In the new fast paced world of the 21 century where fast food has replaced Sunday dinner and reality TV had replaced reality, Americans are becoming dangerously overweight. Though media and advertisements portray the average person as skinny, the truth is Americans are more obese than ever. Since 1991 sixty percent more adults have become obese and Caucasian Americans are the worst with a seven percent increase out of that sixty. Not only is obesity effecting adults in America but the number of youth who are overweight or obese has almost doubled. At least one out of every five children in the United States are in the “danger zone” when it comes to weight. (http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/mayo/10/05/obesity.america/)
Obesity occurs when, over time the energy intake exceeds the energy output. The person continues to gain weight and when their Body Mass Index or BMI exceeds thirty then they are considered to be obese (Cassell 155). Many people think obesity is caused by the person being lazy and not being able to control the food intake, this is not always the case however. Doctors have furnished five main theories on why people can’t over come their need to eat. The theories include developmental and learning, social, psycho
reason to lose weight its often not the case. Many people feel that the misery of keeping to a strict diet is not worth the reduced chances of an illness. More often than not it is the hope that they can still become attractive and happy that causes a person to seek help with their weight (Cassell 162). The most obvious way to control weight is to control the amount of caloric in take. A normal diet for an average active women is in the twelve hundred calories per day range, the problem with most people in the category of overweight to morbidly obese is that they tend to underestimate how much they actually eat. In addition to eating wisely exercise should be taken into account. For many obese people the condition of “sloth” or the lack of exercise hinders weight loss. It is recommended for a person trying to lose weight to exercise at least three days a week for a half hour or more a day. When trying to exercise to lose weight the patient should take into account that their weight at first may not go down because of the increasing muscle mass. All though exercise and diet seem to be the best idea some doctors say that even this isn’t enough. They think that some people need to go as far as to get intestinal bypass or the gastric reduction surgery (Cassell 160-162). Both operations make the restriction of food intake easier and thus allows the person to eat less food without having to rely on strictly will power. The bottom line when it comes to obesity is that yes it is a problem, one that has less to do being lazy and lacking will power than most think, but it can be controlled even prevented if the right steps such as eating wisely and exercising regularly ar
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