Safiyyah Muhammad
12-2-08
Period 3
Obesity
What is obesity you ask? Well, if a person is obese then that person has more body fat than how much is needed , or more body fat than what is considered healthy. Experts can tell if a person is obese by using BMI or body mass index. There are also many other ways to tell if a person is obese, but BMI is believed to be the most accurate. Theres a difference between being overweight and being obese. When someone is overweight, that person is on the verge of being obese. Adults with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered to be overweight. If their BMI is any higher than that, then they are obese. This statistic is not true for all people. For example, people who are really active, such as athletes may have a high BMI and still not be overweight. Any person who is 100 pounds over weight is morbidly obese. Sixty seven percent of the U.S population is obese.
The percent of obesity in the U.S is still increasing. Obesity in America has nearly tripled for adolescents and children. What causes obesity? Taking in more calories than you are burning off. And unused calories eventually lead to fat, which leads to obesity. Many people do not seem to see the illnesses that come with being obese. Being obese increases a persons risk of having heart disease, gall bladder disease, kidney disease, and even sleep apnea! Who would have thought of that.
Consuming more calories than the body can use is certainly a cause of obesity. Excess alcohol intake is also a cause of obesity. So if you want to prevent yourself from becoming obese then you should decrease alcohol use and avoid foods that are high in sugar and fat. You should also exercise often.