Obesity as a Cause of Physical Health Problems - Essay Example

"Obesity as a Cause of Physical Health Problems" is an excellent example of a paper on social and family issues. 
In many countries around the world, obesity is becoming a major social problem. Obesity is a medical situation where a human builds up substantial volumes of body fat to the degree where obesity usually has a negative health impact on the body. When a person becomes obese, he or she can face many health crises, including high blood pressure, diabetes, migraines, depression or even suffer strokes. The health effects of obesity are so significant that some people suffering this condition require surgery to shrink the volume of their stomachs to ensure they do not accumulate even more body fat. The causes of obesity range significantly, but generally include living a sedentary lifestyle (lack of exercise) and over-eating.

In today’s global society, with many well-developed food supply chains and the ability to manufacture high-fat food products for consumption, diet serves as the major cause of obesity. It is generally a medically-supported fact that the average human living an average active lifestyle requires between 2,000 and 2,500 calories per day to sustain quality health. However, citizens of many developed countries consume well over this caloric volume, ranging between 3,000 and 3,800 calories daily. This type of high-calorie diet is usually sustained by consuming products with a substantial level of saturated fat, common in such products as ice cream and potato chips. It is a misconception that all obese people eat many pounds of food daily to become overweight, instead, it is the ingredients and additives in food products that lead to this phenomenon. Furthermore, with worldwide availability of such food items as sweetened snack food items, carbonated sodas, and even energy drinks, obesity continues to rise, leading to substantial health crises.

The sedentary lifestyle is also a major cause of obesity. With automation becoming a regular technological innovation in many different industrial sectors, citizens around the world are not performing work that is physically demanding. Many different transportation options throughout the globe, including automobiles, public transport, taxi services and subways make it easier for people to avoid walking to reach their destinations. Coupled with lifestyles where routine television watching forbids necessary physical exercise, obesity levels around the world continue to rise, costing society considerable financial expenditures in the health care sector to combat this problem. It should also be recognised that some individuals in society are just lazy and do not feel that the rewards of performing physical exercise is worth the investment and would rather enjoy a more sluggish lifestyle, leading to outcomes of obesity and health problems.

As shown, obesity is caused by limited physical exertion and a poor diet for many global citizens. It will be necessary to change lifestyle and reconsider dietary needs and food consumption practices if major health crises are to be reduced. Whilst not everyone will be willing to introduce physical exercise or more healthy food options in their diets, if these considerations are not carefully re-examined, obesity will continue to plague global societies as a substantial social issue.