Christian Cary
10/21/12
Obesity

According to the Washington Post Obesity related treatment cost was 147 billion in the United States in year 2008. Obesity is when you have a excess amount of body fat that has a negative effect on your health. Obesity is determined by your BMI (body mass index). If your BMI is 25-29.9 you are considered over weight. If your BMI is 30 or greater you are considered as obese. The more extreme category of obesity is called morbid obese, that is when your body fat is 50% or greater. Obesity occurs when you consume more calories than you burn. The factors that also play a role in obesity is age, gender, genetics and illness. Being obese is a concern on your life, it can lead to a number of other health problems like Coronary heart disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Hypertension, Stroke, Liver and Gallbladder disease. Being overweight or obese has become a global problem according to the World Health Organization.

In the United States the statistics show that obesity is becoming a problem, but should we allow the government to decide what and how much we could eat. According to the US government obesity is costing the united states 147 billion dollars in health issues. When cigarettes alone is costing the united states 90 billion dollars. Why is the government not going after the cigarette companies? As long as the people know the risk of what they are consuming the government should not intervene. According to US news in 2008 New Yorks law that require restaurants