You never want to be obese. Obese means to be overweight. The way to prevent being overweight is to exercise and eat good nutrients. Houston, Texas has the most overweight people, but Chicago, Illinois is second. Overeating is a bad habit. There are more overweight children in the United States now than ever. I'm going to tell you why obesity is not healthy, how to prevent it, and how the people in United States are obese.

Health Issues

Being obese is a huge health problem. When people are obese they're more likely to get these diseases: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, certain types of cancer, gout, and gallbladder disease. Another disease that is really bad is sleep apnea. That is when your breathing gets interrupted while sleeping. Also obesity can give you a disease called osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is when your bones wear away. Heart disease and stroke are two of the leading causes of disability or death in the United States for men and women. People who are obese are more likely to have high blood pressure which can cause a stroke. If you have high cholesterol and triglycerides, blood fats, that can also lead to heart disease.

Chances of obesity

 If an adolescent is overweight he or she has 70% chance of being an obese adult. Also, if your parent is obese you have an 80% chance of being obese as an adult. Forty-three percent of adolescent watch two hours, or more, of television each day.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes was previously an adult disease. It has increased in children and adolescents. Overweight and obesity are linked to the reasons why kids and adolescents are getting type 2 diabetes. Here's more about type 2 diabetes.

 Exercise

Exercise is one way to prevent obesity. It helps to get outside and exercise, not just sit around and watch television. Television is one of the main reason that kids are obese. A long time ago, when there wasn't a lot of technology, there were less obese people because they didn't play video games to have fun. They had to walk to school instead of riding the bus. Also, they had to do more physically active chores than now.

Safety of weight loss

When you're trying to lose weight you should do it slow and steady, not fast. The safest way to lose weight is to lose one or two pounds per week.

Psychological ways to lose weight

Sometimes, another way to prevent being obese is by getting some psychological help. Sometimes, people tend to eat a lot when something bad happens in their life. People who get obese because of psychological problems should see a psychologist to help them.

Diets

Good diet is also necessary to keep from becoming obese. Any reducing diet should require you to lose or burn more calories than you are eating. Any food diet should have a balanced of nutrients. Extreme diets are not good for you. An example of an extreme diet is low carbohydrate, low protein, and just a single food.

Tips to lose weight

Here are some tips to lose if you think you are obese. When you are eating you shouldn't eat while you are watching television. You should also stuff the refrigerator with fresh fruit, vegetables, and low fat milk instead of soda or things that's are high in fat and calories. You should always eat when hungry, but when you're eating you should eat your food slowly. Also, you should cut down the amount of fat and calories in your daily eating.

Obesity in the United States

Obesity has been rising in the United States for the last 20 years. The obesity level in the United States is as follows: 20 states have 15-19 percent of obese people, 29 states have 20-24 percent of obese people, and 1 state has 25 percent of obese people. An estimated 97 million adults in United States are obese. Adults now average eight pounds more than 15 years ago. One child in five is obese between the ages of 6 and 17. The rate of overweight children has more than doubled in the last 30 years.

 Kids need to get off the couch and go outside and play sports or go to the gym and play sports. They also need to eat right and stay healthy. That way obesity will stop being a problem.

 

Junk food graphic was created by the "Kids Making Healthy Choices" ThinkQuest team
using images from Discovery.School.com's Clip Art Gallery.