Measurements of Obesity
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Obesity is defined as having a body weight more than 30 percent above the normal body weight (Obesity). This excess weight must be in the form of fat (adipose tissue) and not excess weight due to muscle: excess muscle does not count for the weight attributed to obesity, so a body builder would not be considered obese. In the last decade, the average number of obese individuals in the United States increased over six percent, bringing the total proportion of obese individuals in American society to 32 percent. In the southern states, there was a 67 percent increase in the number of obese individuals between 1991 and 1998, with obesity healthcare costs topping the $100 billion a year mark. The causes of obesity are varied, and major causes include genetic factors, environmental factors, psychological factors, drug side effects, and some illnesses that affect weight (Kaplan). Obesity is harmful because of the medical problems it causes such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, non-insulin dependent diabetes (Type II), arthritis, and cancer (Kaplan; Liebman; Obesity). Body weight depends on the balance between the number of calories taken in, the number burned, and the excess stored as fat (Kaplan). If you consume more calories than you expend, you will gain weight as fat. Fat is stored in adipose tissue, either by enlarging the cells already there or by creating new ones. Many features of modern life promote weight gain, such as a sedentary lifestyle, not e
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nsitivity.
Defects in the gene products affecting melanocyte-stimulating hormone, which also affects appetite have also been found in obesity, and other proteins which help regulate appetite have been discovered and are currently under study (Kaplan). Genetic defects may increase the amount of fat stored in the body. Research suggests that mutations of the ?2-type peroxisome proliferator-activating receptor gene increase the number of fat cells in the body. It also suggests that a defect in the uncoupling protein-3 gene may promote obesity by decreasing resting energy expenditure.
Because the rise in obesity appears to be universal in America, cutting across all demographic groups, it cannot be explained by genetics alone, and this underscores the importance of environmental factors which contribute to the obesity epidemic (Kaplan). Environmentally, the CDC has found that people in America are eating more in the last decade, and yet between 1991 and 1998, there was little change in relative physical activity. The percentage of people admitting to being mainly sedentary remained at roughly 30 percent, and the percentage of people saying they exercised regularly remained at just above 40 percent. Although people are co
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1578
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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