Obesity is a growing concern across the world, but especially in the United States of America. Being one of the most obese countries in the world, the United States needs to address this issue head-on. There are many different opinions as to how the problem of obesity can be solved, but not much has been done about it. Currently the go to solution to obesity is for obese and overweight people to exercise more often and consume fewer calories. Although simple in theory, this has shown very little progress in decreasing the United States’ obesity rates and may not be enough to fight this rapidly growing issue. It is time to ask ourselves what the next steps are in working towards a more reliable, permanent, and effective solution. Even though exercising more and eating less is the basis of weight loss, this does not seem to be working as well as it should be. There are plenty of other weight loss options to explore other than exercising more and eating less. Some of these solutions include consuming more organic food and less pesticides, increasing sleep, decreasing stress hormones, and creating a better understanding of nutrition and how one’s metabolism works. There are many more possible solutions to decreasing obesity, however these are the main ones that I will be analyzing and comparing in this paper. Most people can agree that in order to have positive results in the effort to lose weight, one must firstly be personally committed to the goal. If the person wanting to obtain a healthy weight is not completely engaged and motivated, then the lack of interest will be negatively reflected in the results. This being said, the majority of the above solutions will only work to a certain extent unless combined with some other solution, usually being exercise and dieting. The goal is to create the best combination of weight-loss methods in order to decrease obesity and to then spread the concoction of methods to all obese and overweight people. Specifically, in South Carolina, the solution most likely lies within the school structure. If children are more aware of what obesity is and the problems that it could cause, then the obesity rates in the United States would likely decrease. Some argue that education alone cannot prevent obesity all together, but can help dissuade children from falling down that path. Schools should be focusing on nutritional education and creating healthy eating and exercising habits from a young age. I believe that if this were to be strictly applied to all public schools, then the children would better understand what obesity is and the risks that come along with it. The students would also be unconsciously creating healthy eating habits that will hopefully carry on into their home lives. Overall, combining education, healthy eating habits, and exercise will help prevent obesity at a higher rate than the current implications. If this is in fact the ideal combination of weight-loss techniques, then this method could help decrease the obesity rates in South Carolina, America, and even the world.

Obesity in the United States was first recognized around the 1980s. The initial problem started slowly when the average American began to have a larger budget for food as well as more accessibility to food. It took even longer for people to understand that obesity was not only a statistic, but an actual health problem. In the early 1980s, people began noticing the increasing number of overweight people among their communities. According to “Self-Regulation and the Obesity Epidemic,” by Peter Herman and Janet Polivy, the obesity epidemic became apparent due to successive surveys by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). By comparing these surveys, researchers noticed the overall statistical changes occurring in the weight of many Americans. Obesity is considered an epidemic in the United States due to its undesirable effects on the obese people and the rest of society. After multiple studies, it was found that obesity is correlated with the increase to many health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Another reason it is considered an issue is because of the impact it has not only on the obese individual, but on society. A higher population of obese people in a society can cause health care costs to increase and decrease productivity in the work place. Even after these realizations, the concern for the obese was very minimal for quite some time. Only in the last two decades has the concern really begun to increase throughout the general public. Americans have recently become interested in decreasing obesity rates in order to shape healthier lives for the next generation as well as help counter the negative effects put on their society by obese people. The development of the fast food nation also played a large role in the overall weight gain of the average American. Fast food restaurants constantly urge people to eat more and overindulge in order to increase sales. According to “What Role Should Government Play in Combating Obesity?” by Betsy McKay, the current collective spending on advertising in the food, beverage and restaurant industries is about $16 billion per year. It is estimated that an eighth of that budget is targeted towards children. The push of cheap, unhealthy food seems to be a likely reason as to why Americans are struggling with obesity.

In terms of body mass index (BMI), a numerical value comparing weight and height, one is considered overweight if his or her BMI is between 25 and 30 and is considered obese if it is above 30. According to “Self-Regulation and the Obesity Epidemic,” by Peter Herman and Janet Polivy, about one third of adult Americans are obese, and more than 30% of Americans are overweight. Between the two categories, this means at least 65% of Americans are either overweight or obese. These statistics have not changed much since the 1980s which is concerning considering that almost two thirds of the American population are at an unhealthy weight. Thankfully, more people are becoming more aware of the obesity epidemic and are discussing possible solutions to the issue.

Once everyone takes notice of the issue that is obesity, the next step is to formulate a plan of action in order to correct this problem. Although this may seem like a simple task, it takes more thought, planning, research, and interest than one may first believe. There are a multitude of possible solutions to decreasing the obesity rates in the United States of America. Some of these include, but are not limited to, exercising more, consuming fewer calories, sleeping more, becoming more aware of nutrition, taxing soda, decreasing stress, and eating healthier products. The trick in finding the most effective solution is researching different combinations of these multiple solutions and record the results. This is a tricky task due to the difficulties presented by many uncontrollable variables. These uncontrolled variables would include the willingness of participants, the willpower of participants, and the environment of each participant. These studies would also have to last for a long period of time in order to see an actual difference if any presents itself. These difficulties are part of the reason as to why we do not yet have the “perfect” solution the epidemic that is obesity. The typical solution that people think of when asked, “How does one lose weight?” is to increase physical activity (burn calories) and eat less (consume fewer calories). Although this method works almost all of the time in theory, it does not work as well as we would hope in reality. This method has been pushed the most out of all other solutions, yet according to Peter Herman and Janet Polivy in their article, “Self-Regulation and the Obesity Epidemic,” the percentages of obese and overweight people have stayed rather stable since the obesity epidemic began in the early 1980s. The lack of change in the percentage of obese and overweight people in America calls for concern that the current plan of action is not working and needs to be altered. 

Possible solutions that have been presented include decreasing stress and medications while increasing sleep, creating better education on nutrition and obesity prevention, and incorporating technology and physical activity. In a TEDx Talk titled “Solutions for the Obesity Epidemic,” speaker, Liesbeth van Rossum speaks about both the causes and solutions of obesity. She defends her stance that decreasing stress and medications and getting more amounts of sleep are key to weight loss. Rossum explains that weight revolves a lot around different hormones in the human body. The hormones that are most commonly related to obesity are stress hormones. There are many different types of stress hormones that are produced in the human body including, cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, adrenocorticotropic hormone, corticotrophin-releasing hormone, and endorphins. These hormones are very sensitive to changing factors and too much of any of these can cause the body to have an increased appetite, slow metabolism, and/or store excess fat when it is not truly necessary. This is why it is important to keep these hormones at bay by providing the body with enough sleep and avoid stressful situations as much as possible. She also touches on the idea that some medications may not be absolutely necessary and while they may be correcting one problem, they could be causing a number of other problems. Rossum also informs her audience that it is important to support those trying to lose weight and be healthier instead of treating them like a foreign species. She believes that it is more effective when the decision to lose weight is made by the overweight or obese person themselves and not by an outside source. If someone is constantly pursuing that someone lose weight, it could create the opposite effect and cause that person to rebel and continue living an unhealthy lifestyle. 

Gregory Green explains how he believes that the key in decreasing obesity rates lies in incorporating nutritional education in school curriculums in his article, “Physical Activity and Childhood Obesity: Strategies and Solutions for Schools and Parents.” Green explains that updated curriculums should include “instructions in nutrition, individual and group counseling, exercise classes, and training in eating control techniques.” He also suggests that parents continue the techniques learned in school at home. If the children can be completely submersed in this train of thought, then the child should be more likely to live a healthy lifestyle. Some other things schools could do to help prevent obesity include providing healthy items in vending machines, restructure physical education to focus on life-long fitness, and incorporate more fruits and vegetables in lunches. 

Another possible solution provided by Susan Silverstone and Jim Teatrum is the incorporating of technology in physical activity in order to get kids to exercise more. In their article, “Technology: The Problem or the Solution to Childhood Obesity,” they discuss that although technology typically takes away time from physical activity, it is possible to incorporate the two. The use of xergaming, “video games that are also a form of exercise” could be a great solution in getting kids excited about moving and increasing their physical activity.

Some still believe that simply decreasing caloric intake and increasing physical activity is the key to decreasing the obesity rates in America. Juan de Toro-Martin writes in his article “Precision Nutrition: A Review of Personalized Nutritional Approaches for the Prevention and Management of Metabolic Syndrome,” that if obese people focused on their nutritional intake and exercise, then obesity rates around the world would decrease. He claims that this would also lead to a decrease in other related disease such as, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other metabolic disturbances. Although this is true, most people find this method ineffective without proper motivation. Once motivation is established, then this solution works well.  The question then becomes how can we increase the motivation of obese people to lose weight. The answer lies in changing up the typical weight loss program by incorporating other components and aspects of our lives. 

Without doing extensive research comparing all of the different types of weight loss solutions, there is no way to concretely know which weight loss methods prove the most effective. Weight loss research is difficult to conduct due to the many changing variables among all the subjects. These uncontrollable variables include motivation, metabolism, and willingness to follow strict rules.  This makes finding the “perfect” solution for obesity much more difficult and opinionated, but not impossible. It is very important for each person that is fighting with obesity to remember that it may take a couple trial runs to find the combination of methods that works for them. Trying different methods other than the typical, lose weight and eat less, is key to seeing long term results. Although these two methods can be incredibly beneficial, they usually fail on their own. This is due to the fact that many people tend to shut down or give up after not seeing immediate results after they start exercising and/or dieting. Another disappointment that comes with intense exercise programs and diets is that it is hard to keep the weight off after the program or diet is over. Many people will eventually gain the weight back and the programs will not have helped with obesity long term. 

A positive solution to obesity would include steps being taken at both the national level as well as the individual level. Nationally, United States citizens need to continue increasing awareness of the issue, develop better education in nutrition in early education and elementary school, and most importantly, support those who are trying to lose weight instead of shaming them for their weight. The awareness of the obesity epidemic has increased in the past few years, but many Americans are still unaware of the severity of the problem. The more people know about this problem, then the more likely they are to help fight for a solution. Additionally, children should be introduced to a healthy lifestyle at a young age. Children shape their lives on two main factors, their parents and school. If they are in an environment that promotes healthy eating and active lifestyles, then they are more likely to develop these habits in their home life and keep them as they grow older. In order to accomplish this, school systems need to develop and incorporate nutritional education into their curriculum as well as provide and promote healthy lunch options for all children. Finally, Americans in general need to support the obese and overweight population. In our society today, we tend to look down upon obese people. A sense of disapproval and shame are projected onto the people who need support the most. Imagine trying to accomplish a daunting task when the people around you are against you. Supporting the obese in their weight loss journey will not only push them to keep up with their plan, but also make the journey more enjoyable and possibly easier. It is important to not shame someone for being different or for not fitting into what society has deemed acceptable. 

On an individual level, those trying to lose weight should maintain awareness of the food they are consuming, exercise more than they usually would, get at least 6-8 hours of sleep every night, and decrease stress by avoiding stressful situations and alleviating stress. It is important to note that none of these suggestions are easy fixes. In order to decrease obesity in the United States, these strategies need to be performed in unison and over a long period of time. There will not be an observable decrease in obesity rates if these strategies are only performed for a short period of time. They need to be applied to each overweight or obese individual’s life. The reason why obesity statistics have not changed much in the past 40 years is because people are focusing on the short-term effects and not the long-term effects. In order to see long-term results, one must have some sort of lifestyle change; exercising and eating healthy for a week or even a month is great, but alone will not produce the desired results. 

Despite popular belief, exercising and eating better is not the best method for losing weight. Many things, individually and nationally, need to change in order to decrease American obesity rates. If everyone decides to take action and help with this issue then we can provide the support obese people need as well as help prevent obesity. It is always easier to push the responsibility of an issue to other people, but realizing that everyone can help solve the issue allows us to actually start solving this enormous problem.
