The Obesity Epidemic

The Obesity Epidemic
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The Obesity Epidemic
Introduction
Throughout the history of mankind, chronic food shortage has been the most prevalent epidemic. The obesity epidemic currently witnessed throughout the world is only a few decades old. Food supplies increased significantly in the 19th century as a result of technological advances made in this period. Initially technological advances and increased food supplies led to in creased body size and longevity, improve public health and availability of various foods. The technological advances made from the Second World War further increased food supplies and made it easily accessible (Nestle & Jacobson, 2000). Increased food supplies combined with lower physical activity have been cited as responsible for the high prevalence of obesity. Health experts have viewed obesity as a chronic disease, which is less than a century old with well known negative side effects. The earlier scarcity of food made people to consider being fat as a sign of good health and a higher social status as evident in the medical opinion, literature, and art of that time (Nestle & Jacobson, 2000).
In the second half of the 19th century being fat was considered undesirable and unattractive, and in the 20th century, medical experts established that obesity leads to increased deaths due to chronic nephritis. Subsequent studies established that obesity led to conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Individuals are considered obese when their body mass index exceeds 30kgm-2 (Nestle & Jacobson, 2000).
Brief Analysis of the Current Literature
According to World Health Organization, there is an alarming increase of obese and overweight people around the world. Ironically, obesity coexists with under-nutrition whereby unbalanced diet deny the body essential minerals and vitamins, while excess in other types of nutrients cause the body to store extra nutrients in form of fat. Obesity has serious psychological and social consequences that affect people from all socioeconomic and age groups in both developing and developed nations (Nestle & Jacobson, 2000). Statistics by WHO indicate that in 1995, approximately 200 million adults were obese, with 18 million children who were under five years being classified as overweight. By 2000 the number of adults obese globally had gone beyond 300 million, with 115 million obese people living in the developing world (Nestle & Jacobson, 2000).
A recent global estimate indicated that approximately 500 million adults are obese with a body mass index that is above thirty. This figure represents approximately 14 percent of all women and 10 percent of men, and shows that the prevalence of obesity globally has doubled since 1980 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). The global estimates also indicated that about 1.5 billion adults are either overweight or obese with a body mass index of 25 and above. There is limited global data regarding obesity in children, but estimates in 2010 showed that about 43 million preschool children were either overweight or obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). In the recent past, obesity was considered a disease of the rich, existing mostly in wealthy countries. Globalization has caused the wealth of the world to increase, and developing poor countries have moved up the income ladder. This has made people to move away from consuming traditional diets to western diets, and now obesity has become a disease of the poor (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).
Studies have indicated that in the past few decades, obesity has grown to a pandemic level in developing countries. The irony of the developing world is that despite the rise in obesity rates, incidents of being underweight are witnessed even in the same households where there are cases of obesity. Developing countries with middle and low income normally face a double burden of infectious diseases as a result of malnutrition, and chronic diseases associated with obesity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).
In the developed world, America leads in cases of diabetes which have been attributed to not engaging in sufficient exercise, diets rich in refined sugar, and working for too many hours. Data released by the center for disease control in 2010, indicate that the prevalence of obesity in the U.S has reached a plateau phase (Katzmarzyk, 2002). Prevalence of obesity in the U.S has been stable since 2003, but statistics indicate that cases of obesity have grown more than twofold since 1980. The prevalence of obesity in the U.S is still at an alarming rate, and they are higher than those of any country in the developed world. Studies also indicate that obesity in the U.S is highly prevalent in some ethnic groups than others, and the rates are continuing to rise (Katzmarzyk, 2002).
Recent statistics show that 2 in every 3 adults in the U.S are either overweight or obese, which represent a prevalence of 69%. One in every three adults in the U.S is obese, indicating that obesity has a prevalent rate of 36 percent. Studies have shown that obesity is highly prevalent in Hispanics, non-Hispanic blacks, and Mexican American adults as opposed to non-Hispanic white adults (Katzmarzyk, 2002). the highest rates of obesity in the U.S are seen in non-Hispanic black women, with a prevalence rate of 59% as opposed to 44% among Mexican American women, 41% among Hispanic women, and 33% among non-Hispanic white women. Although research indicates that prevalence rate of obesity has remained stable since 2003, this condition has continued to increase among Mexican American women, non-Hispanic black women, and in all American men (Katzmarzyk, 2002).
Health experts have cautioned that if obesity prevalence rates in the U.S continue to increase undeterred, by 2030, it is estimated that about 50% of all men and women in the U.S will be obese. The prevalent rates of obesity in Canada are not alarmingly high as they are in the U.S. However, Canada has also reported a significant increase in obesity cases over the past thirty years (Komlos & Brabec, 2010). 14% of Canadian adults were obese in 1979; in 2008, studies indicated that 25% of adult in Canada were obese while 62% were considered overweight. Research has also shown that obesity is highly prevalent among Canadian aboriginal group than other ethnic groups. A survey conducted between 2007 and 2008 found that the prevalence of obesity among Canadian aborigines living outside reserves was at 25% compared to 17% in non-aboriginal people (Komlos & Brabec, 2010).
Central and south America lacks comprehensive data on the trends of obesity because countries in these regions tend to carryout small scale surveys on BMI among city dwellers. However, these small scale surveys have continued to indicate that BMI in central and South America has been on the constant increase over the past thirty years, and the current obesity rates in these regions, is considered to be rivaling those of Canada and the U.S. researchers have estimated that between 1980 and 2008, the average BMI in central and south America has increased by 1.3 to 1.4 percent per decade (Komlos & Brabec, 2010). The increase in obesity has been higher in men than women. Studies conducted in 2008, indicated that over 30 percent of women in south and Central America were obese, and 20 to 25 percent of men in the same region were also obese (Komlos & Brabec, 2010).
Data collected in Mexico in 2006, found that about 30% of adults are obese, and 70% of all adults are either overweight or obese. This represented a 12 percent increase since the last survey was conducted in 2000 (Komlos & Brabec, 2010). Three in every four adults in Mexico had abnormal obesity, and the prevalence of general obesity and abdominal obesity were higher in women than men. Mexico and other states in South and Central America have also witnessed the shifting of obesity from the rich to the poor. For example, studies in Mexico have shown that obesity is still highly prevalent among the rich, but when BMI averages from wealthy regions are compared to poor ones, there is no significant difference noted. From 1975 to 2003, Brazil has witnessed a dramatic increase in obesity among people of low income compared to their wealthy counterparts (Komlos & Brabec, 2010).
In Europe, the obesity epidemic is not homogeneous, which experts have argued that is a reflection of diversity in cultural and economic landscape that exists in Europe. Evidence show that obesity rates are increasing across Europe, but the increase is not as high as that witnessed in the U.S (Garrett, Ballie, McGeehan & Garrett, 2009). One challenge researcher face when studying obesity trends in Europe is that some countries especially those that belonged to the former Soviet Union have scarce data related to obesity. Estimates made ...