Worldwide Obesity Doubled Over Past Three Decades- Blog #4

KaRika Jones
Jan. 11, 2011
10:55 PM

        Statistics shows that obesity worldwide has doubled for men and women since 1980. The percentage changes are from five to ten for men and eight to fourteen for women. Compared to thirty years ago, today's diet and current technology decreased the physical activity that people should do on a daily basis. The causes for obesity is that many countries all over the world are catching up to the modernization of the United Nations daily life. There are more technology, transportation and the arrivals of fast food restaurants. "As more people become obese, the logic goes, the more comfortable people feel in their own skin, and the less stressed they feel. Stress has been strongly linked to high blood pressure and cholesterol."(Muenning)While obesity is increasing blood pressure and high cholesterol can decrease with the help of medication. In reality not everyone has the access to healthy nutrition like fruits and vegetables or even effective medicines. The results can lead to the increase obesity also.
        Obesity kills over three million people every year worldwide. The health risk can be as far from diabetes to cancer. Since these countries do not have the proper medications or even the nutrition for a healthy life style, their own life could be cut short because obesity takes away lives. A society is a learned community, meaning that what people are surrounded by or how they were brought up, will continue that tradition. So if a family is use to the depending on modern technology and transportation, it can cause a lack of exercising and obesity. Including the cultural meals that they eat can cause a continuing tradition that can effect family generations and communities. This scenario could grow causing an epidemic of obesity in surrounding areas outside of that community. There are organizations that are providing funding that can help countries battle obesity, but if we don't do something now then who knows what the percentages may be in the next thirty years.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/global-obesity-rates-doubled-1980/story?id=12833461&page=1