Obesity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Obesity - Research Paper Example Obesity is considered as a major problem in the United States for many decades. The rate of obesity prevalence has multiplied in the last few decades of the last century. However, in the past few years the percentage growth of fat people in the US has declined to some extent. Since obesity can give rise to several serious health problems and even can cause death, therefore it is very important that every year the obesity rate of Americans be monitored. Every year the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) studies the health conditions and nutritional levels of American people including both adults and children. To make proper assessment this program includes both interviews and physical diagnosis (CDC, 2014). According to NHANES conducted for the year 2009-2010 several facts came to light – 1) In 2009-2010, there were more than 33 percent of adults and almost 17 percent of the youth who were considered to be obese, 2) the prevalence rate of obesity remained constant with the previous year 2008-2009 in case of both adults and children, 3) the prevalence of obesity between men and women was not different in 2009-2010, 4) the older people are more inclined towards obesity than the young adults (Ogden et al., 2012, p.1). Table 1 shows the prevalence of obesity among adult men and women from 20 years to over 60 in the year 2009-2010. Table 2 shows the prevalence of obesity among boys and girls in the age range of 2-19 in the same year. Among adult Americans, in the year 2009-2010 there were 41 million women and 37 million men who were obese. However, among adolescents between 2 to 19 years, more boys (approximately 7 million) than girls (more than 5 million) were obese. Moreover, the study showed that in between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, the prevalence of obesity had increased among men but there was no major change among women. In the year 1999-2000, 27.5 percent of men were obese and this figure increased to 35.5 in the year