Obesity

OBESITY in U.S.A.

Have you ever heard a familiar voice, without seeing who it was? When I was a teenager, I used to go out with a group of friends which has spread out over the years. Among them there was Manuel, a guy with beautiful blue eyes and an absolutely particular voice: that hoarseness was unmistakable. He was obese. Coming back to my hometown after one-year-exchange program inGermany, I went to the bar in which all of us used to meet before I left and it happend to me: I was so sure that the guy speaking was Manuel but I just couldn’t see him. In fact, the bar was very busy, but finally I recognized his eyes: the reason why I couldn’t see him was that he had lost weight and he really looked like another person, of course in a positive way. With the passing of the time he hadrealized that he didn’t like himself anymore. He had had enough of all the problems he had when he was obese: it was hard to find clothes in his size, he had constantly problems to move along and a stair made him sweat and breath heavy before stepping it up. Of course it was not easy to loose weight: he applied himself and started eating healthier food. Also, he started a regular, physicalactivity. These are the two most important points all people, above all obese persons, should pay attention to in order to live healthy and to respect the own body. Very often, people don’t understand or they are simply ignorant about how dangerous obesity can be, therefor mass media and public institutions (above all schools) should make up for the lack of information about healthy nutrishment andphysical education. Obesity is a tipical consequence of little careful lifestyles in modern societies. “Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extend that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy. Body mass index (BMI), which compares weight and height, is used to define a person as overweight (pre-obese) when their BMI is between25 kg/m² and 30 kg/m² and obese when it is grater than 30 kg/ m². Obesity is associated with many diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties during sleep, certain types of cancer and osteoarthritis ”.1 The country where obesity has definitly become a concret problem is America. More than 6 adults out of 10 result to be overweight and the percentage of “extralarge” people among the over-18-years-old exceeds the 25% in 19 States out of 50. However, what is most alarming is that children are the main concerned: 25 millions are “oversize”, a sum almost three times as high as 20 years ago. Overall, Americans have never been so fat and the proliferation of junk food at low costs combined with a sedentary lifestyle, will not but make the present situation worse.According to some statistics gathered by the non-profit association Trust for America’s Health (Tfah), obesity rates in America are upsetting: in Missisipi it is equal to the 30% of its population, followed by West Virginia (29,8%) and Alabama (29,4%). Lower rates have been recorded in Massachussetts (19,8%) and Vermont (20%). Finally, Colorado has the lowest obesity rate with the 17,6% of obesepeople. What is not riassuring is that the percentage of obese people in the last year has increased in 31 States, but it has not diminished in anyone. Today, there are 19 States with more than 1 obese adult out of 4 and as has been previously stated, the most preoccupying data pertains to children. Obese children will be the ill adults of tomorrow, determining an unavoidable increase ofsocio-sanitary costs. But which are the causes of the continuos spread of obesity in America, which seems to infect all the western countries? And which are the possible solutions?

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity 1

OBESITY in U.S.A.

A first cause that leads to gain weight and consequently to obesity is a wrong diet, specifically a large consume of...