Trends in obesity over the last 20 years and implications for the Coursework

Trends in obesity over the last 20 years and implications for the future - Coursework Example This essay "Trends in obesity over the last 20 years and implications for the future" outlines an increasing trend in the obesity of the USA in the last twenty years and if the effects of the policy implemented are ineffective in the USA. The body mass index (BMI) includes a significant importance. It is a measurement of the weight defined as kg per square meter. In a conventional manner when the range of BMI is between 25 and 30, then the person is said to be overweight and the person is said to be obese when the value is greater than 30 (Akil & Ahmad, 2011, p. 58). This obesity problem is a common trouble in almost every country in the world especially in the Western countries. Statistical analyses is an important tool which will be directed towards analyzing the trends of obesity in different countries and can give us a clear idea about the historical pattern and suggest important policies for the future. Obesity is very crucial problem in every society and it is indeed an importa nt problem in the developed nation like United States of America (USA). There has been a growing awareness of the health problems attached with weight as well as availability of light or no fat foods. But despite that there had been a significant incidence of obesity problem in the United States of America. There has been documentation initiating from period as early as 1960s and there has been a consistent year to year rise in the percentage of adults who are suffering from overweight. This trend increases seem to have accelerated. Data collected from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) indicates that within a period of 1985-1995 there has been an increase in the BMI from a level of 29.2 to 34.4 and there has been an increase in the percentage from a magnitude of 8.6 to 15.2. The correlation between overweight and many of the chronic diseases as well as various obnoxious health outcomes has made this a serious health concern. Obesity as a factor also gets associa ted with nation’s burgeoning health care bill. It is estimated that for the year 1990, the costs including direct and indirect costs of the excess weight in the USA were figured at the amount of $46 billion and $ 23 billion respectively (Binkley, Eales & Jekanowski, 2000). The propositions which will be examined in the paper are: 1. There has been an increasing trend in the obesity of USA in the last twenty years 2. Obesity is the highest for USA as compared to other countries 3. Race also plays an important part in USA with respect to obesity 4. The standard deviation of obesity of the data of USA is highly scattered 5. The effects of the policy implemented are ineffective in USA. 4. Analysis Before moving into analysis, the method of data collection is to be mentioned. For the purpose of data collection, we have relied on the government site of USA .The database for data collection which is used is the center for disease control and prevention (CDC) in USA. CDC helps in the creation of expertise, information as well as tools which the people as well as the communities requires for the purpose of protecting their health with the help of promotion, disease prevention, injury and disability as well as preparedness for the threats of new health problems. CDC directs towards accomplishing its mission through working with the partners all over the nation as well as in a global basis for the purpose of detecting as well as investigating the health problems, conducting research as