Health and Wellness

Health and Wellness

A prevalent topic in America today is the overall health of our society. A recent study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that slightly more than one out of every three adults in the United States is obese (Adult Obesity Facts 1). The epidemic of Americans who battle with their weight not only includes adults, but children as well. In the U.S., the excessive amount of time people spend using technology and the easy access which they have to fast foods are only two of the reasons why obesity is rapidly growing. There are a vast amount of risk factors that go along with being overweight, which can greatly reduce life expectancy. The cost of being overweight not only affects a person's health, but also increases the amount of money that they will spend on medical bills throughout their life. The negative aspects of being overweight like serious health risks and financial burdens sometimes seem inevitable for a person struggling with their weight, but if one such person is willing to partake in more physical activity they are capable of leading a longer, healthier, more prosperous life. This paired with a healthier diet could have a great impact on the overall health and productiveness in the U.S.

The scariest issue associated with being overweight is the health risks that most all obese people deal with throughout their life. Although the health risks associated with being overweight can go on and on, two of the largest disease' seen are the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Being overweight can greatly increase ones chances of heart disease or acquiring a heart related problem such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol "Mind Your Heart 1". As June Davison of The British Heart Foundation stated, "Obese children can become obese adults which can mean a whole host of health problems later in life including heart and circulatory disease, the UK's biggest killer." (Davison 2 ). A person's heart that is affected by high blood pressure must work harder to pump which is under great pressure blood through the arteries. If this problem goes on for an extended period of time, the heart and arteries may not work as efficiently as they should. Being overweight can greatly increase ones chances of suffering from hypertension, yet this problem is mostly seen in adults. Poor diet and exercise of Americans many times results in heart attacks and heart disease, the nation's number one leading cause in adult male deaths. (Overweight Dangers 1). The unhealthy increase in weight in turn leads to higher sodium levels and those sodium levels causes higher cholesterol. As a person gains more fat their body, imparticular, one's heart has to work harder to preform what used to be simple tasks. This increase in stress on the heart causes high blood pressure, and the combination of high blood pressure and high cholesterol leads to this ever-rising risk of both heart disease, and more importantly, heart attacks.

A study published by the New England Journal of Medicine shows that people who are overweight are at increased danger of developing cancer of any kind. The increased fat tissue of the obese offsets the body's natural hormone level, which leaves the body more susceptible to tumors. The New England Journal also showed that 15 percent of all cancer deaths were linked to being overweight and unfit "Over weight Dangers 1".

Another illness directly related to excessive weight gain is diabetes. 75 million people in the U.S. are believed to have 1 of the 3 types of diabetes (Overweight Dangers 2). More importantly people with type 1 or 3 diabetes become even more in danger of developing type 2 diabetes the most deadly of the three because it is unaffected by insulin and other forms of medicine.

The fourth condition related to being overweight or obese is strokes. Strokes are ranked in the top five leading causes of death just behind heart attack and heart disease (Overweight Dangers2). To counteract this increased risk of stroke the Diabetes Association says, one can lower the chances of developing diabetes by almost 58 percent if they are able to accumulate 150 minutes of exercise a week and reducing the body weight by 5 to 7 percent. A study conducted by the Health and Human Services discovered that people who engage in physical activity had gains of four and a half years to their life expectancy on average "NIH News Release 1".

Along with all these high risk disease come many doctor visits. Everybody knows how expensive it is to see a doctor these days. In fact many people can't afford it, yet the doctor visits are only one of several costs in which being overweight can affect you financially. The problems associated with being obese do not only affect themselves but the people around them. Over $100 billion was spent on health issues directly associated towards obesity. Of that $100 billion almost half was paid for by American taxpayer dollars (Graaf 2). On a more individual basis George Washington University conducted a survey on the cost of being overweight as well as being obese. These findings were presented in Liz Weston's article on MSN Money in which she stated

"The individual cost for being obese is $4,879 a year for women and $2,626 for men. If a woman invested that much every year over a 40-year working career, she'd have more than $1.2 million at retirement, assuming 8% average annual returns. The man would have nearly $700,000. Obesity carries dramatically higher costs than merely being overweight. The researchers found the annual costs of being overweight are $524 for women and $432 for men. "Overweight" is defined as a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29, while those with a BMI of 30 or higher are considered obese." (Weston 2)

Not only will this cost a person money that they have already received but it can take a great toll on ones work as well. Research has shown that employers generally pay the cost of their employees being absent along with lack of productiveness in the work place due to obesity. The studies have found that people who are overweight are more likely to miss work due to illness or injury. Since obesity can affect how strong an immune system is, one can become much more likely to become sick, which requires days taken off from work. It was said by Weston in her article that, "One study found that in comparison to normal-weight men, severely and morbidly obese