Implications of Heart Health

Implications of Heart Health

As the world’s population becomes more technologically advanced and sedentary, the health issues people face are compounded and multiplied. One of the major issues which is currently being faced is obesity. This health issue is widespread and its effects are far reaching. In fact, it is an issue which pervades the health community in innumerable ways. “The prevalence of corpulence and obesity in industrialized nations is increasing, even in children and adolescents” (Schmid, Schönlebe, Drexler & Mueck-Weymann, 2010, p. 54). In 1995, American obesity was estimated to be around thirty percent of the population (Dengel, Katzel, & Goldberg, 1995, p. 715). Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013) reports that 35.7 percent of American adults are obese. In 2002, the International Obesity Task Force estimated that worldwide, nearly 1 billion people on the planet were overweight or obese (Coviello, & Nystrom, 2003, p. 360). With regards to the current statistics, the problem of obesity has become a world-wide issue. “Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). In addition, medical costs are topping $147 billion dollars a year in the United States alone, with obese individuals incurring costs in excess of $1400 more than their counterparts who fall in a normal weight range (CDC, 2013). The reason this is an issue which needs to be studied and addressed is a multifaceted one, including world-wide population growth, strains on valuable resources such as the availability of healthy food and clean water, and the fiscal constraints of providing healthcare to millions of individuals. As the demands on these resources multiply, it is imperative to begin addressing the root causes of health problems so that the demand on current resources and the...