Obesity in African American Children

Introduction

There are many countries in the world that encounter the problem of obesity. United States of America is one of those countries where the issue of obesity is mounting especially in the children of African Americans. If a person's weight is more than 21% as compared to his/her body weight determined by BMI (body mass index) the person is considered as obese (Oliver, 14). A calorie is a unit used to measure the energy value of food and the energy used by the body to maintain normal functions. When the calories from food ingestion are equivalent the calories of energy utilized by the human body person's weight remains stable (Pool, 21). However, when more calories are gobbled than the body requirements and those calories are not burned, the body reserves the extra calories into substance known as fat, which is responsible for the abnormal weight gain.

Discussion and Analysis

A research study in South Carolina revealed that in the year 2009 there was 15% of population which was considered to be facing the issue of obesity according to the standards of BMI. Through this analysis it can be interpreted that there is dominance of obesity among the citizens of U.S (Oliver, 14). The obesity in adult population of African American in South Carolina increased up to 1.1% in 2007 (Smith, 21). However, some current researches also suggest that the increasing trend of obesity in the U.S has been slowing down. Due to the increase of obesity in South Carolina there has been a tremendous increase in the diseases as well (Smith, 21). These diseases are caused by the obesity or abnormal amount of fat inside the body. After a quarter century of increases, obesity prevalence has not measurably increased in the past few years but levels are still high ...