Public Awareness and Human Disease

Public Awareness and Human Disease

Public Awareness and Human Disease
Obesity
4-20-10
University of Phoenix
HCA 240

 
Obesity results when body fat accumulates over time which causes a chronic energy imbalance. Chronic energy imbalance is when calories consumed exceed calories expended. Obesity is a major health hazard around the world and is associated with common diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and some cancers.
    In recent decades, obesity has reached epidemic proportions in populations whose environments offer a large amount of calorie-rich foods and few opportunities for physical activity. Changes in the genetic makeup of populations occur too slowly to be responsible for the rapid rise in obesity, genes to play a role in the development of obesity. Genes regulate how our bodies capture, store, and release energy from our food (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.)
    The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) provides the opportunity to track trends in the prevalence of obesity in the United States by collecting data on individuals height and weight measurements. Data that was collected from 1988 to 1994 showed that the prevalence of obesity in adults had increased by 8 percentage points in the United States since 1976 to 1980, after being stable during the periods of 1960 to 1980. Data from 1999 to 2000 showed further increases in obesity for both men and women in all age groups (Flegal, Katherine M, PhD, 2010).
    Based on data from 2007 to 2008, researchers report that 68 percent of United States adults and 32 percent of school aged United States children and adolescents are overweight or obese. The prevalence of obesity may be leveling off based on how it has been within the past three decades. One third of adults in the United States are obese, which means that they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 0r more, and 17 percent of the children were at or above the 95th percentile of BMI for age,...