Obesity epidemic in America

World Health Organisation (WHO) defines obesity and overweight as excessive fat accumulation in human body that exposes it to health hazards. One significant measure of calculating obesity or overweightness is Body Mass Index (BMI), which refers to the ratio of a person’s weight in kilograms and square of his height in meters. In adults, BMI over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese. Obesity is undoubtedly one of the biggest global health challenges in the 21^st century, touching every nation on earth and United States of America is no exception. Obesity epidemic in America has assumed a mammoth crisis.

According to the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US obesity prevalence has escalated to 42.4% in 2017-18 from 30.5% in 1999-2000. The prevalence of severe obesity has also experienced enhancement from 4.7% to 9.2% during the same period. Childhood obesity is, unfortunately, also at its alarming level. Presently, around 17% of US children are facing obesity issue. The complication of childhood obesity proves fatal for the physical, psychological and emotional development of children.

In this article, an effort is made to discuss obesity, its causes, its various kinds and remedies and how it affects Americans socially and economically.

What is Obesity?

In layman’s term, obesity is excessive fat accumulation in human body. However, on a more precise terms, obesity is defined to be a condition of having BMI of 30 or above. The choice of BMI as an indicator of obesity is not without its fair share of differences – for example, it does not take into consideration the location of fat in the human body – it is still a well-agreed upon measure of calculating obesity.

Obesity affects 19% of children and 42% of adults, putting people at risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, and some cancer. Over a quarter of all Americans 17 to 24 years are too heavy to join the military. Obesity costs the US healthcare system $147 billion a year. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Types of obesity

There is no single parameter for classification or types of obesity. WHO classifies obesity into three classes i.e. Class I to Class III based on the BMI yardstick. Going forward, some medical organizations have further sub-divided these classes and introduced some other categories or types. As per WHO, following are the obesity classifications:

Class I: It is the first and the least severe type of obesity. All the individuals with BMI in the range of 30 and 34.99 fall under this category.

Class II: It is the type of obesity with BMI in the range of 35 to 39.99.

Class III: It refers to the type of obesity with BMI above 40. It is the most severe kind of obesity and sub-categorized into severe, morbid and super-obesity, in view of growing severity.

Apart from above classes, latest research findings explored many other types of obesity with different or unique causes. It is quite possible that an obese individual follows strict diet and rigorous exercise and still does not see an iota of reduction in his obesity. Some of the newly researched types of obesity are discussed below.

Genetic Obesity: One of the common causes of obesity is family genetics. Those, who are obese owing to genetical problems, need not worry. Good news is that it is curable. They should consult an expert clinical geneticist.

Dietary Obesity: Sedentary lifestyle and eating disorder are two main reasons of dietary obesity. Thankfully, this kind of obesity requires a simple solution – changing of daily routines and eating habits. It is about doing regular physical exercise and eating heathy food with right amount of calorie.

Obesity due to poor regulation: This is a very difficult type of obesity. It refers to a condition in which your body does not recognize the need of hunger, rather you feel mindless sensation of hunger. You become totally unstoppable at the dining table.

Nervous Obesity: Nervous obesity refers to a tendency of consuming more and more food stuff, if you feel nervous or have anxiety or other psychological disorders. There is a natural temptation to compensate your lack of happiness or peace of mind with food rich in sugar and fat.

Endocrine Obesity: This kind of obesity is related to various endocrine diseases, including hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome. The person’s endocrine system does not function as it should be and thus causes obesity.

Thermogenic Obesity: It is a common knowledge that people become overweight and obese when they overeat more calories than they burn. It is a condition in which human body is unable to generate enough heat to burn the calories. Therefore, almost everything body consumes becomes a source of weight-gain or obesity.

Also read: Alone in America

Diseases and health issues related to obesity: Some of the diseases and health issues attributed to the menace of obesity are Type 2 diabetes, High cholesterol, Heart disease, Osteoarthritis of weight-bearing joints, Depression, Infertility, Sexual dysfunction and Social isolation.

What drives American obese? This is a question worth asking. Why is American people facing acute weight problem? There is no easy answer. Scientific research often reaches conflicting and confused conclusion. However, it can hardly be denied that preponderance of evidence suggests two root causes of obesity in the US populace: too much eating and too little physical exercise.

Eat, eat and eat: According to the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA), an average American consumed approximately 20% more calories in the year 200 than they consumed in 1983. Credit for this expansion goes to a boom in the meat consumption. It should not come as a surprise that each American eats 195lbs of meat each year as against 138lbs in 1950’s. Similarly, added fats intake also soared by around two third over the same period. As reported by World Health Organization (WHO), an acute upward sales volume of junk food is also directly correlated with the rise in BMI. No need to mention that Americans are notorious for their craziness of fast good mania. As reported by DoSomething.org, some of the interesting facts about American eating culture are given below.

1. Americans use 31% more packaged food than fresh or organic food.
2. In USA alone, over 10 Billion donuts are consumed on annual basis.
3. Cars are supposed to be a good replacement of dining table. Over 20% of all Americans take their meals in cars.
4. Americans send a whopping 10% of their disposable income of fast food annually. An astounding economic cost indeed.

A little discussed factor in rising obesity epidemic in America is its populace’s inability to differentiate between “Diet” and “Nutrition”. On the one hand, Americans are bombarded with perplexing messages when it comes to what to and how much to eat. Fast and junk foods, packaged materials and drive-thru meals are branded as latest and US way of eating the food. On the other hand, Americans spend over $20 Billion in weight loss techniques like diet literature, pills, surgeries and liposuction.

Inertia is the new normal: A vital factor in growing obesity epidemic in America is lack of physical movement. Gone are the days when majority of Americans worked in the fields or factories. The new normal is to sit on your office chair from dawn to dusk with very little, if any, movement. The chief culprit for obesity rise is energy imbalance, which refers to a mismatch between too many calories in and too little calories burned. By keeping an active lifestyle, people can stay at a healthy weight level. It is also essential for lowering other health risks like hear diseases, diabetes and blood pressure.

The WHO, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other bodies suggest that an adult should engage in two and a half hours of moderate physical activity each week. Obesity in children is also a burning issue, which can be tackled effectively if we inculcate the need of one hour of physical activity daily in the children.

Also read: Are you living or mere existing? Be honest in your answer. 

Obesity epidemic to accelerate owing to COVID-19 pandemic: It is unfortunate that pandemic had played havoc for the rise of obesity epidemic in USA in particular and the world in general. In 2020, not lesser than 16 US states had obesity rate at or above 35% as against 12 states in in 2019. One of the attributes of this rise in numbers is new normal originated in the backdrop of COVID-19, which refers to changing eating habits, stressful life and limited physical movement.

Conclusion: Obesity epidemic in America is not to be feared, it is to be managed. The good news is that obesity can be managed and controlled. It just requires increased physical activity, improvement in nutrition, encouragement to breastfeeding. It is very easy to blame one factor or the other for the obesity epidemic and it is also correct that genetics and age do matter. However, as the CDC stated, obesity is primarily a function of total calories consumed versus total calories burned. Let us strive for a balance between calories consumed and calories burned and say goodbye to obesity epidemic in America.