Luis Ayala - Obesity

Introduction

     Obesity is the condition of being higher above weight then what is considered to be "normal" weight. Each weight being specific to a persons height and build. Any weight that is well above what is measured as healthy weight is defined as overweight or obese. Not only does it affect an individual's weight but can essentially lead to other drastic conditions such as cancer, strokes or type 2 diabetes.

Research

     Throughout the years, we have seen an increasing rate of obesity in America. As insane as this may sound, not only does the U.S mark the highest percentage of adults who are obese but it measures at 74.1% of the population. Obesity may serve as a gateway to a variety of diseases such as strokes, cancer and diabetes. We see this issue world wide but it has become such an increase issue in the United States. In addition, updated studies show an increase in adult obesity rates that go above 35% in seven different states in the U.S.

     According to the center of diseased control, in every three men, two are considered to be overweight/obese. Along with every 5 women, 3 of them being overweight or obese as well. In addition, the group whom have acquired some sort of college degree show a less frequent rate of obesity whereas individuals who don't receive a college education have a higher chance of being considered obese or overweight. Obesity rates were measured to be at 35.7% with young adults who ranged from 20-39 years of age.


     According to the Health Research Center at UCLA, California alone holds a huge load of the population that is considered to be obese in the nation. It actually is ranked 20th in obesity rates with individuals that range from 10 to 17 years of age. The state of California like the entire Nation experiences a consistent growth in obesity rates. In 1990, adult obesity rates were at 9.9%, 2000 they were at 18.7% and currently at 25.1%.

Center of Diseased Control on Obesity in Los Angeles

Facts

• Obesity rates, since the 1980's till now, have essentially doubled.
• In 2008, 35% of men were considered to be overweight with an 11% of those men being obese.
• There is a 65% chance that people around the world are more likely to die from being overweight than underweight. 
• Obesity is marked to be the 5th leading reason in global death. 

Personal

     Obesity not only is an issue that can be seen everywhere in my community but I also experienced being considered obese at one point in my life. Having access to fast food restaurants at the corner of every block made it easy to get food there when I'm on the go whether I'm at school or headed to work. The availability of all these unhealthy foods was immense which was an easy gateway for me becoming obese.
     Moreover, working as a middle school school has allowed me to see an increased rate of obesity on the youth. One reason being the lack of exercise done at school. After doing a couple visitations to the school I work at during school hours to take notes on a Physical Education class, sadly enough I noticed that not all students were required to participate. I saw that about half the class was doing the activity instructed by their teacher while the other half of students were just sitting off to the side.

Individuals affected by this social issue

Gissele Merino
Los Angeles Valley College
"I actually have family members that because they are obese, they developed type 2 diabetes which has changed their daily  eating habits entirely. It is important to bring awareness to obesity because it is something very easy to reach and can lead to other horrible diseases that can change someone's life."

Jeremy Hernandez
California State University of Los Angeles
"Obesity is a combination of culture and individual choice. Individuals in the United States are victim to an over eating culture, but also individually responsible for allowing themselves to be influenced by it."

Vincent Resendes
California State University of Los Angeles
"I believe that a main reason why people are considered to be overweight is because of the easy access to all these unhealthy foods around us. Not only that but the cost efficient aspect of it attracts people more rather than choosing something healthy to eat because food like that tends to be more expensive"

References

State of Obesity

States Briefs. (2017, February). Retrieved from https://www.stateofobesity.org/states/ca/

Center of Diseased Control
Overweight & Obesity. (2018, August 13). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.