Poverty and Obesity
Obesity is the term that is used to refer to the abnormal accumulation of excess fats in the body that may impair the health of the individual. For adults, obesity is diagnosed when the individual has a BMI greater than or above 25, while a child is said to be obese if they have a B,I greater than or equal to 30. According to Dr Jackson, the rates of obesity is increasing gradually and so is the risk of diabetes, and thus a lot of resources allocated to the health sector are being consumed by this major challenge. The solution to this major challenge is simple and that is increasing physical activity. According to a given study, there was a significant increase in the number of Americans who do not engage in regular physical exercising. Apart from that, Dr. Jackson says that obesity is also being hugely contributed by unhealthy diet in which case the rate of consumption of foods rich in fats and sugars rather than fruits and vegetables has dramatically gone up. According to Jackson, a lasting solution can only be realized if planners work more closely with public health professionals.
According to Global Health Forecast, obesity has quite a good number of adverse consequences to the health of the individual including the risk of cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders as well as a good number of cancers. This problem can only be solved at the individual level whereby everybody should strive to limit their daily energy intake from sugars and total fats, increase their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, and engage themselves in regular physical activity. The food industry has a significant role to play in ensuring the a healthy diet through ensuring processed foods have a very minimal content of fat, sugar and salt, and thereby ensuring only healthy and nutritious foods are made available to consumers.
Obesity has become a major problem especially among children and adolescents. Plans by the government have proven not to be good enough to completely address this challenge. I think that the main idea that could be implemented to bring an end to this major challenge is to establish a weight management program especially in schools because children and adolescents spend most of their time in school. Such a program should entail appropriate meal plans with healthy food selections. The program should also have a comprehensive plan for increasing physical activity especially walking. In so doing it will be possible to maintain optimal and Healthy BMIs for children and adolescents thereby avoiding the risks of diseases that are brought about by obesity.