Obesity and its Effects on our Society

Peter Tran

Goldenwest College

Obesity is a trend that is gradually increasing in not only the western nations, but also
in developing countries as well. As countries modernize, lifestyles and careers will grow more

and more sedimentary while industrialized diets and foods become higher in meats and fats,
leading to an eventual society which obesity could be an epidemic and troubling problem. This
issue may more than likely, increase health problems such as loss of motor skill in old age,
diabetes, shortness of breath, psychological problems, a shorter lifespan. This has affected an
amount of our society already. Being aware of this situation, we should be able to intervene early
and before the trend continues to increase in exponential rates. Simple interventions such as
consistent physical activity, daily exercise, awareness of health benefits, and effort to change
lifestyles will lead to a better future. Our society needs to change its perspective on eating. A
society should eat to live, not live to eat.
The main origination of this issue is the lack of awareness that people have about
food, diets, and negative/positive consequences of having an unhealthy or healthy diet. People
are also prone to buying foods that are quick and easy, providing that they taste good, regardless
of how unhealthy it may be. Another big factor is the social economic reasons that people go
about buying foods. A low income family will generally tend to buy more high processed foods
that are filled with calories, carbohydrates, and fats that can add up over time and eventually lead
to an obesity problem that comes with health issues especially when it affects children since they
are so young. High income families usually sustain longer life spans as they are more educated
about nutrition and they are able to afford healthier foods.
There are many things schools and parents can do that will turn around the trend of
obesity. Schools should implement a required nutrition class that will allow young children to be
aware of health issues stemming from obesity at an early age. Gym classes should be more
common and focus on providing education on the benefits of exercise and doing it daily. School
lunches and cafeterias could try to provide healthy items such as more greens and vegetables. As

a study was shown in New York, a cafeteria that was able to convert their kitchen into a
vegetarian only kitchen, it resulted in the decrease of obesity and test scores that increased. This
is an amazing idea that might help, as from anecdotal experience, high school lunches were
pretty unhealthy. High schools provided lunch that ranged from pizza, chicken sandwiches,
nachos, sloppy joes, and soda. There is also a study that displayed that cheese is the most utilized
ingredient in our nation. Cheese are usually high in fats and calories.
Parents are also a large environmental factor in determining the health of their children.
Parents should be more knowledgeable about what they are feeding their children. Parents should
no longer convince their offspring to finish their plate, rather they should stop when they are full.
This is because American families tend to follow visual cues but they do not listen to their
visceral senses such as the stomach indicating that it is full. Once children believe they are full,
they should try and wait about twenty minutes as it can take as long as twenty minutes to
acknowledge they have a full stomach. Also, parents should avoid feeding their children with a
high intake of carbohydrates at an early as age as studies have should that children that are
predisposed to carbohydrates at a young age have a bigger chance of being obese in older age. In
addition, parents should also be aware that there are cheap foods out there that are healthy and
can replace the highly processed foods that cheap can buy. Eating a banana could be just as fast
and cheap as a bag of chips or anything from the dollar menu at fast food places. For about seven
dollars of fast food, one may be able to make much more servings that can last throughout the
week by shopping and cooking smartly and efficiently. It will just take more effort and time to
cook but in exchange for not having health problems, it is well worth the trouble. Health
problems will only lead to more medical expenses.

The health benefits of physical activity and exercise are vast and significant. People that
exercise will generally feel better over time, build more muscle, prevent disease, live longer
lives, have a better grasp of motor skills, and have less psychological problems. Psychological
problems are because obesity is somewhat stigmatized in our society and it can lead to
psychological damage such a loneliness and depression. However, consistent physical activity
and exercise will burn calories and help maintain cognitive performance as well, going into old
age where this is significant. People who exercise daily will also end up with a larger range of
mobility and less chance of not being able to do ADLs and will be able to maintain their
independence.
The strive for fighting and ending obesity starts at home and in the schools. Schools
should be able to help set up good health practices as they are places where they learn and they
have the opportunity to go to gym class and learn how to do physical exercise. While many
schools do provide these options, they are not high quality that we expect of them. To improve
the quality of physical education, there should be physical education customized for each student
at each grade level, depending on the health condition and aspects of the child. For example, a
child who is in the fifth grade should be able to meet the milestones and steps that a regular fifth
grader could, providing they are not physically inhibited. After that, each student should be
evaluated and then have a personal physical education guide that is associated along with the
student, allowing for reasonable progression based on their health condition and ability. Along
with that, the program should teach long lasting skills that can allow them to work out on their
on in the future, keeps them active for most of the time in the classroom, and teach movement
skills for better proprioception and coordination. For example, for children from ages 7-9 will
finally have the tendency to focus on speed and distance so they could play soccer or baseball.

Along with this, the better meal program mentioned above, it will provide a high quality health
program that will more than likely decrease the obesity trend.
Obesity continues to plague our society and unless action is taken, we will end up with an
epidemic that was easily preventable in the first place. The steps we can take to help this are
possible as long as the effort is there. Schools should be top priority as most of the childrens
time spent learning and being physical is there. Parents should also be a big influence as they
have the ability to provide healthy diets and skills in which the children are able to carry with
them throughout their lifespan. As we can see, the environment and heredity plays a big part in
childhood ability and we have the power to influence it in positive ways.

References.
Berk, L. E. (2010). Exploring lifespan development (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Brady, B. (1970, January 1). New York school goes all-vegetarian. CNN. Retrieved July 20,
2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/health/new-york-vegetarian-school/
Goldbaum, E. (n.d.). High-carb intake in infancy has lifelong effects, UB study finds. - News

Center. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2013

Promoting Physical Activity. (2004, January 1). Brightfutures. Retrieved July 16, 2014, from
https://brightfutures.aap.org/pdfs/Guidelines_PDF/7-Promoting_Physical_Activity.pdf