Essay Example: Assignment Due Date Obesity

Nutritional diseases are illnesses and conditions that cause or lead to illness in human beings. The most common nutrition-related diseases are a result of either undernutrition or malnutrition. Undernutrition is a condition where there is insufficient food to meet energy needs in the body. It affects mostly those living in poverty in both industrialized and developed countries. Malnutrition is an impaired function resulting from a prolonged deficiency or use of specific nutrients like proteins. It can result from fasting, persistent vomiting, impaired digestion, inability to swallow, and intestinal mal-absorption. The imbalance between dietary energy intake and its expenditure is the root cause of obesity (Hruby & Hu, 2015).

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Obesity is normally triggered by eating too much and having little or no movement. When a person consumes a lot of energy like fats and sugars and does not do exercises to burn off the energy, most of the surplus energy is stored by the body as fat. Obesity is a multifarious health problem that results from a combination of causes and individual factors like physical inactivity, dietary patterns, food and physical activity environment, and food promotion (Hruby & Hu, 2015). It is a serious illness associated with poor mental health outcomes and a decrease in quality of life. In the United States and the world at large, obesity remains a leading cause of many deaths due to diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and some types of cancer.

Conditions of Obesity

Being obese means that one has excess amounts of body fat, and body weight, including bone, muscle, and water. Obesity increases a person's risk of developing life-threatening health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and cancer (Dobbs & Manyika, 2015). Approximately 300,000 adults in the United States of America die of obesity-related conditions every year.

Heart disease

Fatty deposits may accumulate more on the heart arteries that supply blood to the heart. Obese people have high blood pressure, blood sugar, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease.

Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes takes place when blood sugar is higher than normal. Most obese people consume a lot of fats, which increases the blood sugar level. This underlying condition can lead to other health issues like a damage in the nerves, kidney disease, and vision impairment.

High Blood Pressure. Obese people have extra fat tissues that require more oxygen and nutrients. It forces the blood vessels to circulate more blood to the extra tissues. The heart is, therefore, overworked as a result of pumping more blood around the body (Dobbs & Manyika, 2015). A rise in the amount of blood pumped exerts pressure on arterial walls, called high blood pressure or hypertension. The condition can easily damage the heart and arteries.

Stroke

The issue takes place when blood supply to the brain is cut off. It can damage brain tissues and result in various disabilities like language impairment, muscle weaknesses, and change in thinking and reasoning capability. Obesity causes stroke, where increased blood pumping damages the heart arteries, resulting in limited blood supply to the brain.

Depression

According to various research studies, overweight people suffer from discrimination in society, which in turn leads to conditions of depression, low self-esteem, and other body-related problems (Dobbs & Manyika, 2015).

Sleep apnea

Obesity leads to sleep apnea, which is a breathing condition linked to being overweight. It makes a person to snore heavily, or even stop breathing briefly during sleep (Dobbs & Manyika, 2015). Sleep apnea causes a person to experience daytime sleepiness and accelerate the onset of heart disease and stroke.

Liver Disease

People with obesity can also develop liver disease, fatty liver, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (Dobbs & Manyika, 2015). It is as a result of excess fats building up in the liver, causing scar tissue or cirrhosis to grow. Fatty liver eventually leads to liver failure.

Gallbladder Disease

Obesity increases the danger of emerging gallstones due to bile that helps in digesting fats, building up in the gallbladder (Dobbs & Manyika, 2015). A high level of cholesterol in the bile also causes gallstones.

Causes of Obesity

Obesity occurs when you take in more calories than you burn through exercise and daily activities. However, there are genetic, behavioral, hormonal, and metabolic influences on a person's body weight. Obese people highly consume most fast food and high-calorie beverages before they feel full (Hruby & Hu, 2015). They also tend to get hungry sooner, and even eat more may be due to anxiety or stress. Lifestyle choices, social and economic issues are among the leading causes of diabetes, among others.

Lifestyle Choices Like an Unhealthy Diet

Diets lacking in fruits and vegetables, high in calories, composed of high-calorie beverages, full of fast foods, and containing big portions highly contribute to weight gain (Hruby & Hu, 2015). Consuming an Imbalanced diet all the time increases the chances of obesity.

Inactivity

People who have sedentary lifestyles easily take in more calories than they burn them each day due to a lack of body exercises (Hruby & Hu, 2015). The number of hours a person spends staying idle or being inactive is highly associated with weight gain.

Liquid Calories

Drinks with calories can be drunk heavily by people without being full. Such drinks are like alcohol and sugared soft drinks, which contribute significantly to weight gain.

Social and Economic Issues

Attempts to avoid obesity are difficult, especially when a person does not have safe areas to exercise. Lack of access to healthier foods or even poor cooking ways may influence poor dietary intakes (Hruby & Hu, 2015). Similarly, people's associations may influence a person's weight. For example, associating with obese people may influence a person’s weight by following their lifestyles and eating habits.

Other factors that cause obesity include family inheritance, where a person may get obese due to genes inherited from their parents, who may affect the amount of fat stored and distributed in the body. Genetics also determine how a person’s body efficiently converts food into energy and how calories are burnt during exercises. As a result of families sharing activity and eating habits, obesity tends to also run down a family lineage (Hruby & Hu, 2015). Certain medications like ant seizure, diabetes, antidepressants, and others used by people are also found to cause obesity. Other medical problems like arthritis results in decreased activity, which may lead to weight gain. Additionally, as people grow old, hormonal changes and reduced activity may contribute to obesity. Also, muscles in the body decrease with age, which decreases metabolism. As a result, calorie needs are reduced, thereby complicating the ability to keep off excess weight (Hruby & Hu, 2015). Other underlying factors include pregnancy, where weight is gained after birth, using food to cope with withdrawal after quitting smoking, hormonal changes resulting from lack of sleep leading to increased appetite, stress, and previous attempts of weight reduction.

Significance of Nutrition to Obesity

Nutrition plays a great role in controlling obesity in individuals. A person’s healthy lifestyle influences their ability to overcome obesity. Consumption of nutritious product such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and others are recommended by doctors to have weight loss. Human nutrition is an important factor to be considered while treating obesity. Various fat burning foods are taken to fight against obesity (Steyn & Mchiza, 2014). It, therefore, means that healthy diets are important when considered by obese people. Fat burning foods include whole grains, red pepper, green tea, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products. Good nutrition is an important factor that leads to healthy lifestyles. Good diet and exercise can help a person maintain a healthy weight and reduce the chances of getting chronic diseases. Eating healthy helps a person get the body's nutrients to stay healthy, active, and always strong. Unhealthy eating practices have been found to facilitate to the obesity epidemic in the United States, where most people, including the child being obese.

The impact of eating a healthy diet cannot be understated. A healthy diet helps people achieve and maintain a healthy weight, reduces risks of getting chronic illnesses like heart disease, stroke, and cancer, strengthens bones, muscles, and joints, and improves their mood and energy. The most important benefit of nutrition in eating a healthy diet is the reduction in the risk of obesity. Obesity remains a major risk factor for several chronic diseases and serious health conditions today. A diet that provides high palatable, energy-dense foods rich in sugar and fats is conducive to weight gain (Hawkes et al., 2015). Such foods activate the brain's reward systems, which upwardly regulate hunger signals and control response to satiety signals, thereby leading to overconsumption of food. People who consume foods with low energy density, higher in water and fiber like fruits, salads, vegetables instead of high energy density foods experience early satiety, and decreased food intake. As a result, their risk of obesity becomes low.

Role of Nutrition in Preventing and Treating Obesity

In many developed countries, obesity is one of the most important health problems resulting from prolonged sitting in a daily lifestyle. To prevent nutrition, risk factors from the point of nutrition are elucidated. High intake in energy-rich food and sugar-containing drinks has been considered as the greatest risk factor of obesity. Traditional dietary procedures which are mostly recommended macronutrient distribution are 50-60% for carbohydrates, 30% fat, and 10-20% proteins (Steyn & Mchiza, 2014). However, energy restriction is more important than the macronutrient distribution of a diet in achieving weight loss. Food restriction indeed produces weight loss, but it also reduces energy expenditure. Satiety is also an important factor in controlling weight. High-fat diets have low satiety as opposed to high protein foods, which increases satiety (Thomas et al., 2018). The different types of carbohydrates pose varying effects on obesity. Sugar and fructose-containing slowly digestible starches are beneficial in preventing obesity.

Diets that contain low carbohydrates are used popularly in controlling weight. Underlying medical conditions that contribute to obesity should be addressed, and interventions are included in a plan of action to treat obesity. Changing diets is an important approach to treating obesity. Nutritional considerations for treating obesity include:

Dietary fats contain high levels of calories per gram in terms of proteins and carbohydrates, which promotes increased energy consumption. The prevalence of obesity cases worldwide is directly related to the percentage of fats in the diet (Thomas et al., 2018). A low-fat diet is good at treating and controlling obesity. The sources of fats which should be avoided are meats, dairy products, oils, and fried foods.

Vegetarians tend to be slimmer than omnivores. Grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruits contain low fats, high carbohydrates, and fiber. Diets by low-fat vegans promote weight loss than typical low-fat diets (Thomas et al., 2018). They also improve sensitivity to insulin and plasma lipids.