Obesity

            
             In today's society, many know that it is important to be thin, but the pressure to stay thin has driven many people to drastic dieting and severe weight loss, causing many health problems on its own. The United States rate of obesity has grown epidemically over the past twenty years, and with the world as hectic and on the go as it is now, it is projected to continue at this rate. With technology, like computers and machinery, physical labor is falling, resulting in little or no physical activity for the average working American. Since the beginning of the 1960's and the short Presidential term of JFK, there has been a push for physical fitness in children and adults as a result of the changing lifestyles and technologies that are present today. Since the beginning of recorded time, there have been many diseases and plagues that have wreaked havoc on a particular nation or part of the world. Like the bubonic plague of the 1300's and the cholera that spread through the immigrants of the late 1800's, obesity is a plague that has caused much panic throughout the entire nation, and is a main focus in many wealthier countries today. .
             Obesity is a disease that is defined by someone who has "an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue in relation to lean body mass (CDC 1)." This means that your amount of fat that is present on your person is significantly greater than the amount of lean muscle that is present. Your actual body fat is never going to be able to be fully determined, but it is usually related to the amount of loose skin that protrudes from your person. Obesity is often confused with being overweight, which in many cases is different, for example, in body builders or professional athletes, who are mostly overweight because of the amount of muscle that is present. An obese person is someone who has a problem with their eating habits, which usually overtake their ability to function in everyday life (weight-loss-diet-i.