Pugmire 1

Jacob Pugmire
Jennifer Courtney
English 2010
7-5-2015
Overcoming Obesity
On a daily basis, we are all going from here to there. We are busy as can be and the
world is changing. There are new advances in technology that allow us to be in contact with our
best friends and family around the world. Possibilities are arising that make getting from here to
there easier than ever before. Computers are beginning to play a huge role in the lives of many
on a constant and daily basis. Interestingly enough, with these amazing new advances, and in
our current day, you might have noticed that there is a significant increase of overweight and
obese persons amongst society. There are news stories that talk about the latest diets and, airlines that charge overweight passengers double to fly. If you walk down the street or go to the
grocery store, you might very well see someone who is overweight or obese. What is the cause
of this increase in obesity? And why is it now on the rise? Medical advances are being made that
solve the most far out problems within the human body based on the application of new technologies, but for some reason the issue of obesity has not yet been harnessed and healed. Obesity is becoming a worldwide health problem that is degrading and controlling the human race,
which is something that needs to be brought under control for the betterment of the health and
wellbeing of people as a whole.

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ABC to Obesity Prevention World Health Organization

For thousands of years, obesity has been recognized as a problem. It was a detriment to
those who suffered from its effects, and a cure or solution has been sought after from the time of
the ancient Greeks to the present day. A physician by the name of Hippocrates observed the negative effects of obesity in his day. He noted, When unnaturally fat women cannot conceive, it is
because the fat presses the mouth of the womb, and conception is impossible until they grow
thinner. But men who are constitutionally very fat are more apt to die quickly than those who are
thin. (Gilman 23) In ancient times, dying at a younger than expected age meant leaving your
family behind being unable to provide for them as well as leaving the role that one plays in society. Just as in the days of Hippocrates and the ancient Greeks, being obese and overweight are
looked upon as very concerning illnesses.

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Obesity defined is and excessive amount of fat that increases the risk of medical illness
and premature death. Obesity is based on body mass index (BMI), which is found by dividing
ones weight in kilograms, by height squared in meters. According to this equation, a person
who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight and a person whos BMI is higher
than 30 is considered obese. Interestingly enough, obesity will not kill you. However, that
should not be a comforting statement. Even though it is not directly tied to a cause of death,
obesity is a factor that leads to a number of different diseases and illnesses that can be terminal
or shorten life expectancy. Those include being the leading cause of cancer behind smoking,
type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, coronary artery disease, venous stasis deep
vein thrombosis, osteoarthritis, gastrointestinal disease, gastro-esophageal reflux disease,
cholelithiasis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), endometrial breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. (Fock and Khoo) Now the idea here is not to scare people into shape who might
be obese or overweight. The previously listed diseases and complications that stem from obesity
are given in order to allow the understanding of the real risk that exists because of being overweight or obese. There is a lot more to life than the satisfaction that comes from eating a nice
desert, or having an extra hotdog at your Fourth of July barbecue. When someone takes a step
toward losing weight and getting in better shape, doors of possibilities begin to open that have
the capability to make one truly happy and satisfied in life.
It is common to think that if you want to lose weight then you have to eat less. It was
even stated by the World Health Organization (WHO) the fundamental cause of obesity and
overweight, is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. (Taubes
60) After all, the food that was consumed before is what made someone overweight in the first

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place. If this is the case, then why is there a continuous rise of obesity throughout the world? If
the solution is as simple as eat less, exercise more why hasnt it caught on? The co-founder of
the Nutrition Science Initiative, Gary Taubes, posed a similar question, he noticed this pattern
and couldnt help but ask why it wasnt working. More than one third of Americans are considered obese, which is more than double what it was 40 years ago. Similarly, throughout the
world, more than half a billion people are obese. Based on these numbers alone, it is obvious
that our idea of how to handle obesity is incorrect or that something is not as it seems from the
typical perspective on how to lose weight.
Taubes suggests that the root of obesity in not in how much one eats as opposed to the
types of foods that are consumed. Inside the body, insulin is used to break down carbohydrates
called glucose and then transfer them into usable energy for surrounding cells. With diets that
are high in these carbohydrates, the body uses the glucose first because it is easiest to break
down compared to other fats that could potentially provide energy. This in turn begins the accumulation of fat in fat cells, which eventually becomes excessive and causes obesity.
How to Manage and Prevent Obesity
Having reviewed possible causes of obesity, (note: there are other potential causes such
as medication, depression, cessation of smoking, etc.) It brings us now to looking at the possibilities that will help the situation and allow relief from the burden of being obese. The first thing
that has to be considered is the fact that losing weight will require a change in ones lifestyle.
There has to be an intervention that helps change direction and get on the path of not being
obese. Of course it is easier said than done, but when it can be accepted that change is needed,
that is a step in the right direction. An implementation of the combination of exercise and dieting

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is what will begin to help the obese lose their weight. When the balance of energy spent aligns
with energy consumed, and the type of energy is lower in sugars, high-fructose corn syrups, and
other carbohydrates that contain high amounts of glucose, the levels of insulin in the body decrease. This decrease of insulin helps the body become less dependent on the energy gained
from insulin and allows the body to begin breaking down fats stored within it. This then begins
the loss of weight and helps overcome obesity.
There is an array of ways to view obesity and how it can be overcome. These include
first being aware of what it is and how individuals are affected by it. Also, understanding the
roots of obesity or being overweight and how that plays a role in the change in lifestyle of those
who are seeking to be in shape. There are so many possibilities when the burden of obesity is
overcome and there has never been a more possible and brighter opportunity to make that part of
reality. The growing issue of obesity can be overcome and is something that needs to be addressed more and more as it rises and becomes more detrimental to the human race.

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Works Cited
Fock, Kwong Ming, and Joan, Khoo. "Diet and Exercise in Management of Obesity and Overweight." Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology 1 Dec. 2013: P59-63. Print.

Gilman, Sander L. Obesity the Biography. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

Taubes, Gary. "Which One Will Make You Fat?" Scientific American 1 Sept. 2013: P60-65. Print.

World Health Organization. ABC to Obesity Prevention. 2014. http://visual.ly/abc-obesity-prevention