Have you ever stopped to think and wonder how critical and important good health is to the success of your daily today activities? Well, this is probably one of the most ignored questions amongst individuals. Health plays a big role in determining how effective we can be in our various performing fields. Being fully aware of one’s health, guarantees one self confidence and esteem. However, in order to achieve this, it is necessary for us to look into health related complications and in this case obesity. Obesity has been found out to be a major public health challenge throughout the world. Obesity can be understood by comprehending the three major societal transitions that are found to be closely associated with the health issue. The issues are those pertaining to with diet, physical environment and the culture. It is important to monitor trends in obesity in order to assess interventions and carry out preventive measures on the obesity burden. Both the United States and Canada have been collecting data on obesity in their attempts to reduce the prevalence of obesity. The data shows a difference in obesity prevalence estimates between the united state and Canada (Campos 2003, p. 47).
Obesity is a complex medical condition caused by excessive storage of calories in the form of fats such that the body is not in the position to burn the fats anymore (Seidell 2002, p. 156). Obesity causes a wide range of disease risks including diabetes in adults, high blood pressure, certain cancers, coronary heart diseases, gull bladder diseases and arthritic conditions (Duan 2006, p. 777). Consumption of large portions of high-fat foods for instance is the key primary source because they contain high percentages of calories (Stroebe 2003, p. 655). Failure to exercise and engage in physical activity then means that the calories are retained in the body as fat because human bodies have developed no mechanisms to shed off these calories and fats. However, the causes are not exclusively bound to diet but may be caused by other complex factors. These include the genetic reasons, environmental factors and the kind of lifestyle among others. Abundance of food in the United States and in Canada and the fact that physical activities are optional stimulate has been a stimulating factor to the rise of obesity in the two countries (Chow 2006, p. 192).
Prevalence
Obesity has become a proven epidemic both in the US and in Canada. However, obesity rates are higher in US compared to Canada although the two countries are neighbors and have similar culture. Obesity prevalence in the two countries over the last twenty years has been in the rise significantly. The magnitude of obesity increases in the two countries has been fairly similar although slightly higher in the United States. The prevalence among Canadian men rose by 10 percentage points while among the American men, the prevalence rose by approximately 12 percentage points (Farook 2006, p. 16). For the women the rise is at 8 percent in Canada and 10 percent in the United States. Data collection from studies indicates that it is affecting individuals of all age’s groups. In the US for instance, at least one in every five children is suffering from obesity and that more than 50% of the adult population are involved in related illnesses. It comes second after tobacco as the cause preventable deaths in US (Farook 2006, p. 16). Another finding is that, approximately one out of eight deaths is caused by ailments closely related to obesity. In Canada, rates of obesity are closer to 25% which is relatively lower than that in US. The aboriginal’s population of this country is the one at a higher risk. The study surveys precisely show how these cases are rising and the urgent need to address (Campos 2004, p. 36).
Potential strategies
Challenges
There is no single way of tackling obesity both in the United States and Canada and it cannot be further tackled through government action alone. The obesity problem should be recognized owned and tackled at all the levels and every division of the social order. Despite the fact that health professionals can handle obesity at individual and community level, the society must undertake a wide range of measures to in undertaking to halt and reverse the obesity trends. The lack of comprehensive records on obesity leads to lack of information on obesity trends to the government and other concern stakeholders in dealing with obesity concerns. The records should provide an insight into obesity concerns analyses that will help manage social concerns, economic and medical threats caused by obesity. Furthermore, the laxity of both the Americans and the Canadians in changing their eating habits and cultures that foster the rise in obesity have been a challenge. The citizens of the two countries should understand the importance of the health guidance on nutrition and importance of exercise.
In order to reduce cases of obesity in the future, the government should be able to identify the wide range of factors influencing obesity beyond the obvious through the use of scientific evidence. Also the government is creating a shared indulgent of the relationship that exist between the factors influencing obesity level and the importance of these factors. Through these, the government is able to intervene and come up with the most effective response in future (Farook, 2006, p.16).
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