Obesity is a growing problem in the United States of America. Over two thirds of the adult population and one third of the child population are obese. If obesity continues to trend like it has, then by the year 2030 about 51% of the population will be obese. The growing increase in obese people is sure to increase healthcare costs. Why on earth does the obesity rate continue to rise even though the people in America know that it is a problem?

Obviously there are things like genetics, not enough exercise, over eating, eating junk food frequently, and not monitoring health. However, there are some less obvious ways that cause obesity like hypothyroidism and insulin resistance. A lot of factors that cause obesity can be avoided with healthy eating and proper amounts of exercise. Other things like hypothyroidism and insulin resistance need medical attention in order to be fixed, but these instances are rare and healthy eating and exercising would help immensely in addition to medical attention as well. Check out more causes of obesity here http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/causes.

There are several places to find resources that can help people that are overweight or obese. The government has websites like my plate that makes dietary recommendations and exercise guidelines. Typically, a diet of complex carbs, like brown rice, whole wheat bread and whole grain pasta, lean meat, vegetables, low fat or no fat dairy and fruit are what makes for a healthy diet. A good rule of thumb for exercise is 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day. It varies from person to person though. Learn more about how to lead a healthy lifestyle here https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/.

Childhood obesity and adolescent obesity is crippling the United states. Obesity in children has double, and obesity in adolescents has quadrupled in the past thirty years see some more statistics here https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm. Obesity in children can be crippling to self-esteem as well as overall well-being. It isn’t surprising that childhood obesity has increased in such a rapid rate since adult obesity has increased as well, and the adults are typically the ones feeding the children. Lots of things can cause obesity in children. Typically, unhealthy behaviors are to blame and the environment that they are in. If the children are used to watching tv all day instead of playing outside and eating junk food instead of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats then they are more likely to be overweight and obese.

Advertising can also be blamed for some of this because fruits and vegetable don’t get as much as airtime as the big macs and whoppers do. Exercise isn’t advertised either because these are things that used to be taught in the home.

Living in bad neighborhoods can contribute as well. Poorer neighborhoods are more likely to be in a food desert than the wealthier communities. There are also less clean safe places to play in neighborhoods like these. Also for the average person junk food is much more affordable since they are overall cheaper, and they have a longer shelf life than healthy food that goes bad much more quickly.

In general childhood obesity can be caused by many things and causes a $14 billion dollar increase in healthcare each year read more on how this affects healthcare costs here http://www.healthycommunitieshealthyfuture.org/learn-the-facts/economic-costs-of-obesity/.

The number of obese people have increased 34% since 1960. 34% is a lot. Especially to have a 34% increase over 54 years. There are lots of things to blame the rise in obesity on and the food industry is a big one, as well as genetics. However, generally it is caused by overeating and under exercising. Learn more about that here http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Obesity/Pages/Causes.aspx.

This rise in obesity has caused the average obese man to spend an extra $1,152 a year and the average obese woman spends an extra $3,613 a year according to Forbes link to full article here http://bit.ly/forbesobesity. Now obviously this causes the cost of healthcare insurance to go up for the average person because the company is counting on healthier people buying at a higher rate to cover the cost of the unhealthy (and obese) people that will use the insurance more. It really is an incentive to be healthier because an employer can, under the affordable care act, charge obese employees 30-50% more for what they contribute to paying for healthcare if they refuse to participate in a weight loss program.

Even though obesity is causing healthcare insurance prices to skyrocket that is not the worst thing about obesity. Morbid obesity is six times what it used to be in 1960. SIX TIMES! Morbid obesity is defined as someone with a BMI of 40 or above with significant medical problems that are worsened or caused by their weight. This type of obesity is typically the kind that creates the rise in the cost of health care because obesity itself isn’t what the doctors are treating. They’re treating hypertension, joint problems, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and a multitude of other issues. All of these illnesses contribute to the rising cost of healthcare for the average American.

It is no secret that a ton of Americans are fat. Sorry, but somebody needed to say it (and I’m actually not sorry). This plethora of fat people is adding even more debt to the country. So maybe it is mean to call people fat but it is also mean to unnecessarily make tax rates go up too. 70 percent of adults in the United States are considered overweight, and this is a huge problem. ABC news reported on how the obesity rate increases the cost of health care and rates obesity as one of the leading causes of the overall increase in health care read more here.

Health insurance plans don’t cover obesity, but they do cover the other medical issues that obesity can cause like hypertension, type II diabetes, chronic heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. In 1990, according to fairfoodnetwork.org, the government spent $107.9 billion on Medicare and $43.3 on Medicaid. In 2016 the government spent $589.72 billion dollars on Medicare and $365.525 billion dollars on Medicaid according to whitehouse.gov. This means that government spending on Medicare increased by 446.5% in 16 years, and Medicaid increased by 744.2% over the course of 16 years. Some of this increase came from natural factors that had nothing to do with obesity but some of it has to do with the fact that in 1990 only around 11% of people were obese compared to 2016 and almost one third of the population is obese.

Healthcare in 1990 cost much less and this can be attributed to the fact that now almost one in three Americans is obese. Obesity is not in right now. It is extremely unhealthy and body shaming isn’t real. Obesity is unhealthy and it kills over 300,000 people each year according to wvdhhr.org