Obesity Health Challenge

Running head: OBESITY HEALTH CHALLENGE
Obesity Health Challenge
Student’s Name
Affiliate Institution

OBESITY DISEASE 2
Introduction
Obesity is a medical condition whereby an individual has abnormal or excessive
fat accumulation in their bodies (Alkan, Altunkaynak, Altun, & Erener, 2019). It results
from energy imbalance where the calories burned by the body are far less compared to
the calories an individual consumes. Because of this, one becomes overweight and to the
extreme grows to be obese. Obesity has, over recent decades, become an epidemic with
adverse effects. On the global scale, it is actually associated with leading causes of death
such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Dickinson & Torabi, 2018). This essay
gives a detailed analysis of the disease as a health challenge with a focus on its causes
and related health factors. The aim is critiquing obesity determinants in regard to their
relative contribution and social contribution and individual choice of life to prove why
the disease is a society concern.
The obesity pandemic is estimated to be killing nearly three million people
annually. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that over 1.9 billion
adults were overweight and 13% of these were obese (Dickinson & Torabi, 2018). On the
same findings, children under the age of 5 who were overweight or obese were about
41million. It has become an epidemic that affects all age groups, without gender or socio-
economic bias. It’s a global pandemic that is spreading faster than it can be managed.
Taking an example of the United States, the prevalence rate for obesity in 2015-2016 was
at 39.8% for adults according to Center for Disease Control (CDC) statistics (Benazon,
Foster, & Coyne, 2014). Dickinson and Torabi (2018) also denote that the annual medical
costs estimate for obesity was about $147 billion. It was further estimated that the
medical cost for patients with obesity was $ 1,429 higher than patients with normal

OBESITY DISEASE 3
weight. Clearly, obesity is not just a health issue but an economic issue as well
(Jopkiewicz & Nowak, 2018).
Causes of Obesity
To solve any problem, it is paramount to know what the causes are (Kalmykova,
Kalmykov, & Bismak, 2018). Obesity and being overweight is basically brought about by
an energy imbalance between the calories consumed and the calories expended. A high
consumption of calories with low calories expenditure will result into a person’s body
accumulating and storing excessive amounts of body fat. The related effects of this are
potentially fatal diseases such as breast cancer, diabetes, stroke, ovarian cancer and
prostate cancer.
Obesity is actually linked to over 60 chronic diseases, most of which have no cure
(Kalmykova, Kalmykov, & Bismak, 2018). The only actions available are for
management of the diseases acquired. It means that the available remedies to this
epidemic are preventative in nature and are characterized by exercising wisdom and
restraint in day to day choices.This calories imbalance can be attributed to the
modernization of society which creates an environment that promotes increased calories
intake and reduced physical activities. Other causes could be hereditary and hormonal
issues like hypothyroidism. The social determinants include: age (child, adolescent or
adults), gender (male or female) genetics or heredity, and wealth status. On this list, age
and genetics are arguably the most influential factors. However, these factors are inter –
related and one may influences the others in one way or another.

OBESITY DISEASE 4
Age factor
According to WHO findings in 2016, children under the age of 5 years – globally
- had a population of over 41 million either overweight or obese. The age group of 5 – 19
years had a population of over 340 million either overweight or obese. The adult
population hammered a staggering 1.9 billion who are either overweight or obese, a
number that Benazon, Foster, and Coyne (2014) point out to be a course for alarm for
both the public and the clinical industry. It can be inferred from these statistics that the
older the person gets, the more prevalent to obesity they get.
Not only has the prevalence to obesity been increasing with age, the general
percentages, across all age groups, have been increasing over the years. For instance, a
little less than 1% of children and adolescents aged 5 – 19 were obese. In 2016 the figure
had increased by 124 million (Benazon, Foster, & Coyne, 2014). So, it can be inferred
that age is a factor that influences a population to being overweight or obese. In fact
obesity becomes common around the middle ages. The older a person gets the more the
freedom they have to practice certain lifestyle habits that predisposes them to being
overweight or obese. The older an individual gets, the more they work and earn. This
gives the financial muscle to go for desired lifestyle habits (Alkan, Altunkaynak, Altun,
& Erener, 2019). Also, the adult population is less likely to engage in physical activities
such as exercise due to the nature of their work or simply they just lack the drive/time.
Therefore, the adult population is the most prone to obesity compared to the adolescent
and children ages. For children under the age of 5, obesity is associated with adverse
cardio-metabolic outcomes such as hypertension, and type II diabetes. Other factors
include child’s diet, infant feeding practices, physical activity and sedentary practices