Obesity On The Rise

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Did you know that obesity, once a term to describe the extremely overweight, is now considered a disease that affects almost 1 out of 3 adults in America today? That’s roughly 64.5% or 127 million Americans today that are affected by obesity.

Obesity has contributed to over 300,000 deaths in the United States as of today adding to the increasing health care costs in amounts exceeding over $100 billion dollars. Obesity is now considered to be second in line as the reason for unnecessary deaths.

One reason American’s have been inflicted with this disease the misconception that “Bigger is Better”, resulting in “Super Size” portions of food available to you at your favorite restaurant. Not only are the food portion size’s larger, but the foods are now higher in sodium, sugars and fats, due to chemical additives and excessive processing, all of which are contributors to obesity.

While the food portion sizes have gotten bigger, the levels of physical activity have become less frequent, if not at all. Society today has become a world of fast foods, computers, and video games.

Not only does obesity affect your weight, but it is a know contributor to diabetes, depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, prostate and colon cancer, gallbladder disease, and breast cancer, not to mention hundreds of other diseases that obesity contributes too.

Even though obesity is known to be a major cause of death and disability it does not incur the attention that it should from the health care professionals, government, and insurance agencies. There is limited coverage by insurance companies that limit treatment for obesity and some insurance do not cover obesity at all.

Do to the immense rise in obesity; other methods of weight control have been developed in order to help those that are extremely overweight.

While there are now surgeries, such as the gastric bypass that can help control obesity, most of these are considered elective and are not covered by insurance companies. Not only do many insurance companies not cover surgeries, but they are extremely dangerous and can be life threatening at times.

Funds are seldom granted and are limited for research in the area of obesity. Less than 1.0% of the National Institute of Health budget is spent on research for obesity.

People suffering from obesity are often faced with mistreatment and discrimination not only in the workplace, but socially as well. Obesity can lead to loss of employment and limited access to social functions that are not equipped to handle obese persons. It is not unusual for people that are obese to feel like social outcasts.

Over the years obesity was considered a result of eating too much, but as time has passed and some research has been done, it has come to light that obesity is a disease. An organization call The American Obesity Association (AOA) was formed in order to help people with this disease in order to overcome health issues and remove obstructions through positive education and robust advocacy.

Copyright 2007-2008 Janice J. Sterling - All Rights Reserved

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