Obesity as the Global Health Issue Essay
The issue of obesity is considered to be a health concern that affects the overall health of a person and can lead to more serious illnesses. In particular, obesity is characterized by the excessive fat ratio in the body and it is measured with the body-mass index (BMI) which considers the weight and height of a person. Obesity can also be regarded as a behavioral issue that should be addressed from a psychological perspective. Nevertheless, the implications of obesity and its effect on the health of the population make this global health issue alarming for the world population.
Initially, the definition and the characteristics of obesity imply that these conditions negatively affect the health of an individual. The accumulation of excessive fat manifests itself in the physical form and damages the organs of a person. Meanwhile, the consequences of obesity include cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer (“Obesity and Overweight”). However, the most important issue in the battle against obesity is the importance of sharing information about healthy eating habits. The consumption of fast food or lack of physical exercise are the primary causes of obesity. Moreover, the lack of knowledge about healthy food and the convenience of fast food options increases childhood obesity. As a result, this issue means that not only the children are in danger of obesity but also the health of future generations might be affected by the modern lifestyle and eating habits.
Nevertheless, there is also a perspective that obesity is a behavioral issue that should be addressed individually and can be prevented with the proper awareness programs. For instance, declaring that obesity is a disease implies that it occurred regardless of the behavior and eating habits of a person. However, obesity is the result of bad eating habits and a lack of physical activity. Therefore, it could be prevented with the consideration of factors that lead to this problem. Putting the effort into prevention and spreading information about ways to engage in a healthy lifestyle is a much more effective strategy to address this problem. The disease approach requires more costs than the prevention efforts (Katz). Also, obesity might be reviewed as the problem of the particular state because these issues and degrees might vary depending on the economic development of a country or different social factors.
However, it is vital to treat obesity as a serious health issue that can affect the global population. Due to the advancement in technologies and shift in the forms of employment, the lifestyle of the people became less active. The body-mass index (BMI) which indicates obesity demonstrates that individuals with high index face life-threatening diseases much more frequently than others. Even though the mortality rate has decreased with years which shows the developments in healthcare, living with obesity means coexisting with serious illnesses. For instance, kidney diseases and type 2 diabetes develops more often among obese individuals (Gregg and Shaw). Hence, the morbidity which is related to the implications of obesity should be addressed on the global level. The primary goal of the global community is to spread awareness regarding the preventive measures and enable the policies which would encourage a healthy lifestyle and eating habits while prohibiting unhealthy ones.
In conclusion, one may agree that obesity is a global health issue due to the tendencies in eating habits and an inactive lifestyle around the world. The lack of actions and awareness regarding this problem might affect the health of the world population and lead to the overall decrease in well-being. Meanwhile, the implications of obesity and mortal diseases related to these conditions can have disturbing consequences for the global community.
Works Cited
Gregg, Edward W., and Jonathan E. Shaw. “Global Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity.” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 377, no. 1, 2017, pp. 80–81., doi:10.1056/nejme1706095.
Katz, D. L. “Perspective: Obesity Is Not a Disease.” Nature, vol. 508, no. 7496, 2014, doi:10.1038/508s57a.
“Obesity and Overweight.” World Health Organization, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight.
