Evelyn B. Kelly - Obesity

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Donald Altschiller

Alcohol

Peter L. Myers and Richard E. Isralowitz

Geriatrics

Carol Leth Stone

Plastic Surgery

Lana Thompson

Birth Control

Aharon W. Zorea

Bullying

Sally Kuykendall, PhD

Steroids

Aharon W. Zorea

Suicide and Mental Health

Rudy Nydegger

Cutting and Self-Harm

Chris Simpson

Discrimination against the Mentally Ill

Monica A. Joseph

Concussions

William Paul Meehan III

Drug Resistance

Sarah E. Boslaugh

Work-Life Balance

Janice Arenofsky

Copyright 2018 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kelly, Evelyn B., author.

Title: Obesity / Evelyn B. Kelly.

Description: Second edition. | Santa Barbara, California : Greenwood, [2018] | Series: Health and medical issues today | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017056252 (print) | LCCN 2017056693 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440858826 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440858819 (print : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Obesity.

Classification: LCC RC628 (ebook) | LCC RC628 .K45 2018 (print) | DDC 616.3/98dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017056252

ISBN: 978-1-4408-5881-9 (print)

978-1-4408-5882-6 (ebook)

22 21 20 19 181 2 3 4 5

This book is also available as an eBook.

Greenwood

An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC

ABC-CLIO, LLC

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Santa Barbara, California 931161911

www.abc-clio.com

This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America

Every day, the public is bombarded with information on developments in medicine and health care. Whether it is on the latest techniques in treatment or research, or on concerns over public health threats, this information directly affects the lives of people more than almost any other issue. Although there are many sources for understanding these topicsfrom websites and blogs to newspapers and magazinesstudents and ordinary citizens often need one resource that makes sense of the complex health and medical issues affecting their daily lives.

The Health and Medical Issues Today series provides just such a one-stop resource for obtaining a solid overview of the most controversial areas of health care in the 21st century. Each volume addresses one topic and provides a balanced summary of what is known. These volumes provide an excellent first step for students and lay people interested in understanding how health care works in our society today.

Each volume is broken into several parts to provide readers and researchers with easy access to the information they need:

provides overview chapters on background informationincluding chapters on such areas as the historical, scientific, medical, social, and legal issues involvedthat a citizen needs to intelligently understand the topic.

provides capsule examinations of the most heated contemporary issues and debates, and analyzes in a balanced manner the viewpoints held by various advocates in the debates.

provides case studies that show examples of the concepts discussed in the previous sections.

A selection of reference material, such as a timeline of important events, a directory of organizations, and a bibliography, serve as the best next step in learning about the topic at hand.

The Health and Medical Issues Today series strives to provide readers with all the information needed to begin making sense of some of the most important debates going on in the world today. The series includes volumes on such topics as stem-cell research, obesity, gene therapy, alternative medicine, organ transplantation, mental health, and more.

Some people have dubbed obesity an expanding epidemic. Judging from the number of products claiming to be the answer to losing weight, many people are interested in the latest fad diet or pill that is guaranteed to work. Floods of articles in both lay and medical publications announce almost daily that obesity is a disconcerting problem that needs to be addressed. In spite of the multitude of existing programs and emphasis on fitness, no significant changes were seen in either adult or childhood obesity prevalence in the United States between 20032004 and 20112012. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in 2013, the United States was the second most obese industrialized nation with 31.8 percent of Americans falling into the obese category; Mexico was first at 32.8 percent.

Obesity is associated with health risks. In November 2013, the U.S. surgeon general reported an estimated 300,000 deaths per year may be attributed to causes related to obesity. These numbers put two-thirds of all U.S. citizens in at-risk categories. Shocking research has revealed that in 2005 obesity overtook smoking as the leading cause of life-threatening illness and death.

And the problem is not just American. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than one billion people worldwide are overweight. In fact, the organization coined a new term, globesity, to describe the expanding situation.

Why is the incidence of obesity increasing at such an alarming rate? All the essential ingredients for a perfect epidemic are there: Start with technology that produces low-cost, prepackaged, and easily prepared energy-dense foods, and add terrific energy-saving machines, like cars and lawnmowers. To this mix, stir in aggressive advertising and marketing of candy, sweet bubbly drinks, and fast food, and then top with sitting for hours working at the computer or playing video games. Put all these ingredients in the microwave oven of parental influences and environmental factors, and the perfect obesity epidemic emerges.

The dominant factor in this recipe appears to be excessive caloric intake. Fast-food prevalence and super-sizing are potential culprits. According to studies, the average child in the United States will watch nearly 10,000 commercials pushing food and beverages each year. The ads affect the eating habits of both children and adults. Simply stated, people are just eating too much.

A second factor is the lack of physical activity. Non-leisure physical activity has declined both at work and at home. Accidental exercise is almost nonexistent. People drive around mall parking lots looking for a space closest to the stores, without thinking that an unplanned walk may do them some good. Few people choose walking up the stairs over taking the elevator. The marvels of technology have enabled the costs of inactivity to go down. Even people in hard-labor jobs like farming and construction can accomplish their tasks with less effort. These great labor-saving devices have become a double-edged sword.

But is the answer just cutting back on food and increasing exercise? Although the answer to obesity appears to be a simple, it is really a very complex problem with challenging issues. For example, scientists are studying the physiology and makeup of fat and finding some surprises. Emerging research of the role of hormones, carbohydrates, and insulin reveals how fat is stored in the body. New information on the role of gut flora on fat is also a field of interest.