Obesity has been a major health issue in recent decades that result in major health problems in developed countries including the United States.
As it's been a major health issue this is the right time to be concerned about obesity and ways to avoid it.
Why are Americans Obese?
Firstly, it's very important to know the actual meaning of obesity. A person is said to be obese when he/she accumulates a huge amount of body fat having some negative impact on their health.
Usually, doctors and nutritionists categorize people as underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese. These classifications are determined by body mass index (BMI). It's a procedure to measure body at on the basis of height and weight.
A person with BMI ranging from 18.5 to 24.9 is considered a healthy weight whereas the range of 30 and over is the case of obesity.
Well, there's no definite cause behind America's chronic weight issue. However, some scientific studies suggest that eating too much of food and too little physical exercise can be the major reason.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) addressed that the average American ate almost 20% more calories in the year 2000 that they use to have in the year 1983.
A research conducted by World Health Organization found that a rise in fast food sales directly associated with a rise in BMI making about 11% of the average American diet.
Fast Facts about Obesity
- More than 1 out of 3 American adults are considered obese and 1 in 13 comes under extremely obese.
- 1 in 6 children is now obese as per some annual reports.
- The rate of obesity among black men was 34.4% whereas it was 44.7% among black women.
- Nine of the 11 states facing the highest obesity are in the South.
- People who are obese have higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, some forms of cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease.
- The Trust for America's Health says that about 44% of Americans will be obese by 2030 whereas the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has admitted it to be 42%.
Trends and Recent Reports
- The occurrence of obesity increased dominantly among adult men and women between 1980-2000.
- Between 2005-2014, the obesity and extreme obesity increased among female than male as per some recent reports.
- The prevalence of obesity and extreme obesity increased in past but there's no significant change these days.
- West Virginia has the highest obesity rate at 37.7 % while Mississippi lies at the second position with 37.3 % in the United States.
Some Possible Ways to Prevent Obesity
- Eating healthy breakfast every day helps to consume fewer total calories for a day.
- High fiber foods are recommended as those foods have less fat, few calorie, and lots of bulk.
- Eat raw, leafy green vegetables and salad like carrots, zucchini, and broccoli. Such food items have high levels of vitamin C and E, folate, and carotenoids.
- Choose fish, chicken, and beans for the protein supplement.
- Though nuts are fatty they help you to shed weight to some extent.
- The high amount of calcium intake can be a beneficial step as calcium in fat cells helps burning it.
- Exercising at least 30 minutes each day is compulsory for every single person; can be some moderate ones as well.
- Cut down fatty and sugary food as far as possible.
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