Obesity in adolescents

Obesity in adolescents

Obesity in adolescents is one of the serious health issues globally. The World Health Organization, (2017), estimates that one in ten adolescents aged between five and seventeen years in the world are obese and overweight. Poor eating habits, physical inactivity, and sedentary lifestyle among adolescents have been identified as significant causes of teenage obesity. Several young people consume a high quantity of fast foods and sweetened beverages with less regard for family meals. As a result, there is a disproportion between calorie consumption and energy expenditure.

As teenagers increasingly rely on food and snacks with a disproportionately significant percentage of saturated fats, salt and sugar, the relationship between unhealthy eating habits and resulting health disorders become more evident. Teenagers who are obese have higher levels of body fat than lean body weight. The body mass index (BMI) is generally used to assess a person’s weight in relation to height. According to Adams (2005), BMI is the ratio of weight to height squared and is correlated with body fats.

When the BMI is higher, it means the proportion of body oil to lean tissue is more elevated. Adams finds that adults with a BMI between twenty-five and twenty-nine are considered overweight while those with more than thirty are obese. On the other hand, the BMI for adolescents is typically expected to vary with their maturation. This means that the BMI for young people is examined with weight distribution within particular age groups. The paper discusses obesity in teenagers with the focus on whether fast-food restaurants are to blame for high cases of obesity among teenagers in the United States, and health issues related to obesity.

Are fast-food restaurants to accuse of teenager obesity in the United States?

Fast food, also called quick-service beaneries are chain restaurants identified by the quick food service they offer, takeout business, quickly prepared meals, with a few staff, and payments made before receiving meals. The study by Adams (2005) finds that obesity and overweight issues have reached epidemic levels in the US. He records that fourteen percent of adolescents aged twelve to nineteen years were obese based on BMI-for-age distributions. The rate at which overweight and obesity are progressing among young people is worrying, noting that the prevalence of obesity has almost tripled over the last twenty years.

There is a significant observable change in lifestyle among the American population. According to Adams (2005), what was used to be called poverty of time, which was compared with the contemporary way of life, has led to greater acceptance of quickly cooked foods and in most cases eating in quick-service restaurants away from home. Adams further argues that reduced physical activity coupled with the intake of fast foods among young people creates a disparity between calorie eating and energy spent, resulting in weight increase trends.

The case between Pelman vs. McDonald’s restaurant filed on behave of two minors; it was alleged that McDonald’s food and marketing practices significantly contributed to obesity and attendant health issues of the children, Adams, (2005). Ruling the case, the Judge dismissed the lawsuit on the basis that Pelman did not separate the personal responsibility from that of the industry. Besides, the minors lived a lifestyle that may not have involved an appropriate physical activity, and their weight gains were affected by other multiple factors including, environment, hereditary, among others.

Studies have indicated that quick service providers have responded meaningfully to client health concerns and litigation issues by offering healthful food substitutes with low

carbohydrates. It is found that the service providers have changed their menu to include products that provide customers with a variety of options to select from. Unfortunately, the juvenile obesity rate is noted to increase despite the changes in the fast-food industry. This indicates that there is more than fast food that causes obesity, as discussed above. Weichselbaum, & Buttriss, (2014), are for the opinion that to tackle obesity levels in adolescents, one needs to consider several contributing factors rather than merely addressing one factor.

Many quick-service restaurants are offering some degree of healthy food choices, leaving it to the client to decide what to take. The study by Gregory et al. (2006) documents that restaurants have introduced new list items to lure health-conscious customers. The researchers found that the whole industry is attempting to present alternatives to past practices of food preparation and is making menu items wholesomer by frying products in oils rather than saturated fats as well as baking products. This means clients of the restaurants, including teenagers, are at liberty to decide what to eat and whatnot.

According to Maidenberg (2016), several factors are contributing to teenage obesity. They include a sedentary lifestyle, high-fat foods, a high intake of calories, excess television viewing. Many young people do not exercise regularly; they do not take the recommended amount of vegetables and fruits. Furthermore, a sedentary lifestyle of watching television, video games, and computers with less physical activity contributes to obesity.

Additionally, poverty has been found to contribute to the prevalence rates of obesity in adolescents. Maidenberg (2016) opines that obesity and overweight are more common in poor communities where criminal activities are high, and there is inadequate social support. The parents in these places prohibit their children from being engaged in outdoor activities. In cases where parents are obese, there are chances that their children will be overweight since they will keep on feeding them.

Health issues in relation to obesity

There is a strong link between obesity and insulin resistance that causes type two diabetes. Obesity is a critical risk factor for the occurrence of insulin resistance in teenagers. Insulin resistance further develops metabolic as well as cardiovascular complications, Weichselbaum, & Buttriss, (2014). It causes an abnormal lipid profile in the body. Type 2 diabetes affects both children and adults.

Obesity also leads to cancer attack. According to Hruby et al. (2016), higher BMI and continuous increases in a lifetime are connected with a higher risk of cancer. With the case of women, those who experienced weight gain from adolescents were likely to get fatal breast cancer after menopause. The disorders will lead to pancreas and kidney cancer cases

Abdominal obesity has the most significant influence on whether someone will develop hypertension. Weight gain increases the risk of one getting blood pressure. Individuals with a BMI of more than twenty-seven are three times likely to be hypertensive, Hruby et al. (2016). Fatty deposits in the arteries make it hard for blood to circulate through the blood vessels. These deposits can break suddenly and form a clot that causes a heart attack or stroke.

Stroke disorder can be caused by obesity. Individuals with a BMI of more than twenty-eight have been implicated in stroke complication. Similar to heart disease, obesity over a lifetime led to ischemic stroke. In addition to obesity, smoking has also contributed to the hemorrhagic type of stroke.

There are substantial psychological consequences of obesity to obese people. Obese individuals are stereotyped as sick, academically failing, socially unfit, and untidy. There are negative stereotypes associated with obesity, where individuals are viewed as lazy and consuming a lot of food. Overweight adolescents can develop a negative self-image, which leads to declining degrees of self-esteem. People with obesity, especially teenagers, tend to feel sad, lonely, and nervousness which leads to depression.

Conclusion

Multiple factors cause obesity, and therefore, there is a need for the individual, corporate, and government to work together to address the obesity crisis. Parents should be at the forefront in providing nutritional value foods and guiding teenagers on the proper lifestyle to lead. Fast-food restaurants have the responsibility to provide healthy diets for their clients.