Obesity: A Global Issue (Essay Sample)

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Obesity: A Global Issue
The contemporary world continues to face numerous global issues that tend to limit it from being an ideal place at an advanced age. Notably, the continuous revolution of the world has paved the way to a rise in obesity, a feat that is affecting people’s way of life and playing a part in a vast number of deaths in the present times. Importantly, obesity outlines a complex disorder of excessive amount of body fats that increases the risk of health problems and diseases. Therefore, obesity is a global issue that promises more damages to an ever-evolving world. Dixon (1) shows that obesity is a global burden as the number of obese people continues to rise immensely, increasing by 24% in the United States and forecasting an increase by 65% by 2025. Therefore, obesity is a global issue that continues to take up a lot of resources and continues to spread due to the failure to find impeccable ways to avert its consequences.
Drivers of Obesity
Humans are the main contributors to the continuous rise in the rate of obesity. Similarly, the numerous advancements, especially in technology, also play a huge part in the rampant rise in obesity cases. People have deserted some of their traditional practices such as eating food rich with nutrients and turned to fast foods while the development of sugary soft drinks has increased the risk of obesity. Notably, the world has changed drastically, but the changes have influenced the increased risk of weight gain.
Some of the key causes of obesity include lifestyle and dietary factors such as poor dietary quality, sugar-sweetened beverages, prolonged screen time, physical inactivity, and short duration of sleep (Hruby et al.1660). Notably, the issue of obesity was once a rarity but it has drastically become an epidemic. Imperatively, the rates of obesity have considerably risen despite the efforts to increase knowledge of this epidemic. In 1976, the rate of obesity and overweight women in the United States was approximately 16.8% and 24.8%, a feat that has changed in the present world as two-thirds of United States’ women are obese or overweight (Hruby et al. 1657). Primarily, lifestyle choices continue to influence the increasing rates of obesity.
Looking at the key drivers of obesity, technology takes the center spot especially in relation to kids. A lot of children have been addicted to screens whether it is television, tablets, phones, or computers. Therefore, they spend most of their free time playing video games or watching. The act has limited the number of children taking part in physical activities. Therefore, children prefer playing video games rather than going to the field and taking part in physical activities. The high rate of physical inactivity especially in kids puts them at risk of being obese of easily contracting other lifestyle diseases such as gout and diabetes. Similarly, technology is affecting people from other age brackets other than kids. The appreciated innovation of Uber means that a person can get a ride from their premises by merely clicking on a button. Therefore, people can opt to travel by car for short distances rather than walking. The argument of technology also implies to the numerous numbers of machines that are reducing the human workload and thus reducing their physical involvement in daily activities.
Consequently, the development and acceptance of fast foods have paved way to the continuous rise in the rate of obesity. The Slow Food Movement was founded in Italy in 1986 in response to the introduction of MacDonald’s, a fast food shop, at the heart of Italy. Notably, the movement viewed the introduction of fast food as a threat to traditional Italian cuisines which were rich in nutrients and still preserved the nation’s culture (Simonetti and Petrini). The movement gained support globally because it advocated for better lifestyle choices and fought against fast foods which had profound health concerns. Imperatively, the formation of the movement outlines the dangers of fast foods and how they have gained popularity in the world. The consumption of food filled with cholesterol can instigate the attainment of obesity and other lifestyle diseases. Therefore, people’s lifestyle choices have highly contributed to the spread of the overweight and obesity epidemics.
Influence of Obesity on Health
Obesity and weight gain have numerous effects on the quality of life. Primarily, obesity influences the contraction of other diseases and weakens a person’s immune system. For instance, obesity has numerous related risk factors in the etiology of glioma (Disney-Hogg et al.). Obesity-related factors continue to play a role as risk determinants for the growth of numerous cancer such as breast and colorectum cancer. Notably, some of the evidence-based research conducted at the present times show that obesity leads to the development of glioma (Disney-Hogg et al. 1020). Therefore, obesity can have dire consequences on people with cancer and also stimulates increased risk in