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1

Addressing Obesity as a Global, National, and Local Health Problem

Yusmila Macias

Florida National University

Health Promotion & Role Development in Adv. Nursing Practice

Prof. Nora Hernandez Pupo

November 8, 2025

2

Addressing Obesity as a Global, National, and Local Health Problem

Overview of the Health Problem

Obesity is currently among the most significant social health issues of the 21 st century. It

is a complex condition which is characterized by accumulation of excess fat within the body

which is hazardous to the health of the individual as it might result to cardiovascular disease,

type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain forms of cancer. Obesity is an ailment that is defined by

World Health Organization (WHO) as a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg / m2 or above as an

indicator of an unhealthy equilibrium of the caloric intake and the expenditure of energy (WHO,

2020). The health outcomes of obesity are not individual outcomes, but they are stressors to

health care systems, lower productivity and cause the social stigma and discrimination. The

problem of obesity is preventable through change of lifestyles, but there has been a continued

trend in the severity of obesity throughout the entire world due to the unhealthy dietary choices,

a lack of physical exercise, the existence of socioeconomic inequalities that obstruct access to

nutritious food and recreational spaces.

Global Relevance

Obesity has already become epidemic in the entire world, and its manifestation is

observed in all age groups and all socioeconomic classes. The World Health Organization (2020)

has estimated that over 1 billion individuals across the world are living with obesity of 650

million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children. The prevalence of obesity in the

world has almost tripled in the world since 1975, because of both the increased access to high

calories foods that lack nutrients as well as the reduced rates of physical activity (World Health

Organization, 2025). The developing countries today are facing the so-called double burden of

malnutrition, in which undernutrition is accompanied by the increasing incidence of obesity. In

3

countries where urbanization is at a high rate like India, Brazil, and Mexico, poor eating habits,

physical inactivity are the dominant causes of obesity-associated illnesses (Ahmed and

Mohammed, 2025). The economic burden of obesity is estimated at more than 2 trillion in terms

of global economy every year in the world, which is about 2.8 percent of the gross domestic

product (Aremu et al., 2025). These statistics highlight the pressing need of obesity to be tackled

through concerted international preventive measures that have put the importance of nutrition

education, change in food policy and community-based health promotion.

National Relevance

Obesity is a serious health issue facing the people of the United States because more than

43 percent of adults and 16 percent of children and adolescents are obese (Ng et al., 2025). The

number has been rising consistently across the demographics, with Non-Hispanic Black (49.9)

and Hispanic adults having the highest rates of 45.6 (Herren et al., 2022). Obesity risk is greatly

determined by socioeconomic factors such as income level, education and access to healthcare.

Lots of communities that have low-income deal with so-called food deserts, where there is a low

level of access to healthy food, and food swamps, where unhealthy food is more prevalent. In the

U.S., the economic cost of obesity is more than 173 billion USD in direct medical expenditure

and obese people spend 1861 USD more per year in medical care than people of normal weight

(Cawley, 2021). Healthy People 2030 (2024) says that the prevalence of obesity is to be

mitigated by national efforts like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' efforts in

its initiative, titled Healthy People 2030, and the CDC's undertaking, titled State and Local

Programs to Prevent Obesity.

4

Local Relevance

Obesity is a major issue in most communities in the U.S, especially the one with poverty

and limited health opportunities. As an illustration, disparities even exist in California where

there is a wide range of efforts in the field of public health. The (O'Lawrence et al., 2020) report

that around 29 percent of adults and 17 percent of children are obese, and the prevalence is

higher among the low-income and minority groups. The proportion of adults who say they are

obese in Los Angeles County alone is over 25 percent, and one out of every five children has

become overweight or obese (Ahmed & Mohammed, 2025). The local factors influencing these

trends are high cost of life that limits consumption of healthy foods, absence of recreational

centers and cultural eating habits. Community based interventions such as school lunch,

community exercise and city initiative to promote consumption of fresh produce such as farmers

markets have depicted promising outcomes. However, obesity is still a problem among

underserved communities, so health promotion efforts still have to be implemented, and the local

background should be considered.

Justification for Health Promotion Strategies

The additional proliferation of obesity on global, national and local levels testified to the

need of multisided strategies of health promotion. With regards to obesity interdisciplinary

collaboration between healthcare practitioners, policymakers, schools and communities is

necessary to enable behavior change, healthy environment and socioeconomic barriers to

wellness. The health promotion programs must be provided on prevention, culturally sensitive

education and equally access to healthier foods and greater access to physical activities. The

prevalence of obesity and improvement of the quality of life in societies can be prevented by

means of certain interventions such as dietary education, physical activity, and changes in

5

policies. Obesity epidemics should be reversed by initiating wide-ranging health promotion

programs that would guarantee a cleaner and more balanced future.

6

References

Ahmed, S. K., & Mohammed, R. A. (2025). Obesity: Prevalence, causes, consequences,

management, preventive strategies and future research directions. Metabolism Open, 27,

100375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metop.2025.100375

Aremu, S. O., Akute, B., Aremu, D. O., Zando, C., Aremu, E. D., Nwachukwu, O. J., Omosebi,

M. O., Akute, V. O., Oluwole, S. T., Abdillahi Abdi Barkhadle, & Aremu, M. O. (2025).

Dietary strategies for preventing and managing obesity through evidence-based

nutritional interventions. Deleted Journal, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-

00818-w

Cawley, J. (2021). Direct medical costs of obesity in the United States and the most populous

states. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 27(3), 354–366.

https://doi.org/10.18553/jmcp.2021.20410

Healthy People 2030. (2024). Overweight and obesity - healthy people 2030 | odphp.health.gov.

Health.gov. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-

objectives/overweight-and-obesity

Herren, O. M., Gillman, A. S., Marshall, V. J., & Das, R. (2022). Understanding the changing

landscape of health disparities in chronic liver diseases and liver cancer. Gastro Hep

Advances. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gastha.2022.12.001

Ng, M., Gakidou, E., Lo, J., Abate, Y. H., Abbafati, C., Abbas, N., Abbasian, M., Abd ElHafeez,

S., Abdel-Rahman, W. M., Abd-Elsalam, S., Abdollahi, A., Abdoun, M., Abdulah, D. M.,

Abdulkader, R. S., Abdullahi, A., Abedi, A., Abeywickrama, H. M., Abie, A., Aboagye,

R. G., & Abohashem, S. (2025). Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult

overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: A forecasting study for the

7

global burden of disease study 2021. The Lancet, 405(10481).

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(25)00355-1

O’Lawrence, H., Martinez, L., Castelo, G., Humes, E., Mayorga, B., & Rosas, S. (2020). The

latest review of childhood obesity among hispanic and latinx populations in california.

Diabetes Research: Open Access, 2(2), 22–30. https://doi.org/10.36502/2020/droa.6165

WHO. (2020). Obesity. WHO. https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity

World Health Organization. (2025). Obesity and overweight. World Health Organization.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

1

Addressing Obesity as a Global, National, and Local Health Problem

Yusmila Macias

Florida National University

Health Promotion & Role Development in Adv. Nursing Practice

Prof. Nora Hernandez Pupo

November 8, 2025

2

Addressing Obesity as a Global, National, and Local Health Problem

Overview of the Health Problem

Obesity is currently among the most significant social health issues of the 21 st century. It

is a complex condition which is characterized by accumulation of excess fat within the body

which is hazardous to the health of the individual as it might result to cardiovascular disease,

type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain forms of cancer. Obesity is an ailment that is defined by

World Health Organization (WHO) as a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg / m2 or above as an

indicator of an unhealthy equilibrium of the caloric intake and the expenditure of energy (WHO,

2020). The health outcomes of obesity are not individual outcomes, but they are stressors to

health care systems, lower productivity and cause the social stigma and discrimination. The

problem of obesity is preventable through change of lifestyles, but there has been a continued

trend in the severity of obesity throughout the entire world due to the unhealthy dietary choices,

a lack of physical exercise, the existence of socioeconomic inequalities that obstruct access to

nutritious food and recreational spaces.

Global Relevance

Obesity has already become epidemic in the entire world, and its manifestation is

observed in all age groups and all socioeconomic classes. The World Health Organization (2020)

has estimated that over 1 billion individuals across the world are living with obesity of 650

million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children. The prevalence of obesity in the

world has almost tripled in the world since 1975, because of both the increased access to high

calories foods that lack nutrients as well as the reduced rates of physical activity (World Health

Organization, 2025). The developing countries today are facing the so-called double burden of

malnutrition, in which undernutrition is accompanied by the increasing incidence of obesity. In

3

countries where urbanization is at a high rate like India, Brazil, and Mexico, poor eating habits,

physical inactivity are the dominant causes of obesity-associated illnesses (Ahmed and

Mohammed, 2025). The economic burden of obesity is estimated at more than 2 trillion in terms

of global economy every year in the world, which is about 2.8 percent of the gross domestic

product (Aremu et al., 2025). These statistics highlight the pressing need of obesity to be tackled

through concerted international preventive measures that have put the importance of nutrition

education, change in food policy and community-based health promotion.

National Relevance

Obesity is a serious health issue facing the people of the United States because more than

43 percent of adults and 16 percent of children and adolescents are obese (Ng et al., 2025). The

number has been rising consistently across the demographics, with Non-Hispanic Black (49.9)

and Hispanic adults having the highest rates of 45.6 (Herren et al., 2022). Obesity risk is greatly

determined by socioeconomic factors such as income level, education and access to healthcare.

Lots of communities that have low-income deal with so-called food deserts, where there is a low

level of access to healthy food, and food swamps, where unhealthy food is more prevalent. In the

U.S., the economic cost of obesity is more than 173 billion USD in direct medical expenditure

and obese people spend 1861 USD more per year in medical care than people of normal weight

(Cawley, 2021). Healthy People 2030 (2024) says that the prevalence of obesity is to be

mitigated by national efforts like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' efforts in

its initiative, titled Healthy People 2030, and the CDC's undertaking, titled State and Local

Programs to Prevent Obesity.

4

Local Relevance

Obesity is a major issue in most communities in the U.S, especially the one with poverty

and limited health opportunities. As an illustration, disparities even exist in California where

there is a wide range of efforts in the field of public health. The (O'Lawrence et al., 2020) report

that around 29 percent of adults and 17 percent of children are obese, and the prevalence is

higher among the low-income and minority groups. The proportion of adults who say they are

obese in Los Angeles County alone is over 25 percent, and one out of every five children has

become overweight or obese (Ahmed & Mohammed, 2025). The local factors influencing these

trends are high cost of life that limits consumption of healthy foods, absence of recreational

centers and cultural eating habits. Community based interventions such as school lunch,

community exercise and city initiative to promote consumption of fresh produce such as farmers

markets have depicted promising outcomes. However, obesity is still a problem among

underserved communities, so health promotion efforts still have to be implemented, and the local

background should be considered.

Justification for Health Promotion Strategies

The additional proliferation of obesity on global, national and local levels testified to the

need of multisided strategies of health promotion. With regards to obesity interdisciplinary

collaboration between healthcare practitioners, policymakers, schools and communities is

necessary to enable behavior change, healthy environment and socioeconomic barriers to

wellness. The health promotion programs must be provided on prevention, culturally sensitive

education and equally access to healthier foods and greater access to physical activities. The

prevalence of obesity and improvement of the quality of life in societies can be prevented by

means of certain interventions such as dietary education, physical activity, and changes in

5

policies. Obesity epidemics should be reversed by initiating wide-ranging health promotion

programs that would guarantee a cleaner and more balanced future.

6

References

Ahmed, S. K., & Mohammed, R. A. (2025). Obesity: Prevalence, causes, consequences,

management, preventive strategies and future research directions. Metabolism Open, 27,

100375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metop.2025.100375

Aremu, S. O., Akute, B., Aremu, D. O., Zando, C., Aremu, E. D., Nwachukwu, O. J., Omosebi,

M. O., Akute, V. O., Oluwole, S. T., Abdillahi Abdi Barkhadle, & Aremu, M. O. (2025).

Dietary strategies for preventing and managing obesity through evidence-based

nutritional interventions. Deleted Journal, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-

00818-w

Cawley, J. (2021). Direct medical costs of obesity in the United States and the most populous

states. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 27(3), 354–366.

https://doi.org/10.18553/jmcp.2021.20410

Healthy People 2030. (2024). Overweight and obesity - healthy people 2030 | odphp.health.gov.

Health.gov. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-

objectives/overweight-and-obesity

Herren, O. M., Gillman, A. S., Marshall, V. J., & Das, R. (2022). Understanding the changing

landscape of health disparities in chronic liver diseases and liver cancer. Gastro Hep

Advances. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gastha.2022.12.001

Ng, M., Gakidou, E., Lo, J., Abate, Y. H., Abbafati, C., Abbas, N., Abbasian, M., Abd ElHafeez,

S., Abdel-Rahman, W. M., Abd-Elsalam, S., Abdollahi, A., Abdoun, M., Abdulah, D. M.,

Abdulkader, R. S., Abdullahi, A., Abedi, A., Abeywickrama, H. M., Abie, A., Aboagye,

R. G., & Abohashem, S. (2025). Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult

overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: A forecasting study for the

7

global burden of disease study 2021. The Lancet, 405(10481).

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(25)00355-1

O’Lawrence, H., Martinez, L., Castelo, G., Humes, E., Mayorga, B., & Rosas, S. (2020). The

latest review of childhood obesity among hispanic and latinx populations in california.

Diabetes Research: Open Access, 2(2), 22–30. https://doi.org/10.36502/2020/droa.6165

WHO. (2020). Obesity. WHO. https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity

World Health Organization. (2025). Obesity and overweight. World Health Organization.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight