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Abisai Vega
Prof. Galbraith
ENGL 102
June 23 2015
The Obesity Epidemic in Students
In today’s society one in three students are obese, furthermore, about eighty percent of
obese students are obese as adults. Obesity can cause or lead to many serious health problems
including heart disease (the leading cause of death in the US), diabetes, and some cancers,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. No one wants to
have heart problems or cancer, so why not lower the probability of getting it? Lowering the
obesity rates in students would help tremendously, because it would also lower to rates in adults
as well, but it is costly. Despite the expense, schools, families, and communities should work
together to help lower the obesity rates among students, because it will help the students with
mental and physical health, help students with low income managed better, and it will provide a
better environment for the further students to come while lowering the obese rates in adults.
According to the CDC website, a person is obese when they have an excessive amount of
body fat due to a “caloric imbalance”, but they may just be overweight, if there is not too much
body fat. Problems like this have been happening from the beginning, but the reach on child
obesity started in the early 1980s and the data from then till 2008 shows that obesity rates in
children ages 6-11 have tripled from 6.5 to 19.6 percent according to Katrina M Wyatt. Combine
with the data on teens about one in three children and adolescents are obese today. This is just
children and adolescents, but anyone can be at risk for obesity, children and adults alike, but the
health problems are much more serious for adults. Also with the rates in obesity rising, more
money is being spent trying to deal with it or manage other health problems that come with it.
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The cost for medical treatment that is indirectly and directly related to obesity, according to
McCormick and I. Stone, range from $147 and $210 billion a year. Although some schools have
taken action to lower the rates in obesity among the students and have had good results, but too
little schools take any action. This problem need to be dealt with starting in homes, then schools,
and then in the larger communities.
Obesity can bring many mental and physical health problems that are harder to deal with
later on; this is why this problem needs to be taken seriously and should be deal with earlier
rather than later. According to the CDC website, children that are obese are more likely to have:
high blood pressure, high cholesterol [which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease],
increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance [pre-diabetic state of hyperglycemia], insulin
resistance, type 2 diabetes, breathing problems, such as sleep apnea, and asthma, joint
problems and musculoskeletal discomfort, sleeping discomfort, fatty liver disease,
gallstones, gastro-esophageal reflux (heartburn), and have a greater risk of social and
psychological problems, such as discrimination and poor self-esteem, which can continue
into adulthood.
In other words, the CDC believes obesity can affect every aspect of a person’s health from
regular movement like walking and breathing to a person’s mood. Most of these problems
happen or are more serious in adulthood, so why not treat it before then? Dealing with this
problem at an early age will lower the rates in childhood obesity and adulthood obesity. The
CDC website observes that obese children tend to be obese as adults, and most of them are even
more likely to be in a more severe condition of obesity leading to a number of serious health
conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. The CDC’s point is that childhood
obesity is directly related to adulthood obesity, and that the health conditions that come with
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childhood obesity, which can be serious, become or lead to even more serious health conditions.
Also, as mentioned earlier, there is risk of social and psychological problems. Most people’s
view on obesity is negative, and some people can be very harmful to those that are obese.
Jennifer C. Collins, MA, MS, and Jon E. Bentz, Ph.D. (Neuropsychology Specialists) agrees
when they write that society views obesity very negatively; most people believe that people who
are obese are “weak-willed” and “unmotivated”. Obese individuals are often aware of how
people view them, and “internalize” their feelings, putting their mental health at risk for mood
disorders, anxiety, and substance abuse. They also may suffer from “interpersonal and work-
related discrimination”, which can often make obese people developed low self-esteem, and body
image dissatisfaction. In making this comment, Collins and Bentz show that the way society
view obese people can lead to so social and psychological problems, which will make their
health condition even worse. Dealing with this problem early, while it is still easy to manage, can
prevent most of these situations.
Maintaining the obesity levels low won’t only prevent these negative health effects but
can also lead to many mental and physical health benefits, which helps everyone. Collins and
Bentz agree when they write that it is not surprising that significant weight loss can bring
psychological as well as medical benefits, which include improved mood, self-esteem,
motivation, and relationships. These benefits they point out are something everyone benefits
from. These are basic day to day thing that are needed and help people with work, exercising and
living. But of course, losing weight as an adult is not as easy as losing weight as a teen or child.
