homework help please

Dayana Lewandowski

Dr. Chanadra Whiting

HSA 4700

September 6, 2016

Obesity in USA; Reasons, Distribution and Possible Mitigation

Introduction

This paper aims to look at obesity in America in General. It aims to look into possible causes of obesity. Based on causes, it will identify the measures that have been taken to control the condition and as well suggest what other measures could be taken, including research into more methods to mitigate not only obesity but also its impacts. It will therefore be significant at informing healthcare providers and individuals with obesity and their immediate families on what they can do differently. After identifying the distribution of obesity on various age groups, sexes/gender and ethnic groups, it will also inform on the probable reasons behind the variations if there are any.

General problem statement

The general problem of this assignment is to find out the reason as to why the US has such a huge number of obese people and if it is so across all demographic segments. America is among the countries the highest number of people with obesity as a percentage of the general population. Both Edwards (2013) and Murphy (2012) have the statistics at about 35% of Americans being obese. Obesity is a sign of poor health and it can have several negative impacts including heart problems and type 2 Diabetes (Boero, 2012). It therefore ought to be prevented. While the healthcare system in the US is quite good compared to a good number of others in the developed nations, it centers very much on curing rather than prevention. Thus, prescription weight loss medication is likely to be used as opposed to positive behavior such as healthy diets and working out. Obesity can’t be classified as a disease, but it’s a condition that can be very chronic (Heinberg, & Thompson 2009). It could be prevented in most cases. Prevention involves identifying the causes. Then, these causes might be different among various demographic sections such as age groups, sexes and even ethnic sub groups. Based on statistics, it is possible to understand the specific applications of mitigation measures for each these groups besides general mitigation if there is such an option.

Specific problem

The specific problem of this research is to find the possible reasons behind the high number of obese people in the US; then finding out if the number is evenly distributed across demographic groups so as to see if there is a common approach to countering the problem.

Purpose statement

The purpose of this research is to find out the basic reasons behind obesity in USA. Then, it aims at finding out the distribution of obesity among various demographic sub-divisions based on age, sex and even ethnicity among other factors. Based on this, it has the conclusive objective of finding whether there is a common approach of dealing with diabetes across all demographic division identified.

Research questions

To arrive at information necessary for any assuagement and review, several questions would need to be answered. These include:

1. What are the most prevalent and basic causes of obesity?

2. What are the recent trends in statistics about obesity among various age groups, sexes and ethnic groups?

3. Is the distributing of obesity uniform among these groups identified in (ii) above?

4. If the distribution is uniform, why?

5. If it’s not, what could be the explanation behind that?

6. What risks are associated with obesity?

7. What measures have been taken to counter obesity?

8. Are these measures uniform across all individuals? What are the differences and what are the reasons behind these differences?

9. How has the ministry and lobby group reacted to the obesity situation?

References

Boero, N. (2012). Killer fat: Media, medicine, and morals in the American "obesity epidemic" New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Edwards, L. (2013). In the kingdom of the sick: A social history of chronic illness in America. New York: Walker &.

Heinberg, L. J., & Thompson, J. K. (2009). Obesity in youth: Causes, consequences, and cures. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Murphy, W. B. (2012). Obesity. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books.