Reform Program to Reduce Obesity in the United States Essay

Reform Program to Reduce Obesity in the United States - Essay Example But in the United States, the problem is getting worse. Obesity is not just people going fat – it is a disease that causes maladies like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and strokes. Old and young members of society are susceptible to obesity. Adults suffer economic harm as they become more inactive when their body mass grows. People with a weight control problem have a real and identifiable physiological and medical condition, and obese people have shorter lives than non-obese people. Preventing and addressing obesity has cost billions of dollars for the government, estimated at $110 billion a year, equivalent to 1 percent of the U.S. Gross domestic Product. (Burd-Sharps et al. 2008, p. 64) The Problem Statistics revealed that one American dies every ninety seconds from obesity-related problems (Burd-Shaprs et al. 2008, p. 64). In the late 1990s, 280,000 Americans died of obesity-related problems every year (Allison et al. 1999). The proportion of Americans who are over weight and obese has increased dramatically within the past two decades, and increases in overweight and obesity cuts across all ages, racial and ethnic groups (Bailey, 2006, p. 24). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that for the first time in history, there are more overweight and obese people in the nation than people of normal weight. An estimated 61 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese (Cooke & Wardle 2007, p. 238). Researchers stipulated that if the prevalence of obesity continues to rise especially at younger ages, the negative effect on health and longevity in the coming decades could be much worse. (Bailey 2006) Americans continue their way of life. Modern lifestyles characterized by inactivity are risk factors that will lead to diabetes and high-mortality diseases – insulin resistance, lipid disorders, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Food is cheaper, particularly high-fat foods. Changes in work habits and time pressure s in daily living have led to people gaining more weight. Lifestyles throughout the world have changed. This includes reductions in physical activity, increases in dietary intake, and the aging of the population. There is also the westernization of diet and of other aspects of lifestyles in developing countries. All these contribute to the dramatic increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (Shaw & Sicree, 2008). Risk factors linked with the modern lifestyle, including inactivity and obesity, are associated with insulin resistance, lipid disorders, hypertension, and vascular disease (Blaum, 2007). Moreover, concern has been growing over the increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes in childhood and among teenagers, attributed to inactivity and increasing obesity levels in childhood. Early appearance of type 2 diabetes appears to be a growing problem, particularly among minority groups in the United States, including Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans (Blaum 2007). Survey studies conducted among patients and physicians have demonstrated that physicians are failing to adequately identify the overweight and mildly obese patients, although there is greater recognition for the moderately to severely obese patients, particularly when accompanied by co-morbid conditions (Cooke & Wardle 2007, p. 238). In diabetes, there is energy imbalance – more energy intake with less energy expenditure. Therefore, early assessment of energy imbalance should be taken to