Obesity is an epidemic that is sweeping the nation and growing exponentially. Currently more than 500,000,000 adults worldwide are suffering from obesity. Most people look at obesity as only being caused by overeating, but there are many other factors that contribute to the spreading of obesity. One in particular is technology. Between the last 100 years and now technological advances have played a big part in the climbing obesity rates and will continue to do so in the future.
In the past, many common activities required more strenuous work and offered less technological help, which kept a larger majority of the population healthy. In 1980 there was no state that had an obesity rate above 15%. There are a lot of things now that, in the past, would require more effort. “The world has become such a lazy place, I can grocery shop online and never leave my house again” (Gutt). Marcus Gutt was referring to the fact that even the little exercise people gain from physically grocery shopping has been eradicated by advances in technology. Along with grocery shopping, you can order food, clothes, other forms of technology, etc. John Geralds references this fact when he says “Just about everything you could ever want can be ordered online and delivered right to your front door” (Geralds).
Did you know that the percentage of overweight children and adolescents in the US has nearly tripled since the early 1970’s? More than one in five children between the ages of 6 and 17 are now considered overweight. Childhood obesity has been linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and poor academic performance.
Teachers have a unique opportunity to instill lifelong health and fitness habits in students through nutritional education, gym activities, yoga, and even purposeful play at recess, however, many schools lack the basic equipment needed to bring these initiatives to life. (donorschoose.com)
Obesity can lead to chronic disease and disability and is the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. Sixty percent of obesity is caused by a decline in physical demands at work, which is believed to be caused by advances in technology that have made jobs easier. The other forty percent is caused by innovations in agriculture, which have driven down food costs and made it easier to buy food in bulk. The United States has the highest country percentage of obese adults at thirty-four percent. However, China is keeping up with the United States. From 2002 to 2008 China’s obesity rate has more than doubled, going from ten to twenty-seven percent. Studies show that children who spend three or more hours a day in front of any form of technology face a ten to sixty-one percent increase in the risk of becoming obese.
In coming years, studies show that for every ten percent increase in a country’s spending towards innovations in technology, there will be a reflective one percent increase in that country’s obesity rate. By the year 2030, forty-two percent of Americans are set to be obese with eleven percent of them being severely obese, meaning having a higher risk of