Obesity Essay, Research Paper

Obesity is a disease that affects at least 39 million Americans: more than

one-quarter of all adults and about one in five children. Some people are more

susceptible to obesity than others. Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000

excess deaths in the U.S. and costs the country more than 00 billion.

Obesity is a chronic, metabolic disease caused by multiple and complex inherited

and acquired factors, including excessive calorie and food intake, decreased

physical activity, and genetic influences. The defining characteristic is excess

body fat. Long-term treatment and management are required to achieve and sustain

weight loss. Today more than 70 million Americans are overweight. Obesity,

particularly when associated with unhealthy patterns of body fat distribution,

results in 300,000 preventable deaths each year in the U.S. and 00 billion in

health care costs. In the last ten years, the proportion of the population that

is obese has increased from 25 percent to 32 percent – a level that may be

considered epidemic.

An excess of body fat results from an imbalance between energy intake and energy

output (i.e., consuming more calories than are needed to support your body’s

energy needs). The reasons for this imbalance are unclear, and the relationship

between energy intake/expenditure and body fat storage and distribution varies

from person to person. Factors that promote obesity include a genetic

predisposition, family history of obesity, age behavioral factors (such as a

high fat diet and sedentary lifestyle), and biochemical differences (lower

metabolic rate or decreased ability to oxidize fat).

A number of conditions worsen as obesity increases and often improve as obesity

increases and often improve as obesity is successfully treated. Some of these

conditions are:

?

Cardiovascular disease

?

High blood pressure

?

Gallstones

?

Type 2 diabetes

?

Elevated blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels

?

Gout

?

Sleep apnea/obesity hyperventilation syndrome

?

Osteoarthritis of the weight bearing joints

?

Infertility