Food is everywhere; we all need food to survive in life. Without consuming food one will eventually die after several weeks of starvation. Food is necessary, but there is a need for control, of what we consume. Obesity is a big problem today. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years.
The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2010. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Even the first lady of our country has step in to help with the obesity epidemic. Obesity s characterized by excessive fat accumulation in the adipose tissue and other organs (Digging deeper into obesity. The Journal Of Clinical Investigation).
A person is consider to be obese when its body mass index is 30. 0 or above. In the following two articles I selected, I will explain the two controversial sides of whether more government regulation is the answer to the obesity epidemic? When we think of the leading cause of death in the United States of America we think of cancer. There are also heart attacks and cardiovascular problems, but we do not think about obesity.
Obesity is one of the easiest disease to detect but one of the hardest to fix. Obesity is a major long-term health problem in the United States and now in many parts of the world. It is most common among children and adolescents. Being overweight or obese can contribute to diseases like type 2 diabetes in childhood and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. When you think about it, obesity can lead to one of the leading cause of death. Although there are genetic and hormonal influences on body weight, obesity occurs when the body intakes more calories than it can burn through exercise or other normal daily activities.
Then the body stores the excess calories as fat. Factors that lead to obesity are unhealthy diet, inactivity, pregnancy, lack of sleep, medical problems and certain medications. The federal government is working on new, voluntary guidelines to push manufacturers to make and market more nutritious food to kids. The government is also looking to tax sugar beverages including juice, soda and many other drinks. The increase in tax is supposed to stop or lower the purchased of soda. This will lower the consumption of the sodas or other drinks that lead to obesity.
Finding of a new study shows that children gained less weight from fifth through eighth grades if they lived in states with strong, consistent laws versus no laws governing snacks available in schools. Another regulation that is being talk about is that the advertisement of sugary product should be advertised less on TV. These are one of the regulations the government is trying to include. On the other hand people are saying that more government regulation is the not the answer to the obesity problem and that the government show not try to stop us from buying things.
Obesity is ones responsibility is what others are saying. A spokesman from Coca Cola Company said that they should be able to advertise their product and if one wants to buy them they should be allow. There are other ways to help stop obesity like more information the families of the person. Also may are saying that a poor diet s not he only cause of obesity and they should not focus on just junk food. In the following two articles I selected, I explained the two controversial sides of whether more government regulation is the answer to the obesity epidemic.
As we read above obesity leads to many diseases like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and other cardiovascular problems. Many are saying yes to more government regulation and others are saying no, obesity is a matter of personal responsibility. I believe more government regulation is not the answer to the obesity epidemic.
Reference
- Ahima, R. (2011). Digging deeper into obesity. The Journal Of Clinical Investigation, 121(6), 2076-2079. doi:10. 1172/JCI58719
- Chaloupka, F. J. , Powell, L. M. , & Chriqui, J. F. (2011). Sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity prevention: Policy recommendations. Journal Of Policy Analysis & Management, 30(3), 662-664. doi:10. 1002/pam. 20588
- Lang, K. (2012). Parents of obese children and charges of child abuse: what is our response?. Pediatric Nursing, 38(6), 337-340.
- Rabbitt, A. , & Coyne, I. (2012). Childhood obesity: nurses’ role in addressing the epidemic. British Journal Of Nursing, 21(12), 731-735.
- Sacks, G. G. , Veerman, J. L. , Moodie, M. M. , & Swinburn, B. B. (2011). ‘Traffic-light’ nutrition labelling and ‘junk-food’ tax: a modelled comparison of cost-effectiveness for obesity prevention.
