Is Obesity really a problem? (1)

                                 Adolescent obesity is like an epidemic. This epidemic has become a pandemic that is spreading in many countries as more people exercise less and feed on junk food. A consultant in adolescent medicine said: “the next generation in England will be the most obese in the generation of mankind." The Guardian Weekly Reported:" obesity was once mainly an adult problem. Now Britain has a young generation whose eating habits and sedentary culture is leading them towards problems first seen in the US. Long-term obesity will predispose them to illnesses such as diabetes to heart disease and cancer."

The writers of the book Food Fight state: "over consumption has replaced malnutrition as the world's top food problem." Don Peck, in the Atlantic Monthly, state: "Some nine million Americans are now 'morbidly obese,' meaning roughly [45 kilograms] or more overweight." Weight-related condition lead to some 300,000 premature death a year in that nation, "more than anything else except smoking." Peck concluded:” Obesity may soon surpass both hunger and infectious d as the world's most pressing public-health problem." Therefore, who can afford to ignore the threat of obesity?


Dr. Walter C. Willett writes in the book Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy that "next to whether you smoke, the number that stares up at you from the bathroom scale is the most important measure of your health." The key word here is future health.


How do you define Obesity?

When a person is considered obese and not just somewhat overweight? The Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, United States:’ in simplest terms, obesity is being seriously overweight because of excess of body fat." But how do you determine what overweight is for each person? Height-weight tables can give an approximative guideline as to whether one is simply overweight or has passed into the stage of obese. However, these don't account for the differences in body composition. The Mayo Clinic says: "body fat, instead of weight, is a better predictor of health." For example, an athlete is likely to have more weight because of muscle mass or large bone structure. What are the basic causes of overweight or obesity? The question will be discussed in the following article.

Joel