Adult Obesity Stratton 1

Bryan Stratton

Don Vernon

Health 1020

April 17, y

Adult Obesity

In a 1980 study published by Lancet Yesterday, it was found that 857 million Americans

were overweight. today that number has nearly double to over 2 billion people worldwide.

Obesity is slowly but surely taking over our world, especially in America. There are many

culprits to this growing epidemic however, the most worldwide culprit is fast food. McDonalds

has become the largest fast food corporation in the world with 36,899 restaurants worldwide

serving 68 million customers each day. These McDonalds are found in over 120 countries and

territories around the world. With constantly being surrounded by this tempting food, it is no

wonder that so many of us are fighting the losing battle against obesity.

The most important question to be asked is, How do I know if I am at risk, or verging on

obesity? The most widely used tool to find the answer to this question is know as the, Body

Mass Index or BMI for short. Like the chart below (image 1), this chart will show you easily if

you are overweight simply from your height, age, and weight. To use this chart, you find your

height first (on the left side of the chart), then cross-match it with you age, and finally your

weight in the same row of your age. If you are in the green area that means you are within

healthy bounds. Orange is congruent to being overweight, and red means obese.
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(Image 1)

The difference between being in regular parameters and being obese may not seem like a

big deal, but it can mean life and death. Being overweight can cause to be more likely to

contract issues such as, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, some cancers,

gallstones, osteoarthritis, gout, and many different forms of breathing problems. Many of these

issues can seem too easily ignored, but many of them will spell out death.

In the world, many people are affected by this chain of obesity. The most severely

effected in countries in the world are Mexico - 69.5% of people over fifteen is overweight or

obese, United States - 69.2%, New Zealand - 64.7%, Chile 64.5%, and the U.K. 62.8%. As you

can see in the diagram below (image 2),

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(image 2)
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in the United states Mississippi is known as, the fattest state. Over 35.1 percent of the

adult population is obese. Obese being, as defined by Medical News Today as, a persons

bodyweight that is at least 20% higher than it should be with respect to your BMI. On the other

hand, the countries with the lowest obesity rates are Sri Lanka - 9.1%, Indonesia - 9.1%, Sudan -

19.3%, Singapore - 21.1%, and Djibouti - 21.2%. You could easily relate these significantly

lower percentages to the fact that they are third-world countries. However, you could also relate

it to the Mediterranean diet. Although, not all of these countries may follow the Mediterranean

diet, it has been said to be the worlds healthiest diet, and was related to a lower increase body

mass by Oldways. The Mediterranean diet consists of healthy fats, and very few red meats. This
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diet has its own food pyramid, but it is not nearly as restrictive as some of the, miracle diets we

see nowadays. (image 3)

(image 3)

In todays society, if you asked people where they get food on a busy day, more than likely

they will say some fast food restaurant or other. They would call them miracles, a wonder of

society, or a beautiful thing. Little do they know the damage and danger that is lurking under the

wrapper. Did you know that each can of coke has 10 teaspoons of sugar and without the

miracle of phosphoric acid, you would vomit automatically after drinking a can? Along with

your yummy burger, fry, and drink combo that you had a coupon for, you will also receive, trans
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fats, butylated hydroxyanisole, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, and artificial dyes, also known as

potential carcinogens. These chemicals can cause stomach cancer, lower good cholesterol, heart

disease, stroke, diabetes, and an increase in hyperactivity in children. As for calories, even
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though that is the least of your worries, there is not a single classic hamburger on any fast food

menu that has less than 290 calories. You can see in the calories per dollar chart (image 4)

(image 4)

that most fast food items have a intensely high caloric count.

At this point you are sure to be asking yourself how to avoid these horrible

consequences. The answer is simple and as old as time. You need to eat right and exercise daily.

With the correct combination of food intake and thirty minutes of physical exercise you can

avoid harmful habits that can lead to death. Through this research you can clearly see that we

need to change the course of the world. We need to cut down on our fast food intake, yes it is

easy, quick, and definitely delicious, but being able to live to run a triathlon at eighty is much

more appealing that a combo meal served with a side of chemicals.

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Bibliography

1. What is the Mediterranean Diet? (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2017, from

https://oldwayspt.org/traditional-diets/mediterranean-diet/what-mediterranean-diet

2. Posts about Overweight and Obesity on Diabetic Mediterranean Diet. (n.d.).

Retrieved April 16, 2017, from https://diabeticmediterraneandiet.com/category/overweight-and-

obesity/

3. Almendrala, A. (2016, September 21). What The World's Healthiest Diets Have In

Common. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/healthiest-diets-

world_us_57cc716fe4b0a22de0966ff2

4. Writer, L. G. (2014, October 02). Dangerous Chemicals in Fast Food Other Than

MSG. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/dangerous-chemicals-fast-

food-other-msg-12342.html

5. Wardlaw, G. M., Ph.D. (2015). Foundations of Nutrition (4th ed.). McGraw Hill

Education.

6. Adult Obesity Facts. (2016, September 01). Retrieved April 16, 2017, from

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
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7. Pool, R. (2001). Fat: fighting the obesity epidemic. New York: Oxford University

Press.

8. Harcombe, Z. (2015). The obesity epidemic: what caused it? how can we stop it? U.K.:

Columbus Publishing Ltd.

9. Ozner, M. D. (2014). The complete Mediterranean diet: everything you need to know

to lose weight and lower your risk of heart disease ... with 500 delicious recipes. Dallas, TX:

BenBella Books, Inc.

10. Schlosser, E. (2012). Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-American meal.

Boston: Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.