and written by Ambady Ramachandran and Chamukuttan Snehalatha and can be found at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jobes/2010/868573.html. As of February of 2010 obesity seems to be on the rise in Asia countries. The epidemic can be held responsible to leading to many other diseases such as hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. These diseases rise up in the younger of the population and are being seen as much more prevalent. The World Health Organization, as of 2005, estimated 1.6 billion overweight peoples over the age of 15 and at least 400 million were obese. They estimate that by 2015, 2-3 billion peoples will be overweight with at least 700 million obese if the rates keep rising as they are. In Asia, the rate as increased greatly within the past decade. India has the highest amount of obese people in the world followed by China. Within these countries there are also outbreaks of obesity causing epidemics such as Diabetes and CVD. Although the pandemic began in more rich society where food was abundant, it has begun to spread to poorer communities within the countries, and the article explains this as such: "Asia has undergone considerable socioeconomic transition in the last three decades which has resulted in increased availability of food, better transport facilities, and better health care facilities." Although Asia is such a huge continent that it definitely varies from region to region.This article was truly interesting because obesity seems to be a major issue in America, and no one ever thinks about it in other countries, but in fact, it is the worst in other countries. It was amazing to see that it as developing in not only rich societies but poorer ones as well with the new abundance of food and success of the countries. It is as if the new found success is harming the country in this way. It is also interesting because this epidemic disease is not only bad itself,
but can also lead to other epidemic diseases, in turn causing other epidemic diseases to be on the rise as well. It's like the Plague in a way which could begin as simply Bubonic plague and slowly progress into a more harmful and lethal disease and affect the populations even more. And although this epidemic isn't always seen as a disease necessarily, with that simple comparison, it can be brought into retrospect about how harmful it really can be. This article was definitely a wake up call to the danger of obesity and being overweight.
Sarah, I liked how you picked a topic that is a little different from the other posts that have been written. I like how you chose to write about obseity because it is such a big problem in America, and people don't think about it being a problem in other countries. Over all I think you did a great job with this post.
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting, Sarah! One never thinks of obesity as a disease, but it really is. Once someone has reached a point of obesity, it's really difficult to turn it around. I really liked how you made the connection to Plague. Even though it may not seem as dangerous, the fact that one can even relate obesity to a disease so terrible as the Plague should be a wake up call.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to disagree with the thought of obesity being a disease. Obesity is simply a condition. In previous times like the renaissance it was a symbol of status and power, but now we treat it like a disease. While the conditions of obesity have not changed simply the connotation of being obese has.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I too love your article topic. I though it was very different compared to the original discussions on epidemics. Asia is not often remembered as an over weight country, but this article shows how prominent obesity really is around the world including Asia. This article brings a focus on how obesity is an epidemic and is on the rise all over the world and not only in the U.S. I often see advertisements for gyms and living healthy geared especially toward kids. I feel like the US is at least trying to move in the right direction and not being as ignorant to fast food. Hopefully other countries like Asia will soon realize the importance of living healthy and implementing healthy lifestyles at an early age.
ReplyDeleteI like this article choice because as you said, people think that America is the most overweight country when really obesity is effecting every country. I still haven't figured out if I define obesity as a disease but I do define things that it causes a disease like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. I don't think people are as worried about an overweight world as they should be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joel in the sense that obesity is not a "disease" because there is no infecting virus. Obesity is more of a habbit ot an addiction, but not a disease. It was still a great post and an important point to bring up because obesity is becoming a problem. It csn even lead to sicknessed like diabetes and heart problems. I enjoyed reading the post, good job!
ReplyDeleteThis is deffinetely an article about a disease that varies from the typical epidemics we hear about. You would never excpect such a common thing as obesity to be considered an actual epidemic. Sarah chose an eye-opening article ecause it gets the public aware that this is indeed a serious problem that should be addressed as a dangerous health issue. I also like how she made it clear that being very overweight can lead to even more severe dseases, such as Dabetes. I'm not too surprised that Asian countries have such a high obesity rate because of their diet. Having eaten in China and in local Chinese restaurants, I have seen unhealthy meals that are filled with grease.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting post! It reminds me of a video I once watched with my aunt, who adopted a little girl from China. It talked about obesity in Asian countries and it said that one of the reasons for it is because in China, they are encouraged to have only one child. Most want boys, so they give their little girls up for adoption. Then, they spoil the boys way too much because they have so few children. So... the boys become obese. This is a very sad result, and I agree with Lindsey. One never thinks of obesity as a disease, but it really is.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the article and your post was really interesting. Many people forget that obesity is everywhere and something should be done about it but I also agree with Maria, Joel, and Ariana. Although this topic and article is very interesting, I do not think that obesity is a disease, but I also think that the way to help fix it is to most of all make the public aware, just like a disease, although I disagree with obesity being a disease. Obesity is a choice, unlike the plague or smallpox, which is a disease.
ReplyDeleteObesity certainly can be a disease if it's genetic. It also can not be a disease if it's a caused by conditioned habits. In this case however I don't believe it is a disease as it seems to be a result of an abundence of food. Nevertheless it's a pretty serious issue.
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