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Harold Verity Dr. Guenzel ENC 1102 1 April 2014

Possible Causes of Obesity in America Today Penguin boy! is one phrase my lifelong friend Brian will not soon forget. It was a phrase hed heard many times while growing up as a child who suffered from obesity. Just like Brian, many others, both young and old, have been unfortunate enough to suffer from being severely overweight. A simple Google search yielded some staggering statistics on obesity In America today. As of 2009, over 18 percent of adolescents in America, ages 12 to 19, are clinically diagnosed as obese. That means that almost one in every five adolescents has a body mass index of 20 or over (faststats.com). Having such a high fat content is not just hard on a person emotionally, but it can be extremely detrimental to a persons health. Its commonly known that obesity can lead to many different illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and fatal heart failure. For adults the numbers get even scarier, as 35 percent of adult Americans today are now obese (faststats.com). These are staggering numbers and as the standard of living continues to rise with the arrival of new technology, Americans are not expected to be slimming down any time soon. Many people in America today assume that those of us who are classified as obese are obese because they are most likely lazy, have poor eating habits, and or they dont participate in physical activity. There are several important questions to ask when thinking about the possible causes of obesity: If everybody knows what exactly is necessary to stay at a healthy weight, then

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why are so many people unsuccessful in doing so? Why do so many people who exercise regularly still have trouble shredding the pounds? And why are there people who eat, eat, and eat some more and never work out who are thin and athletic? After pondering some of these questions it becomes clear that perhaps Americans do not really know how to stay at a healthy weight. These prompts serve as in invitation to investigate what exactly is causing obesity in America, and provide the opportunity to help clarify what it is that Americans need to do to tip the scales in their favor. In this paper, I will test the assumptions people make about what causes obesity, as well as analyze three major possible causes of obesity which are being discussed by a few different scholars today in order to help those who care about their health to be better equipped with the knowledge necessary to protect themselves from obesity and its unforgiving consequences. The three major possible causes to obesity which I am going to introduce and analyze are poor dieting and nutrition, a lack of physical activity, and unfortunate genetic predisposition. It seems as though there are just so many options to eating right. There are a plethora of products which are advertised as being healthy; low fat this and zero calories that. It puzzles many as to why these products flood the market yet Americans still just cannot slim down? Nutrition expert and physical trainer, Kris Gunnars, states that one reason behind the rising obesity rates is because many people are too worried about consuming too much saturated fat rather than worrying about consuming too many carbs. Gunnars begins to explain that several decades ago, the scientific community determined that food which were high in saturated fat content, such as dairy products and meats, were thought to be linked to heart failure. In reply to this, health authorities advocated low fat foods. Since this time, saturated fat has actually been scientifically proven to have no association with heart failure, yet the public message hasnt

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changed. Gunnars states that the problem with low fat diets is that they often times have a high level of carbohydrates which can be very harmful to ones health if his or her level of consumption is not restricted and can even lead to increased weight gain. Gunnars also speaks about a massive study called The Womens Health Initiative, which was done to test the effectiveness of low fat diets and concluded that on a long term basis, low fat diets are almost completely ineffective. The study consisted of 48,000 post-menopausal women which were divided into two groups. One group was instructed to consume less fat, more fruits, and more grains. The other group was instructed to continue their normal diets. After 8 years the average weight difference between the two groups was only 0.4kgs (Gunnars)! After looking at this research, its evident that the puzzling results of this study are due to one of the following reasons: The women participating in the study didnt do as instructed, post-menopausal women react different to low fat diets than the rest of the population, or a diet based on consuming less fat, and more fruit and grains is actually ineffective on terms of weight loss. Regardless, the evidence is intriguing and may lead one to believe that some diets are just plain ineffective. Perhaps one possible reason why obesity is still rising is because people just need to become more educated on what exactly composes a proper dietary plan. Another possible cause of the growing rate of obesity in America would be that people just dont exercise like how they should. Many of us have seen the infomercials for those weight loss pill supplements. These weight loss advertisements often include some sort of fine print at the bottom stating for best results, use with diet and exercise. This begs the question: is lack of exercise the cause for obesity in America? Many people would claim Of course it is! All people who are overweight are overweight because they are lazy and wont get off the couch! The answer to this question would be no. Not all people are overweight because they dont exercise.

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And to add further onto that, not all people who exercise are getting any closer to becoming any slimmer (Rahelu). In her article Is inactivity the cause of fatness or fatness the cause of inactivity? Kiran Rahelu, an expert nutritionist, introduces compelling evidence concerning the cause and effect relationship between obesity and energy. The author introduces a study called The Early Bird Study which concluded that scientists were much more successful in predicting a childs expected level of energy expenditure based on the childs weight, rather than predict a childs weight based on the level of energy expenditure which the child engaged in. This relationship of being able to predict one but not the other led scientist to believe that inactivity was not the cause of fatness, but fatness may be the cause of inactivity (Rahelu). However, this does not imply that physical activity doesnt result in weight loss. With this study, which recorded the weights and levels of energy expenditure of children for a three year long period, it is important to emphasize that the study was done on children. Therefore it may not be 100 percent accurate when applying the information to adults in America, since the children and adults both react to physical activity differently. The author even states that her article is not meant to argue the benefits that physical activity have on human health. However, this article could explain why some adults who exercise regularly are not losing weight. The children observed in this study ranged from 7 to 10 years of age (Rahelu). At such a young age, the levels of energy expenditure in which they participated were not likely to be significant enough to cause an actual change in body composition. This thought leads to the possibility that perhaps adults who suffer from obesity are somehow less likely to participate in physical activity intense enough to cause a change in body fat. Perhaps walking one mile two times a week isnt enough to yield real tangible results. An article written by Li, Chen, How, & Zhang called Benefits of Physical Exercise Intervention on Fitness of Individuals With Down Syndrome pertained to the

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effects of exercise intervention with those who suffered from Down Syndrome. The analysis of these different studies showed that studies which had different types of intervention methods often had different results relating to the effectiveness on the physical health of the participants of the study. Interestingly enough, some methods of intervention showed significant increase in the physical health of the participants while others showed practically no difference in the physical health of the participants. This suggests that there are different types of physical exercise which are more effective than others. This idea would explain why people can still be obese even though they exercise, and can possibly be a cause as to why as America is getting more overweight. While obesity may have more than one cause, its important to note genetics as a factor which plays an important role in the recent upsurge of obesity in America (Friedman). For many Americans, it seems almost as if obesity runs in the family. Studies find that if a child has parents who are overweight, that they are more likely to become overweight themselves (Friedman). There have even been studies pertaining to identical twins which show that even when raised in different environments, if one twin is obese it is likely that the other twin will be obese as well (Friedman). There are certain genetics which have been scientifically proven to increase the likelihood of becoming obese (Friedman). It is thought that these specific genes originated from a time where food was scarce, and humans were forced to survive eating very little food (Friedman). Thankfully, modern day technology has changed how humans produce food and food shortages in America have practically vanished. However, now that our bodies no longer need to retain as much energy as possible, they still are programmed to do so (Friedman). Genetic mutation has also been found to cause obesity. There recently was a study in an article named "Gene mutation linked to obesity: Mice gain weight even when fed normal amounts of

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food.", which used mice to test if the presence of a protein called the Mrap2 Protein caused an increase in weight gain. Interestingly enough, the study concluded that subjects without the MRAP2 Protein gene had drastic increases in weight gain even though they didnt consume more food. This evidence shows that the connection between genetics and obesity is real. Genetic predisposition would explain why some Americans struggle so much to lose weight, even though they eat right and exercise. While there are still some questions unanswered, its clear that obesity in America is a multifactorial dilemma. The many causes of obesity may leave many Americans feeling overwhelmed. However, theres still something to be done in order to protect ourselves from becoming victims of obesity. The first thing to do in order to become protected from obesity is to get educated. Talking to a health professional, researching, or even taking a class focusing on nutrition and exercise can be extremely beneficial to the quest of obtaining the proper knowledge necessary to become a healthy individual and reduce risks of the consequences associated with obesity, such as diabetes, heart disease, and emotional strain. The second move in reducing the risk of obesity would be to form a plan of action. As true with most life goals, planning is essential. Planning out meals that will allow you to refrain from eating in an unhealthy manner will be extremely beneficial to ones health. Designating a day and time to go to the gym is very helpful as well. Lastly, simply staying positive is crucial in order to help keep a happy, healthy lifestyle. Thats what Brian did, and now, at five feet nine inches tall, his weight has gone from 220 to 150 pounds, and he runs every day. Thats right. Runs, not waddles.

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Works Cited Boston Children's Hospital. "Gene mutation linked to obesity: Mice gain weight even when fed normal amounts of food." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 July 2013. Centre for Reviews and, Dissemination. "Benefits Of Physical Exercise Intervention On Fitness On Individuals With Down Syndrome: A Systematic Review Of RandomizedControlled Trials (Provisional Abstract)." International Journal Of Rehabilitation Research (2013): 187-195. Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. Friedman, J. (2009). Obesity: Causes and control of excess body fat. Nature, 459, 340-42. Gunnars, Kris. "Do Low-Fat Diets Actually Work? A Critical Look." Authority Nutrition. N.p., 29 June 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. "Obesity and Overweight." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. Rahelu, Kiran. "Is Inactivity The Cause Of Fatness Or Fatness The Cause Of Inactivity?." Nutrition Bulletin 35.4 (2010): 304-307. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.