A Disease That Can Hurt Millions The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that more than one third of the adults in the United States are obese. Sadly, more than 76 million adults weigh more than doctors believe they should; in fact, America is one of the most unhealthy and obese countries in the world. One major contributor to America's problem with weight is food addiction. Additionally, Americans have become lazy because they choice to eat constantly rather than exercise. Most people who are lazy might decide to get comfortable when they are done eating instead of exercising. Another factor with weight gain is misinformation that is received; receiving misinformation can make people to miscount the food calories. Misinformation can make people go into depression if they feel like they are trying to stay away from so much of the calories. Even though there are medical and genetic conditions that cause obesity, the vast majority of Americans could prevent their weight gain; therefore, Americans must take responsibility for their health/weight gain to avoid major health risks and increases in medical costs. To begin, people need to take responsibility for their issues with weight because weight has a direct impact on health. One of the biggest issues with weight gain, especially in children, is the development of Type 2 diabetes; David Zinczenko believes "Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cause of diabetes in this country. According to the “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”, a factor that causes Type 2 diabetes is metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is when people with insulin resistance have such factors such as: higher than normal blood glucose level, high blood pressure, and increased waist size that is due to excess abdominal fat. A child who gets this type of condition will have a higher chance of getting Type 2 Diabetes. Children who develop this type of condition will be at risk of having heart attacks and strokes. With this type of condition, children who have increased waist size will have a muffin top and overlapping stomachs. When this happens to them, they are not able to find any clothes in their size. According to State of Obesity, it costs between $147 and $210 billion a year on medical spending for obesity. Some of the medical issues that contribute to obesity are: heart disease, strokes, and osteoarthritis. People who develop heart disease and strokes from obesity will have a higher chance at both high blood pressure and high cholesterol, so the best way to avoid this is to lose about 5% to 10% of weight. Another related medical issue that contributes to obesity is osteoarthritis; it is a joint problem that affects the knees, hips, or back. The only way for somebody to have this is by having extra weight that wears on these joints. Furthermore, people need to take responsibility for their issues with weight because weight has a direct impact on increases in medical costs. Many
