![Obesity in America reaches a crisis point. [Image Credit: Al Jazeera English/Youtube]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/10/14/660x290/b_502x220x82/obesity-in-america-reaches-a-crisis-point-image-credit-al-jazeera-englishyoutube_1631499.jpg "Obesity in America reaches a crisis point. [Image Credit: Al Jazeera English/Youtube]")
Over the past few years, obesity trends in America have been increasing tremendously. Despite the relentless public efforts to encourage a healthy diet and physical exercises, a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly revealed that about 20 percent of American adolescents and 40 percent of the adults are obese. This is the highest record in American Obesity Crisis and is certainly a major reason for concern.
The current health trend
According to NBC News, medical science considers a person to be obese if his or her body mass index is more than 30.
The current report suggests that about one out of ten preschoolers among the age group 2-5, one out of five among the age group 6-11 and one out of five teenagers are obese and on average, approximately 70.7 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese, establishing unhealthy weight gain as the current trend in the USA.
Causes of obesity
This week, the World Health Organization too has come up with a shocking report, stating that childhood obesity has increased more than tenfold across the globe over the past four decades. The consistent weight gain, particularly among the children and teenagers is alarming because it not only increases a higher risk to stay obese but also increases the risks of early deaths.
The public health experts consider unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity, as the prime causes of the obesity problem. According to the chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Frank Hu, "There’s still a huge amount of cheap, accessible, highly processed food available everywhere almost any time," and the lack of household activity and recreation has also contributed further to it.
Sleep deprivation can boost up obesity
Apart from the two above-mentioned factors, sleep deprivation may also be another cause for the soaring obesity problem. As per the Institute of Medicine report, about 50 millions of Americans tend to suffer from sleep disorders, while 70 million suffer from sleep deprivation. Even though sleep might not be directly related to weight gain, the sleep-deprived individuals are likely to suffer from energy loss and feel tired throughout the day, which will prevent them from hitting the gym. The body hormones too, undergo changes due to sleep deprivation, which increases the tendency to intake calories.
