work hours and tiredness from work. With this, children do not have access to nutritious foods early on or most of their food is fast food. Poor eating habits and low levels of physical activity have been linked to childhood obesity. Studies have shown that when children are obese, they rarely grow out of it. This is shown through the numbers as childhood obesity in the U.S. has tripled over the past thirty years