Battling Obesity in America
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Two thirds of all American adults are classified as being overweight (Cromartie). This is a staggering statistic for a country that prides itself on being one of the world's super powers. The scarier truth though, is that this number is twice as large as it was only twenty years ago (Cromartie). America's weight problems are not only a tremendous health concern, but a financial one too.
Obesity and overweight problems are a tremendous national health concern. These weight issues increase the risk of many serious health issues including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and certain types of cancer (Cromartie and Kendall). After smoking, obesity has become the second leading cause of preventable deaths in America (Kendall).
With such mind boggling statistics as these, one can only imagine the toll that all of this is taking on our country's health care systems. It has been estimated that obesity related diseases have cost the United States nearly 100 billion dollars annually (Kendall). These health care systems are not going to bear the burden of rising health care costs alone; they are going to pass the cost along to their members...