Argumentative Essay Example on Obesity and Junk Food

Obesity refers to the state of being overweight among both adults and children. The standard measure of determining a persons weight category is by using the Body Mass Index (BMI), which relates an individual's weight to their height. BMI that is higher than 30 indicates obesity. On the other hand, junk food refers to foods that are very enjoyable but have a lot of calories from the sugars and fat within them yet have very little nutritional value added to them. Most of the times, these foods need less time to prepare; therefore they are sometimes called fast foods.

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It is very evident that frequent consumption of junk foods leads to obesity. A study shows that having junk food has an effect on stomach bacteria as it kills them by more than a third. These bacteria are the ones that protect the body from obesity, as they help in regulation of body metabolism through the production of digestive enzymes that assist in the absorption of vital body nutrients like iron. Therefore, once these bacteria are wiped off, a person is prone to becoming obese with recurrent junk food intake. Also, junk foods interfere with the bodys levels of vigor. This is because they do not contain the right nutrients required by the body to perform. Physical inactivity, therefore, leaves the body fatigued and gives an allowance for the accumulation of fat to continue taking place in the body. Eventually, obesity begins to creep in because the more fat your body stores, the more weight you gain.

The factors that lead to obesity are both biological and environmental. The effect of these factors may vary significantly among individuals. This means that two different people may consume the same amount of junk food yet their levels of weight gain and obesity will vary at the end. Studies show that it is all in a persons brain. The brain carries out the important role of determining where fat is stored in the body and regulating the production of energy from these fat stores. Ultimately, this will lead to different obesity levels even with equal intake of junk food, depending on how someones brain functions. Consequently, highly processed foods interfere with parts of the brain that help us regulate our food consumption. This leads to the tendency of craving sugary foods and wanting to eat more, despite weight gain, due to the physiological urge that comes from within the brain. Increased appetite levels and this kind of uncontrolled eating of junk foods have a direct relationship with increased obesity levels.

Frequent junk food consumption and obesity have been seen to be accompanied by other complications including lifestyle diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A study, however, shows that eating junk food increases your chance of getting type-2 diabetes as it promotes the developing of insulin resistance by the body. Consequently, the fat that accumulates in the body as a result of fast food consumption may not only lead to obesity but also coronary problems may develop in case the fat accumulates around the heart. Statistics shows that majority of the deaths from cardiovascular disease are among obese people who live in areas with many fast food joints.

Despite all these repercussions of obesity as a result of consuming junk food frequently, new fast foods keep on being introduced to the markets. Worldwide controls have continued to be put to regulate the advertisement of unhealthy foods to reduce consumption. Nonetheless, it takes an individual to purpose to live a healthy life especially by eating healthy since it is evident from the argument above that obesity, junk food and lifestyle diseases are correlated.