subject: Obesity In America: Comprehension And Prevention [print this page] Obesity is a rising cause for concern in this country, as it can lead to other health problems like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and more. Understanding what causes obesity can help us know how to combat it.
The most common reason for becoming overweight is that more energy (aka calories) is consumed than is expended. In order to maintain a healthy weight over time, one must have equal amounts of energy consumption and expenditure. Expending more energy than you take in will cause you to lose weight, while consuming more energy than you use will cause you to gain weight. This doesn't mean the balance has to be exact each day; some days you may eat more, and same days you may eat less. The energy consumed and expended simply needs to be balanced over time. If it isn't, the changes will be gradual: eating just a little bit more than you really need to everyday will eventually result in added pounds.
While it seems like common sense that you will gain weight if you eat more, many Americans struggle to balance their energy input and output because of their jobs and lifestyles. As a culture, we use cars more than we walk, we sit at desks instead of exerting ourselves physically at work, we have all the conveniences of a modern society, and we prefer sedentary recreation like TV, movies, and video games. Furthermore, engaging in physical activity can be difficult: many communities don't provide safe places for recreation, gym memberships are expensive (and the gyms sometimes far away), and hectic work or school schedules may take up a person's whole day.
To make things worse, average Americans eat oversized food portions (based on what is served to them in both sit-down and fast food restaurants, movie theaters, and frozen meals). Surrounded by advertising for high-calorie foods and often without education about or access to truly healthful foods (i.e. fresh fruits and vegetables), they fill up on sugars, fats, preservatives, additives, and other harmful and weight-promoting ingredients.
Another reason for obesity is how a person was brought up, in terms of both nature and nurture. Obesity is commonly hereditary, both because of genetics and the environment in which a person learned about food and health. Children follow the example of their parents; if their parents eat high-calorie foods and are overweight, the chances are good that so will the child. Luckily, the opposite is also true. Healthy eating habits can be passed onto children.
Expending more energy than we consume, engaging in physical activity, eating healthful foods and smaller portions, and teaching good habits to our children will help our society fight obesity.
