Causes And Effects Of Obesity In America - 870 Words

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention defines obesity as having a BMI over 30 (CDC). In the year 2000, roughly 30 percent of 20 year olds in America were obese. By 2003 that number had risen to 32 percent. That is a small window of increase. From the 1970s to the early 2000s, the percent of obese Americans doubled. This means that in 1970, only 15 percent of Americans were obese, and in the thirty years following, obesity took a sharp rise. In 1960, 13 percent of Americans were obese. The mean percent rise per year in the 1960s was 0.2 percent. The mean percent rise per year in the three decades following the 60s was 0.5, and then in 2000, the percent rise per year again increased, this time to 0.6 percent. This does not seem like†¦show more content†¦In 2013, the Harvard School of Public Health published a study they had conducted that found that on average it would cost $1.50 more per day for one person to eat healthy rather than an unhealthy diet. â€Å"Over the course of a year, $1.50/ day more for eating a healthy diet would increase food costs for one person by about $550 per year. This would represent a real burden for some families† (Harvard). For the average American family, this could pose a serious problem. The median household income in America in 2015 was $57,000 (United States Census Bereau). The average family size in 2016 was above 3 people (United States Census Bureau). This means that for a common American family, the increased spending is almost $2000, or 3% of their yearly income. That is a significant amount of money that most Americans would rather save, or simply spend on things that they deem more important than a healthier diet. Childhood obesity can lead to a life long struggle with obesity. The National Institutes of Health discovered that â€Å"The percentage of overweight Children has increased, by almost 50% in the last two decades of the 20th century†¦ It has also been observed that about 40 percent of overweight children will continue to have increased weight during adolescence and 75-80% of obese adolescents will become obese adults† (National Institutes of Health). This proves that the increase in childhood obesity has led to an escalation in obesity in adults. The caveat here is thatShow MoreRelatedThe Short and Long Term Effects of Obesity on the Body Essay530 Words   |  3 PagesObesity is a huge issue, not only in america but worldwide. Many methods of preventing obesity exist, and there are many ways to reverse bad choices leading to obesity. There are also many causes and effects of obesity, some are more common than the other. 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