obesity
Obesity
The obesity epidemic is an immense community health issue especially in America. Obesity can affect everyone, but middle aged people and those of retirement age are most affected (CDC). 35% of adults (ages 18-60) in America are obese and 17% of children (ages 0-18) are affected as well (CDC). 70 percent of our population, (224,700,000 people approximately) are obese in America . Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death and is proven to be more serious than the opioid epedemic (CDC). Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer are some of the leading causes of preventable, premature death from obesity (CDC). Obesity related deaths make up about 300,000 deaths in the U.S per year which is far too many (CDC). As society has changed over time our lifestyles have changed creating an increase in obesity. There is also some cases of obesity that are influenced by genes and metabolism which is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. Overall obesity is bad and can lead to fatality, your body is what keeps you alive and we should take care of ourselves to maintain health.
how we have evolved through our interactions with the environment
Obesity is caused by too many calories consumed and not enough burned. Sugar, fried food, and soda are the top three things that can cause an excessive amount of calories with no nutritional value. You can eat these foods without weight gain, but they are bad for your body and health. If that's all you eat and you aren't burning any significant calories in your day to day life, you will start to gain weight; if you don't get a handle on it you can become obese (CDC). As seen on the data above, Americans have not always had high obesity rates. In fact, from 1999 to now the prevalence of obesity has increased from 35.5 to 42.4 percent and severe obesity went from a 4.7 to 9.2 percent according to the CDC. The increase from 1988 to now is astronomical. The reasons for this is how we have evolved and changed our every day life in our environment as humans. Back in the 1980's there were much more jobs that entailed manual labor; as technology has improved there is now computers and machines to do this for us; which just requires us to sit behind a screen and control it. This decrease in movement and exercise has not only made us less mobile and more lazy, but also may be a contributing factor to severe weight gain. Sense the 80's life has changed drastically in pace. Life is no longer simple, its always go go go from sports to school to work and other activities. This on the go lifestyle has increased our consumption of fast food which is greasy and should not be eaten every single day. People used to ride their bikes to get places more frequently but now we sit in cars for hours on end. As life gets busier the time for working out or exercising is slim to non existent. Lastly since the 80's the way we eat has changed. Fresh home cooked meals have become a thing of the past. More food has been processed and has added preservatives that are unhealthy and massed produced. As a result these less healthy packaged foods are prevalent and cheaper at the grocery store. In order to stay healthy, we have to shop at special stores to purchase whole and organic foods at a greater price. Food is now sold bigger and super sized; you can get a large or extra large fry and sodas which wasn't the case 30-40 years ago. Too much food is consumed for how much calories the average American burns a day. All these reasons are why there is such a significant increase in obesity over the years. Advances and changes made to adapt to our environment such as technology, machines, cars etc have had an affect on obesity rates.
source: https://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/obesity/
genetics and its role in obesity and how our bodies function
Obesity results from an imbalance between how many calories are burned versus how many calories are consumed (Harvard). Metabolism may also have a factor in obesity because metabolism is is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy (Harvard) . During this process, calories in food and beverages are combined with oxygen to release the energy you need to function. If your metabolism is low, you may be more tired because your body is not converting food for energy fast enough. This tiredness may make you more lazy which could lead to less physical activity and weight gain as a result. From conception to the first 2 years of age for a baby, a good environment and nutrition can have an affect on the babies metabolism it will have for the rest of its life (web md). Metabolism can play a part in how much weight you gain and lose. Some people end up with inherited genes that promote a faster metabolism (can eat more without gaining weight) and some people just don't inherit that gene and have to try harder to maintain and lose weight ( they burn fewer calories at rest and during activity and have to eat less to avoid being overweight) (Harvard) . MC4R (melanocortin-4 receptor) is a gene that has genetic factors on our metabolism. MC4R sits in the middle of our bodies metabolic processes. For example, when the gene is removed, people what to eat more, use less energy and are prone to obesity. The MC4R controls the amount of energy we eat and use. If you inherit a rare form of this gene you will be more prone to being overweight. Differences in weight and metabolism can be partially due to variants in our DNA and variants in MC4R. There is still research on this gene being investigated. Our body burns calories even when we are at rest because our internal organs are always working. We burn calories at all times to function. This burning of calories at rest is called your BMR, your BMR is partly genetic or inherited and plays a part in your metabolism. Whether you have a fast or slow metabolism our body is made to store our energy in fat cells so if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight no matter what. Our bodies are also very sensitive to how much food is going in or not being put in. For example, if you are eating a piece of pie for dessert everyday for a year, you will have significant weight gain than if you didn't eat desert or only ate it once a week (Harvard). According to Harvard, eliminating dessert one day a week could lead to a weight loss of 6 pounds. In the same way, eating pie every day can lead to a weight gain of 9 pounds or more. Thyroid problems can also affect weight gain, though problems in the thyroid aren't genetic and are sometimes sporadic, they can run in families and can be inherited. When inherited, the condition usually has an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. If your thyroid doesn't work, your BMR will be low which means at rest you wont burn as many calories as the average person. Your thryroid affects your metabolism, which means that if you have thyroid problems, you may have troubles with maintaining weight and converting food into energy (thyroid.org) . Metabolism and genes do have a factor in a person's weight but they are not the main cause for obesity in America. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate will be, whether you are burning fat (working out) or at rest (BMR) you will be burning more than a person with no muscle and more fat. By building muscle in your body or having more muscle than fat you will have a higher metabolism. High intensity workouts can help boost your metabolism as well. Healthy food and proportions can help you lose weight, which will burn fat and increase your metabolism as a result of a healthy diet. American's obesity rate cannot be completely traced back to metabolism because genes do not change that quickly, so the more probable cause to this extreme increase in obesity is more related to how over time life has changed and fast food and/or lack of exercise has now effected our bodies (Harvard).
homeostasis -obesity
Homeostasis is the state of steady internal, physical, and chemical conditions maintained by living systems in your body . Humans are not meant to be obese, it is carrying more fat than one is meant to handle. Being obese brings on many other health conditions that bring on premature death such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and stroke (CDC). It also puts stress on your organs and body systems. When a person is obese they may be in homeostasis but are vulnerable to any of the diseases listed above. If you are obese and get diabetes (a disease in which the body’s ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is impaired, resulting in abnormal metabolism of carbohydrates and elevated levels of glucose in the blood and urine which is caused by eating to much sugar) you will no longer be in homeostasis and will be relying on medicine to maintain balance (homeostasis) in your body (omics). If the amount of blood glucose is too much for your body to handle, you will need medical attention (medicine, insulin) to step in to help you maintain homeostasis and keep organs from failing. When you have diabetes, your metabolism is affected which will affect your weight even more. Obesity occurs when too much calories are put in over calories burned. Food that contribute to obesity is sugar, and fried processed food. Sugar is very high in calories and contains very little other nutrients (healthline). So basically its just useless calories being put in your body that are only harming you. Just to show how much sugar can affect you , 2 tablespoons of the common sweetener high fructose corn syrup (which is in soda, candy, salad dressing, frozen food, breads and juice) contains 120 calories exclusively from carbs (healthline). Sugar provides no vitamins, protein, fat or fiber, which your body needs to function. Diabetes is caused when a person eats too much sugar, which just shows how we should be watching what we eat and our sugar intake. If our diet consists of 70% sugar, not only are you putting yourself at risk for diseases, but your also missing crucial things your body needs which could be detrimental to your health . If your diet consists of mainly sugar you are missing vital nutrients. If you have a homeostatic imbalance like diabetes you have to help your body perform what it cant which is not something you want to do. For example if you have diabetes you have to take a shot of insulin everyday which isn't fun. Being obese is putting yourself at risk for so many diseases. You always want to be maintaining homeostasis , and if your eating correctly you will, if you are consuming so much sugar you reach diabetes you are eating an extreme amount. Its damaging to your body and your lifestyle being obese prevents you from being able to perform everyday task and be there for the people you love.