It's time to focus on the health problems that occur in this country. Crime and drug trafficking are not the only problems in our society, according to the National Institutions of Health, "Obesity is the second cause of death in the United States, causing approximately 300,000 deaths every year, what basically means that 1 in 5 American deaths is associated with overweight". Nowadays, anyone has chances of developing this disease; there is no distinction between social classes and ages. The data from National Center for Health Statistics mentions that "obesity is not limited to adults, but has also affected young people as well" showing that in the United States "18 percent of children aged 6-11 years and 21 percent of teens age 12-19 years are considered obese" and "a third of adults 20 years of age and older-over 100 million people- are obese".
Obesity is classified as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher. BMI is a common method used by doctors to indicate when a person is obese by measuring their body mass. This condition occurs when the body stores energy as fat, gained over the time by consuming more calories than what are actually needed. The balance between calorie intake and calories metabolized is different depending on each person. Family income and education, a sedentary life combine with technology, and advertising are some of the factors that could lead people to obesity. As a consequence, being obese also increases the possibility of having health issues such as diabetes type 2, different types of cancer, among others. In order to take further action to this alarming problem it's necessary to let our society know that even though it's hard to fully get rid of obesity and its consequences, there are effective ways to prevent it on a daily basis. .
Family education and social status are simple but aggressive factors of obesity.
