obesity essay solutions

Obesity Essay

Last updated on: Feb 9, 2023

Obesity Essay: A Complete Guide and Topics

By: Nova A.

11 min read

Reviewed By: Jacklyn H.

Published on: Aug 31, 2021

Are you assigned to write an essay about obesity? The first step is to define obesity.

The obesity epidemic is a major issue facing our country right now. It's complicated- it could be genetic or due to your environment, but either way, there are ways that you can fix it!

Learn all about what causes weight gain and get tips on how you can get healthy again.

On this Page

What is Obesity

What is obesity? Obesity and BMI (body mass index) are both tools of measurement that are used by doctors to assess body fat according to the height, age, and gender of a person. If the BMI is between 25 to 29.9, that means the person has excess weight and body fat.

If the BMI exceeds 30, that means the person is obese. Obesity is a condition that increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and other medical conditions like metabolic syndrome, arthritis, and even some types of cancer.

Obesity Definition

Obesity is defined by the World Health Organization as an accumulation of abnormal and excess body fat that comes with several risk factors. It is measured by the body mass index BMI, body weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of a person’s height (in meters).

Obesity in America

Obesity is on the verge of becoming an epidemic as 1 in every 3 Americans can be categorized as overweight and obese. Currently, America is an obese country, and it continues to get worse.

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Causes of obesity

Do you see any obese or overweight people around you?

You likely do.

This is because fast-food chains are becoming more and more common, people are less active, and fruits and vegetables are more expensive than processed foods, thus making them less available to the majority of society. These are the primary causes of obesity.

Obesity is a disease that affects all age groups, including children and elderly people.

Now that you are familiar with the topic of obesity, writing an essay won’t be that difficult for you.

How to Write an Obesity Essay

The format of an obesity essay is similar to writing any other essay. If you need help regarding how to write an obesity essay, it is the same as writing any other essay.

Obesity Essay Introduction

The trick is to start your essay with an interesting and catchy sentence. This will help attract the reader's attention and motivate them to read further. You don’t want to lose the reader’s interest in the beginning and leave a bad impression, especially if the reader is your teacher.

A hook sentence is usually used to open the introductory paragraph of an essay in order to make it interesting. When writing an essay on obesity, the hook sentence can be in the form of an interesting fact or statistic.

Head on to this detailed article on hook examples to get a better idea.

Once you have hooked the reader, the next step is to provide them with relevant background information about the topic. Don’t give away too much at this stage or bombard them with excess information that the reader ends up getting bored with. Only share information that is necessary for the reader to understand your topic.

Next, write a strong thesis statement at the end of your essay, be sure that your thesis identifies the purpose of your essay in a clear and concise manner. Also, keep in mind that the thesis statement should be easy to justify as the body of your essay will revolve around it.

Body Paragraphs

The details related to your topic are to be included in the body paragraphs of your essay. You can use statistics, facts, and figures related to obesity to reinforce your thesis throughout your essay.

If you are writing a cause-and-effect obesity essay, you can mention different causes of obesity and how it can affect a person’s overall health. The number of body paragraphs can increase depending on the parameters of the assignment as set forth by your instructor.

Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence that is the crux of its content. It is necessary to write an engaging topic sentence as it helps grab the reader’s interest. Check out this detailed blog on writing a topic sentence to further understand it.

End your essay with a conclusion by restating your research and tying it to your thesis statement. You can also propose possible solutions to control obesity in your conclusion. Make sure that your conclusion is short yet powerful.

Obesity Essay Examples

Essay about Obesity (PDF)

Childhood Obesity Essay (PDF)

Obesity in America Essay (PDF)

Essay about Obesity Cause and Effects (PDF)

Satire Essay on Obesity (PDF) 

Obesity Argumentative Essay (PDF)

Obesity Essay Topics

Choosing a topic might seem an overwhelming task as you may have many ideas for your assignment. Brainstorm different ideas and narrow them down to one, quality topic.

If you need some examples to help you with your essay topic related to obesity, dive into this article and choose from the list of obesity essay topics.

Childhood Obesity

As mentioned earlier, obesity can affect any age group, including children. Obesity can cause several future health problems as children age.

Here are a few topics you can choose from and discuss for your childhood obesity essay:

• What are the causes of increasing obesity in children?
• Obese parents may be at risk for having children with obesity.
• What is the ratio of obesity between adults and children?
• What are the possible treatments for obese children?
• Are there any social programs that can help children with combating obesity?
• Has technology boosted the rate of obesity in children?
• Are children spending more time on gadgets instead of playing outside?
• Schools should encourage regular exercises and sports for children.
• How can sports and other physical activities protect children from becoming obese?
• Can childhood abuse be a cause of obesity among children?
• What is the relationship between neglect in childhood and obesity in adulthood?
• Does obesity have any effect on the psychological condition and well-being of a child?
• Are electronic medical records effective in diagnosing obesity among children?
• Obesity can affect the academic performance of your child.
• Do you believe that children who are raised by a single parent can be vulnerable to obesity?
• You can promote interesting exercises to encourage children.
• What is the main cause of obesity, and why is it increasing with every passing day?
• Schools and colleges should work harder to develop methodologies to decrease childhood obesity.
• The government should not allow schools and colleges to include sweet or fatty snacks as a part of their lunch.
• If a mother is obese, can it affect the health of the child?
• Children who gain weight frequently can develop chronic diseases.

Obesity Argumentative Essay Topics

Do you want to write an argumentative essay on the topic of obesity?

The following list can help you with that!

Here are some examples you can choose from for your argumentative essay about obesity:

• Can vegetables and fruits decrease the chances of obesity?
• Should you go for surgery to overcome obesity?
• Are there any harmful side effects?
• Can obesity be related to the mental condition of an individual?
• Are parents responsible for controlling obesity in childhood?
• What are the most effective measures to prevent the increase in the obesity rate?
• Why is the obesity rate increasing in the United States?
• Can the lifestyle of a person be a cause of obesity?
• Does the economic situation of a country affect the obesity rate?
• How is obesity considered an international health issue?
• Can technology and gadgets affect obesity rates?
• What can be the possible reasons for obesity in a school?
• How can we address the issue of obesity?
• Is obesity a chronic disease?
• Is obesity a major cause of heart attacks?
• Are the junk food chains causing an increase in obesity?
• Do nutritional programs help in reducing the obesity rate?
• How can the right type of diet help with obesity?
• Why should we encourage sports activities in schools and colleges?
• Can obesity affect a person’s behavior?

Health Related Topics for Research Paper

If you are writing a research paper, you can explain the cause and effect of obesity.

Here are a few topics that link to the cause and effects of obesity.Review the literature of previous articles related to obesity. Describe the ideas presented in the previous papers.

• Can family history cause obesity in future generations?
• Can we predict obesity through genetic testing?
• What is the cause of the increasing obesity rate?
• Do you think the increase in fast-food restaurants is a cause of the rising obesity rate?
• Is the ratio of obese women greater than obese men?
• Why are women more prone to be obese as compared to men?
• Stress can be a cause of obesity. Mention the reasons how mental health can be related to physical health.
• Is urban life a cause of the increasing obesity rate?
• People from cities are prone to be obese as compared to people from the countryside.
• How obesity affects the life expectancy of people? What are possible solutions to decrease the obesity rate?
• Do family eating habits affect or trigger obesity?
• How do eating habits affect the health of an individual?
• How can obesity affect the future of a child?
• Obese children are more prone to get bullied in high school and college.
• Why should schools encourage more sports and exercise for children?

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Topics for Essay on Obesity as a Problem

Do you think a rise in obesity rate can affect the economy of a country?

Here are some topics for your assistance regarding your economics related obesity essay.

• Does socioeconomic status affect the possibility of obesity in an individual?
• Analyze the film and write a review on “Fed Up” – an obesity epidemic.
• Share your reviews on the movie “The Weight of The Nation.”
• Should we increase the prices of fast food and decrease the prices of fruits and vegetables to decrease obesity?
• Do you think healthy food prices can be a cause of obesity?
• Describe what measures other countries have taken in order to control obesity?
• The government should play an important role in controlling obesity. What precautions should they take?
• Do you think obesity can be one of the reasons children get bullied?
• Do obese people experience any sort of discrimination or inappropriate behavior due to their weight?
• Are there any legal protections for people who suffer from discrimination due to their weight?
• Which communities have a higher percentage of obesity in the United States?
• Discuss the side effects of the fast-food industry and their advertisements on children.
• Describe how the increasing obesity rate has affected the economic condition of the United States.
• What is the current percentage of obesity all over the world? Is the obesity rate increasing with every passing day?
• Why is the obesity rate higher in the United States as compared to other countries?
• Do Asians have a greater percentage of obese people as compared to Europe?
• Does the cultural difference affect the eating habits of an individual?
• Obesity and body shaming.
• Why is a skinny body considered to be ideal? Is it an effective way to reduce the obesity rate?

Obesity Solution Essay Topics

With all the developments in medicine and technology, we still don’t have exact measures to treat obesity.

Here are some insights you can discuss in your essay:

• How do obese people suffer from metabolic complications?
• Describe the fat distribution in obese people.
• Is type 2 diabetes related to obesity?
• Are obese people more prone to suffer from diabetes in the future?
• How are cardiac diseases related to obesity?
• Can obesity affect a woman’s childbearing time phase?
• Describe the digestive diseases related to obesity.
• Obesity may be genetic.
• Obesity can cause a higher risk of suffering a heart attack.
• What are the causes of obesity? What health problems can be caused if an individual suffers from obesity?
• What are the side effects of surgery to overcome obesity?
• Which drugs are effective when it comes to the treatment of obesity?
• Is there a difference between being obese and overweight?
• Can obesity affect the sociological perspective of an individual?
• Explain how an obesity treatment works.
• How can the government help people to lose weight and improve public health?

Writing an essay is a challenging yet rewarding task. All you need is to be organized and clear when it comes to academic writing.

• Choose a topic you would like to write on.
• Organize your thoughts.
• Pen down your ideas.
• Compose a perfect essay that will help you ace your subject.
• Proofread and revise your paper.

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As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.

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Obesity - Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to an extent that it may have a negative effect on health. Essays on obesity could explore its causes, the health risks associated, and the societal costs. Discussions might also revolve around various interventions to address obesity at an individual and community level. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Obesity you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Problem: Childhood Obesity in America

As you've probably heard, more children are becoming overweight today in America than ever before. Experts are calling this an "obesity epidemic." To first understand childhood obesity we must ask ourselves what is obesity? Obesity is a diet-related chronic disease involving excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems. Many doctors have expressed obesity has an increasing problem in today's youth as obesity can lead to many health issues such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart […]

Childhood Obesity Parents are the Blame

In current years, children becoming more obese in their entire childhood development has become common. Obesity in children could be due to various reasons such as family structure, busy family life experienced in the modern days, and insufficient knowledge of foods containing high calories. Parents ought to be accountable for what they do or fail to do that amounts to a negative influence on their children's weight and cause them to be overweight or obese during their childhood period. When […]

Social Media and Body Image Essay

Have you ever looked in the mirror and said something negative about yourself? According to the Merriam Webster dictionary body image is, ""a subjective picture of one's own physical appearance established both by self-observation and by noting the reactions of other. Negative body image and low self-esteem are real problems and I want to discover the causes, how much of a factor social media is, and ways that people can get help to move past it. Many people see things […]

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Childhood Obesity – Causes and Potential Long-Term Effects

Abstract There is growing concern about the state of children’s health. Every year there is an increase in the number of overweight and obese children. What causes this and what does it mean for them long-term? There are many contributing factors to children’s weight issues. Some of these factors are limited access to healthy food, more time spent in front of a screen, and less physical activity. Long-term health affects include a rising risk of Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart […]

How are Fast Food Advertising and Childhood Obesity Related

By 1950s, fast food industry boom was in full swing. It was secured in 1951. In the 1950s, McDonald has become a staple of the American diet. Fast food restaurants have been grown more and more and by now, there are over one hundred and sixty thousands fast food restaurants in the United States, becoming a one hundred and ten billion dollar industry. One can’t deny that fast food has become really important in American life nowadays. Whether Americans are […]

History of Type II Diabetes

Type II Diabetes Abstract This paper explores the disease Type II Diabetes and the many components it has. Type II Diabetes affects many people around the world, but is different than most diseases because it is not transferred by genetics. This form of diabetes is brought upon by unhealthy lifestyle choices which makes it unique because living a healthier life can make it go away. When Type II Diabetes affects someone, they are not able to control their blood sugar […]

Childhood Obesity is an Epidemic in the USA

Introduction Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the United States and other western industrialized societies. "Childhood obesity affects more than 18 percent of children in the United States, making it the most common chronic disease of childhood" (Obesity Action Coalition). According to the OAC, the percentage of children suffering from childhood obesity has tripled since 1980. A child is considered obese if their body mass index for their age is greater than 95 percent. Childhood obesity is both an […]

Childhood Obesity Today

In America, childhood obesity is on a rise today. Children can gain obsessive weight because of environmental factors. Vending machines, low cost on snacks, and a increase in the fast food chain are contributing factors towards obesity. Genetics can also play a part in childhood obesity. Many children come from a generation of overweight families. Most parents don't see the harm in letting their children gain tons of weight. Obesity can cause many health problems. Childhood obesity affects the health […]

History and Types of Diabetes

The first sign of diabetes was discovered in 1500 B.C.E by the Egyptians. According to one study, ancient Indians were familiar with the condition and had even determined two types of the condition. They called it "honey urine" and tested for it by determining if the ants were drawn to the urine. The first mention of the word diabetes was by the Greeks. It means "to go through", it was named this because of its main symptom: the excessive passing […]

Childhood Obesity in the American Nation

Childhood obesity is still rising in this nation. One out of three Americans is obese. The outlook for children is not much better, as adolescent obesity has quadrupled over the last thirty years. "As of 2012, almost 18 percent of children aged 6-11 years were obese" (Newman, 1). Despite the considerable public awareness of the negative impacts of obesity, this challenge persists. The situation for youngsters is hardly brighter; over the last few decades, the rate of youth obesity has […]

The Causes and Preventions of Childhood Obesity

When trying to find out if a child is considered for obesity, they need to have a body mass index that is between the ranges of the 85th percentile and the 95th percentile. When speaking about childhood obesity it is for children between the ages of infancy and early adulthood which is eighteen years of age. Obesity is one of the most preventable diseases especially if caught early enough. There are many different reasons for the cause of childhood obesity, […]

Risk Factors from Alzheimer’s Disease

About 40 million people are affected by dementia, with the majority of these individuals being over the age of 60. This number is expected to double in the next 20 years, reaching around 80 million by 2050. Approximately 60-70% of all dementia cases are caused by Alzheimer's disease, affecting between 2.17 and 4.78 million people. Out of those, 46% have a moderate or severe form of the disease. It is estimated that by 2050, between 7.98 and 12.95 million people […]

Tackling Childhood Obesity in Rural Mississippi

Childhood obesity is a growing health issue in the United States. Children with higher Body Mass Indexes than the recommended by the National Institutes of Health are more prone to adverse health effects later in life. Obesity in early age can translate into adulthood and increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes (Franks 2010). The highest rates of childhood obesity can be observed in the southeastern corner of the United States, Mississippi, in particular, with the highest prevalence […]

Childhood Obesity: Global Epidemic and Ethical Concerns

Abstract Numbers continue to climb for those who have childhood obesity. This serious issue has been brought to the attention of the public who have been taking preventative measures and action in hopes to reduce the number of cases. In a number of countries, public policies have been implemented to prevent obesity. However, in the U.S. efforts made are not enough or have not been effective to stop the obesity rate from increasing. Proposals for solutions to this health problem […]

Obesity in Childhood

There are numerous issues that society faces on a daily basis. One of the issues that society faces is obesity. It is one of the leading risks of death and has been ongoing since the 1960s and 1970s. Obesity is an issue that continues to grow not only in the United States but also in developing countries as well. Not only does obesity affect adults but it has become a serious issue for children. According to an article, "approximately 12.7 […]

Childhood Obesity, a Crisis that could be Cure

Obesity is a crisis that is affecting many countries, their most vulnerable citizens being children. Bad eating habits, high calorie intake, genetics, and lack of activity or exercise are some of the elements that, either combined or individually, are the cause for childhood obesity in America, Latin America, and many other nations. In the United States, rural areas have higher rates of childhood obesity, as do Hispanics and Blacks (Davis 2011). Keywords: Obesity, Childhood. Childhood Obesity, a Crisis that could […]

Impact Media on Eating Disorders

With all of our current understanding so far we can see how much of an impact media has on triggering eating disorders. Research has only just begun to analyze the relationship between social media outlets such as facebook, body image and symptoms of eating disorders. Facebook is available at the fingertips of most adolescents today which allows them easy access to seek social comparison and negative feedback. Therefore it is an essential area to examine in relation to eating disordered […]

Factors that Influence Childhood Obesity

The cause of pediatric obesity is multifactorial (1). There is not a single cause, nor solution, found that leads to all cases of pediatric obesity. Parental discipline in regard to the child is not proven to lead to less adiposity or obesity in children. Parental feeding strategy may actually be a cause of obesity with restrictive approach to food by the parent shown to increase the proclivity for the restricted foods (2). Likewise, when parents allowed their children to have […]

Childhood Obesity and Physical Activity

Most children and teens have access to a tablet, smartphone, television, laptop or a video console. They are sitting around on-screen time more and more as the days go by. Research from the CDC states obesity has nearly doubled since the 1970s in the United States. It is estimated now that 20 percent of children and adolescents are affected by obesity. Too much screen time, the accessibility to the internet and not enough physical activity are the biggest reasons the […]

What is Childhood Obesity?

Introduction Childhood obesity has become a widespread epidemic, especially in the United States. Twenty five percent of children in the United States are overweight and eleven percent are obese (Dehghan, et al, 2005). On top of that, about seventy percent of those children will grow up to be obese adults (Dehgan, et al, 2005). There are many different causes that can be attributed to the childhood obesity. Environmental factors, lifestyle preferences, and cultural environment play pivotal roles in the rising […]

Child and Adolescent Obesity in the United States

Child and adolescent obesity in the United States has nearly tripled sincethe 70s. About 1 out of every 5 children suffer from childhood obesity. It is the duty ofmothers and fathers to prevent and find solutions to child and adolescent obesity. Thispaper will seek to explain the many causes and current results which parents can execute.Child and adolescent obesity comprises of several likely causes such as poor diet and lowphysical activity including numerous adverse effects. Therefore, changes in familyhousehold structures […]

Childhood Maltreatment and Substance Abuse

Including in the article of the topic and discerning the studies to steer readers to be educated on the broad input of childhood maltreatment possibly going hand and hand with abuse of substances. In surrounding this topic, you can pull out the gist of all the studies and background information to bring a responsible observation that is proven. That which is humans who are brought into or raised into a childhood maltreatment experience such as, emotional or physical neglect along […]

Childhood Obesity and Adolesence

Childhood obesity can be prevented in many ways. Parents are the main ones with a say so on obesity. They allow their children to digest all kinds of bad foods. Parents should introduce on a daily basis different kinds of healthy foods. They should also promote is by showing children how healthy food are good for the body. You have some children that won’t eat healthy things because of the color and the way it looks. Obesity is one of […]

A Big Problem – Bad Healthcare is Aiding Childhood Obesity

A study done in 2002 found that, almost 14 million children are obese, that is 24 percent of the U.S. population from ages 2 to 17. This number just keeps rising as the years go by. Some people would argue that the increasing numbers are due to sugary dinks and foods sold in vending machines at schools, or not enough healthy food options. Other parties can argue that this number keeps increasing because of bad healthcare and not enough opportunities […]

Childhood Obesity Rate Can be Decreased

Child obesity has become a major concern as it continues to increase every year in the US. Many parents are uneducated about the risks of childhood obesity. Parental awareness and increasing physical activity are steps towards making a change in the rates of childhood obesity. There are many side effects of childhood obesity that can obstruct a child’s future. However, positive changes to children’s health can be achieved through the influence of adults. Child obesity has become a more critical […]

Is Obesity a Problem?

Is Obesity a Problem? Have you ever wondered how dysfunctional obesity can be for a person? What impact does it make on health and personal life? Usually, a person who has not encountered this problem rarely thought about it. You can watch TV shows about people overweight just for entertaining or laugh at a friend who got overweight without understanding the importance of this problem. Personally, I did not understand the seriousness of the situation in which an overweight person […]

Diabetes and Renal Failure

Diabetes and Renal Failure Introduction This is a research article about prevalence of renal failure and its early detection among patients who have long standing diabetes mellitus. End stage renal disease significantly increases the risk of death and requires expert health care. Although diabetes is the most predominant cause of chronic renal disease, maximum individuals with diabetes are not investigated based on national guidelines. Chronic kidney disease warrants improved detection using standardized criteria to improve outcomes. Proper screening of diabetic […]

Mental Health and Obesity

The obesity rate in America is at an all-time high, and it seems there is no end in sight. Obesity not only affects adults, but children as well. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines obesity as “Weight that is higher than what is considered as a healthy weight for a given height.” (CDC, 2016) Soccer not only improves physical health and lessens obesity, but also mental health. Working out at least once a day makes a person […]

Poverty and Obesity

It is a known fact that the individual exert influences on the environment and vice versa. However, no man is an Island and as such, these influences reflect through various levels of social and interpersonal relationships. The social environment of the individual include interaction with peers, friend and family members, through such mechanism as role modeling, social support and social norms (Mary, Karen, Ramona, Karen .Annu. Rev. Public Health 2008.Creating Healthy food and Eating Environments, para 2). The physical environment […]

Childhood Obesity a Serious Problem in the USA

Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States. Obesity is condition in which a child is significantly overweight for his or her age and height. It is a very common condition and is estimated to have around 3 million cases in the United States each year. Every day more children are getting diagnosed with obesity, and some as young as 4 years old. When a child gets diagnosed with obesity at a young age, it can be very […]

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How To Write an Essay About Obesity

Understanding obesity.

Before writing an essay about obesity, it's crucial to understand what obesity is and its implications. Obesity is a medical condition characterized by an excess accumulation of body fat, often defined by a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. It is not just a cosmetic concern but a complex health issue associated with various diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Start your essay by outlining the causes of obesity, which may include genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, and environmental and psychological factors. Discuss the global prevalence of obesity and its rise in recent decades, indicating a significant public health concern.

Developing a Thesis Statement

A strong essay on obesity should be centered around a clear, concise thesis statement. This statement should present a specific viewpoint or argument about obesity. For instance, you might discuss the societal factors contributing to the rise of obesity, analyze the effectiveness of current interventions and policies, or argue the need for a multifaceted approach to tackle this health issue. Your thesis will guide the direction of your essay and ensure a structured and coherent analysis.

Gathering Supporting Evidence

To support your thesis, gather evidence from a variety of sources, including medical studies, public health reports, and statistical data. This might include data on obesity rates in different populations, research on the health risks associated with obesity, or studies evaluating the effectiveness of diet and exercise programs. Use this evidence to support your thesis and build a persuasive argument. Be sure to consider different perspectives and address potential counterarguments.

Analyzing the Impact of Obesity

Dedicate a section of your essay to analyzing the impact of obesity. Discuss the physical health consequences, such as increased risk of chronic diseases, as well as the psychological and social implications, including stigma and reduced quality of life. Consider the economic burden of obesity on healthcare systems and society. This analysis should provide a comprehensive understanding of the far-reaching effects of obesity.

Concluding the Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing the main points of your discussion and restating your thesis in light of the evidence provided. Your conclusion should tie together your analysis and emphasize the significance of addressing obesity as a critical public health issue. You might also want to suggest areas for future research or propose potential strategies to combat the obesity epidemic.

Reviewing and Refining Your Essay

After completing your essay, review and edit it for clarity and coherence. Ensure that your arguments are well-structured and supported by evidence. Check for grammatical accuracy and ensure that your essay flows logically from one point to the next. Consider seeking feedback from peers, healthcare professionals, or educators to further refine your essay. A well-written essay on obesity will not only demonstrate your understanding of the issue but also your ability to engage with complex health and societal challenges.

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7.5: Obesity Epidemic - Causes and Solutions

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• Alice Callahan, Heather Leonard, & Tamberly Powell
• Lane Community College via OpenOregon

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Since the 1980s, the prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased dramatically. Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show rising obesity across the nation, state-by-state. 1

The methods used by the CDC to collect the data changed in 2011, so we can’t make direct comparisons between the periods before and after that change, but the trend has continued. Every year, more and more people in the U.S. are obese.

These trends are unmistakable, and they’re not just occurring in adults. Childhood obesity has seen similar increases over the last few decades—perhaps an even greater concern as the metabolic and health effects of carrying too much weight can be compounded over a person’s entire lifetime.

While obesity is a problem across the United States, it affects some groups of people more than others. Based on 2015-2016 data, obesity rates are higher among Hispanic (47 percent) and Black adults (47 percent) compared with white adults (38 percent). Non-Hispanic Asians have the lowest obesity rate (13 percent). And overall, people who are college-educated and have a higher income are less likely to be obese. 2  These health disparities point to the importance of looking at social context when examining causes and solutions. Not everyone has the same opportunity for good health, or an equal ability to make changes to their circumstances, because of factors like poverty and longstanding inequities in how resources are invested in communities. These factors are called “ social determinants of health. ” 3

The obesity epidemic is also not unique to the United States. Obesity is rising around the globe, and in 2015, it was estimated to affect 2 billion people worldwide, making it one of the largest factors affecting poor health in most countries . 4 Globally, among children aged 5 to 19 years old, the rate of overweight increased from 10.3 percent in 2000 to 18.4 percent in 2018. Previously, overweight and obesity mainly affected high-income countries, but some of the most dramatic increases in childhood overweight over the last decade have been in low income countries, such as those in Africa and South Asia, corresponding to a greater availability of inexpensive, processed foods. 5

Despite the gravity of the problem, no country has yet been able to implement policies that have reversed the trend and brought about a decrease in obesity. This represents “one of the biggest population health failures of our time,” wrote an international group of researchers in the journal The Lancet in 2019. 6  The World Health Organization has set a target of stopping the rise of obesity by 2025. Doing so requires understanding what is causing the obesity epidemic; it is only when these causes are addressed that change can start to occur.

Causes of the Obesity Epidemic

If obesity was an infectious disease sweeping the globe, affecting billions of people’s health, longevity, and productivity, we surely would have addressed it by now. Researchers and pharmaceutical companies would have worked furiously to develop vaccines and medicines to prevent and cure this disease. But the causes of obesity are much more complex than a single bacteria or virus, and solving this problem means recognizing and addressing a multitude of factors that lead to weight gain in a population.

At its core, rising obesity is caused by a chronic shift towards positive energy balance—consuming more energy or calories than one expends each day, leading to an often gradual but persistent increase in body weight. People often assume that this is an individual problem, that those who weigh more simply need to change their behavior to eat less and exercise more, and if this doesn’t work, it must be because of a personal failing, such as a lack of self-control or motivation. While behavior patterns such as diet and exercise can certainly impact a person’s risk of developing obesity (as we’ll cover later in this chapter), the environments where we live also have a big impact on our behavior and can make it much harder to maintain energy balance.

Environment

Many of us live in what researchers and public health experts call “ obesogenic environments. ” That is, the ways in which our neighborhoods are built and our lives are structured influence our physical activity and food intake to encourage weight gain. 7 Human physiology and metabolism evolved in a world where obtaining enough food for survival required significant energy investment in hunting or gathering—very different from today’s world where more people earn their living in sedentary occupations. From household chores, to workplace productivity, to daily transportation, getting things done requires fewer calories than it did in past generations.

Our jobs have become more and more sedentary, with fewer opportunities for non-exercise thermogenesis (NEAT) throughout the day. There’s less time in the school day for recess and physical activity, and fears about neighborhood safety limit kids’ ability to get out and play after the school day is over. Our towns and cities are built more for cars than for walking or biking. We can’t turn back the clock on human progress, and finding a way to stay healthy in obesogenic environments is a significant challenge.

Our environments can also impact our food choices. We’re surrounded by vending machines, fast food restaurants, coffeeshops, and convenience stores that offer quick and inexpensive access to calories. These foods are also heavily advertised, and especially when people are stretched thin by working long hours or multiple jobs, they can be a welcome convenience. However, they tend to be calorie-dense (and less nutrient-dense) and more heavily processed, with amounts of sugar, fat, and salt optimized to make us want to eat more, compared with home-cooked food. In addition, portion sizes at restaurants, especially fast food chains, have increased over the decades, and people are eating at restaurants more and cooking at home less.

Poverty and Food Insecurity

Living in poverty usually means living in a more obesogenic environment. Consider the fact that some of the poorest neighborhoods in the United States—with some of the highest rates of obesity—are often not safe or pleasant places to walk, play, or exercise. They may have busy traffic and polluted air, and they may lack sidewalks, green spaces, and playgrounds. A person living in this type of neighborhood will find it much more challenging to get adequate physical activity compared with someone living in a neighborhood where it’s safe to walk to school or work, play at a park, ride a bike, or go for a run.

In addition, poor neighborhoods often lack a grocery store where people can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and basic ingredients necessary for cooking at home. Such areas are called “ food deserts ”—where healthy foods simply aren’t available or easily accessible.

Another concept useful in discussions of obesity risk is “food insecurity.”  Food security  means “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.” 8  Food insecurity  means an inability to consistently obtain adequate food. It may seem counter-intuitive, but in the United States, food insecurity is linked to obesity. That is, people who have difficulty obtaining enough food are more likely to become obese and to suffer from diabetes and hypertension. This is likely related to the fact that inexpensive foods tend to be high in calories but low in nutrients, and when these foods form the foundation of a person’s diet, they can cause both obesity and nutrient deficiencies. It’s estimated that 12 percent of U.S. households are food insecure, and food insecurity is higher among Black (22 percent) and Latino (18 percent) households. 3

What about genetics? While it’s true that our genes can influence our susceptibility to becoming obese, researchers say they can’t be a cause of the obesity epidemic. Genes take many generations to evolve, and the obesity epidemic has occurred over just the last 40 to 50 years—only a few generations. When our grandparents were children, they were much less likely to become obese than our own children. That’s not because their genes were different, but rather because they grew up in a different environment. However, it is true that a person’s genes can influence their susceptibility to becoming obese in this obesogenic environment, and obesity is more prevalent in some families. A person’s genetic make-up can make it more difficult to maintain energy balance in an obesogenic environment, because certain genes may make you feel more hungry or slow your energy expenditure. 2

Solutions to the Obesity Epidemic

Given the multiple causes of obesity, solving this problem will also require many solutions at different levels. Because obesity affects people over the lifespan and is difficult to reverse, the focus of many of these efforts is prevention, starting as early as the first years of life. We’ll discuss individual weight management strategies later in this chapter. Here, we’ll review some strategies happening in schools, communities, and at the state and federal levels.

Support Healthy Dietary Patterns

Interventions that support healthy dietary patterns, especially among people more vulnerable because of food insecurity or poverty, may reduce obesity. In some cases, studies have shown that they have an impact, and in other cases, it’s too soon to know. Here are some examples:

• Implement and support better nutrition standards for childcare, schools, hospitals, and worksites. 9
• Limit marketing of processed foods, especially ads targeted towards children.
• Provide incentives for supermarkets or farmers markets to establish businesses in underserved areas. 9

Figure 9.21. Farmers markets can expand healthy food options for neighborhoods and build connections between consumers and local farmers.

• Place nutrition and calorie content on restaurant and fast food menus to raise awareness of food choices. 9 Beginning in 2018, as part of the Affordable Care Act, chain restaurants with more than 20 locations were required to add calorie information to their menus, and some had already done so voluntarily. There isn’t yet enough research to say whether having this information improves customers’ choices; some studies show an effect and others don’t. 10 Many factors influence people’s decisions, and the type of restaurant, customer needs, and menu presentation all likely matter. For example, some studies show that health-conscious consumers choose lower calorie menu items when presented with nutrition information, but people with food insecurity may understandably choose higher calorie items to get more “bang for their buck”. 11 Research has also shown that adding interpretative images—like a stoplight image labeling menu choices as green or red as shorthand for high or low nutrient density—can help. And a 2018 study found that when calorie counts are on the left side of English-language menus, people order lower-calorie menu items. Putting calorie counts on the right side of the menu (as is more common) doesn’t have this effect, likely because the English language is read from left to right. 12 Some studies have also found that restaurants that implement menu labeling offer lower-calorie and more nutrient-dense options, indicating that menu labeling may push restaurants to look more closely at the food they serve. 10,13

• Increase access to food assistance programs and align them with nutrition recommendations. For example, in 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture revised the food packages for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program to better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The new packages emphasized more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy and decreased the availability of juice. After this change, there was a decrease in the obesity rate of children in the WIC program. Similar progress may be made by increasing access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in order to reduce food insecurity. Many farmers’ markets now accept SNAP benefits for the purchase of fresh fruit and vegetables. 3
• Tax sugary drinks, such as soda and sports drinks, which contribute significant empty calories to the U.S. diet and are associated with childhood obesity. Local taxes on soda and other sugary drinks are often controversial, and soda companies lobby to prevent them from passing. However, early research in U.S. cities with soda taxes show that they do work to decrease soda consumption. 3 In the U.S., soda has only been taxed at the local level, and the tax has been paid by consumers. The United Kingdom has taken a different approach: They started taxing soft drink manufacturers for the sugar content of the products they sell. Between 2015 and 2018, the average sugar content of soda sold in the U.K. dropped by 29 percent. 14

Support Greater Physical Activity

Increasing physical activity increases the energy expended during the day. This can help maintain energy balance, thus preventing weight gain. It may also help to shift a person into negative energy balance and facilitate weight loss if needed. But simply adding an exercise session—a run or a trip to the gym, say—often doesn’t shift energy balance (though it’s certainly good for health). Why? Exercise can increase hunger, and there’s only so many calories a person can burn in 30 or 60 minutes. That’s why it’s also important to look for opportunities for non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT); that is, find ways to increase movement throughout the day.

• P rioritize physical education and recess time in schools. In addition to helping kids stay healthy, movement also helps them learn.  
• Make neighborhoods safer and more accessible for walking, cycling, and playing.
• When safe, encourage kids to walk or bike to school.
• Build family and community activities around physical activity, such as trips to the park, walks together, and community walking and exercise groups.
• Facilitate more movement in the workday by encouraging walking meetings, movement breaks, and treadmill desks.
• Find ways to move that are enjoyable to you and fit your life. Yard work, walking your dog, playing tag with your kids, and going out dancing all count!

VIDEO: “ James Levine: ‘I Came Alive as a Person’ “ by NOVA’s Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers, YouTube (April 24, 2014), 3:04 minutes. This short video explains some of the research on NEAT and efforts to increase it in our lives

VIDEO: “ The Weight of the Nation: Poverty and Obesity” by HBO Docs, YouTube (May 14, 2012), 24:05 minutes.

VIDEO: “ The Weight of the Nation: Healthy Foods and Obesity Prevention” by HBO Docs, YouTube (May 14, 2012), 31:11 minutes. These segments from the HBO documentary series, “The Weight of the Nation,” explore some of the causes and potential solutions for obesity.

References:

• 1 CDC. (2019, September 12). New Adult Obesity Maps. Retrieved October 30, 2019, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html
• 2 CDC. (2019, January 31). Adult Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC. Retrieved October 30, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
• 3 Trust for America’s Health. (2019). The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America . Retrieved from https://www.tfah.org/report-details/stateofobesity2019/
• 4 Swinburn, B. A., Kraak, V. I., Allender, S., Atkins, V. J., Baker, P. I., Bogard, J. R., … Dietz, W. H. (2019). The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change: The Lancet Commission report. The Lancet , 393 (10173), 791–846. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32822-8
• 5 UNICEF. (2019). The State of the World’s Children 2019. Children, Food and Nutrition: Growing well in a changing world . New York.
• 6 Jaacks, L. M., Vandevijvere, S., Pan, A., McGowan, C. J., Wallace, C., Imamura, F., … Ezzati, M. (2019). The obesity transition: Stages of the global epidemic. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology , 7 (3), 231–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(19)30026-9
• 7 Townshend, T., & Lake, A. (2017). Obesogenic environments: Current evidence of the built and food environments. Perspectives in Public Health , 137 (1), 38–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913916679860
• 8 Pan, L., Sherry, B., Njai, R., & Blanck, H. M. (2012). Food Insecurity Is Associated with Obesity among US Adults in 12 States. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics , 112 (9), 1403–1409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2012.06.011
• 9 CDC. (2019, June 18). Community Efforts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC. Retrieved October 30, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/strategies/community.html
• 10 Bleich, S. N., Economos, C. D., Spiker, M. L., Vercammen, K. A., VanEpps, E. M., Block, J. P., … Roberto, C. A. (2017). A Systematic Review of Calorie Labeling and Modified Calorie Labeling Interventions: Impact on Consumer and Restaurant Behavior. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) , 25 (12), 2018–2044. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21940
• 11 Berry, C., Burton, S., Howlett, E., & Newman, C. L. (2019). Understanding the Calorie Labeling Paradox in Chain Restaurants: Why Menu Calorie Labeling Alone May Not Affect Average Calories Ordered. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing , 38 (2), 192–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743915619827013
• 12 Dallas, S. K., Liu, P. J., & Ubel, P. A. (2019). Don’t Count Calorie Labeling Out: Calorie Counts on the Left Side of Menu Items Lead to Lower Calorie Food Choices. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 29(1), 60–69. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1053
• 13 Theis, D. R. Z., & Adams, J. (2019). Differences in energy and nutritional content of menu items served by popular UK chain restaurants with versus without voluntary menu labelling: A cross-sectional study. PLOS ONE , 14 (10), e0222773. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222773
• 14 Public Health England. (2019). Sugar reduction: Report on progress between 2015 and 2018 . Retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832182/Sugar_reduction__Yr2_progress_report.pdf

Image Credits

• Figure 9.17. “Obesity Trends Among U.S. Adults, BRFSS, 1990-2010” by Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in the Public Domain
• Figure 9.18. “Prevalence of self-reported obesity among U.S. adults in 2011 and 2018” by Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in the Public Domain
• Figure 9.19. “Trends in obesity prevalence” by National Center for Health Statistics is in the Public Domain
• Figure 9.20. Elements of obesogenic environment: “wocintech” by WOCinTech Cha is licensed under CC BY 2.0 ; “Perfect timing” by Tamara Menzi , Unsplash is in the Public Domain, CC0 ; “Vending machines” by Purchase College Library is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
• Figure 9.21. Farmers markets. “group of people standing near vegetables” by Megan Markham is in the Public Domain, CC0 ; “Veggies at Corvallis Farmers Market” by Friends of Family Farmers is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
• Figure 9.22. Menu labeling. “Ballpark Calorie Counting” by Kevin Harber is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
• Figure 9.23. Increasing physical activity. “Early bird” by Jorge Vasconez is in the Public Domain, CC0 ; “boy running to the future” by Rafaela Biazi is in the Public Domain, CC0 ; “people riding bicycles inside bicycle lane beside skyscraper” by Steinar Engeland is in the Public Domain, CC0

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Obesity: Risk factors, complications, and strategies for sustainable long‐term weight management

Sharon m. fruh.

1 College of Nursing, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama

Background and Purpose

The aims of this article are to review the effects of obesity on health and well‐being and the evidence indicating they can be ameliorated by weight loss, and consider weight‐management strategies that may help patients achieve and maintain weight loss.

Narrative review based on literature searches of PubMed up to May 2016 with no date limits imposed. Search included terms such as “obesity,” “overweight,” “weight loss,” “comorbidity,” “diabetes,” cardiovascular,” “cancer,” “depression,” “management,” and “intervention.”

Conclusions

Over one third of U.S. adults have obesity. Obesity is associated with a range of comorbidities, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and cancer; however, modest weight loss in the 5%–10% range, and above, can significantly improve health‐related outcomes. Many individuals struggle to maintain weight loss, although strategies such as realistic goal‐setting and increased consultation frequency can greatly improve the success of weight‐management programs. Nurse practitioners have key roles in establishing weight‐loss targets, providing motivation and support, and implementing weight‐loss programs.

Implications for Practice

With their in‐depth understanding of the research in the field of obesity and weight management, nurse practitioners are well placed to effect meaningful changes in weight‐management strategies deployed in clinical practice.

Introduction

Obesity is an increasing, global public health issue. Patients with obesity are at major risk for developing a range of comorbid conditions, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), gastrointestinal disorders, type 2 diabetes (T2D), joint and muscular disorders, respiratory problems, and psychological issues, which may significantly affect their daily lives as well as increasing mortality risks. Obesity‐associated conditions are manifold; however, even modest weight reduction may enable patients to reduce their risk for CVD, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and hypertension among many other comorbidities (Cefalu et al., 2015 ). A relatively small and simple reduction in weight, for example, of around 5%, can improve patient outcomes and may act as a catalyst for further change, with sustainable weight loss achieved through a series of incremental weight loss steps. In facilitating the process of losing weight for patients, nurse practitioners play an essential role. Through assessing the patient's risk, establishing realistic weight‐loss targets, providing motivation and support, and supplying patients with the necessary knowledge and treatment tools to help achieve weight loss, followed by tools for structured lifestyle support to maintain weight lost, the nurse practitioner is ideally positioned to help patient's achieve their weight‐loss—and overall health—targets.

The obesity epidemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines overweight and obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health (WHO, 2016a ). A body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m 2 is generally considered overweight, while obesity is considered to be a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 . It is well known that obesity and overweight are a growing problem globally with high rates in both developed and developing countries (Capodaglio & Liuzzi, 2013 ; WHO, 2016a , 2016b ).

In the United States in 2015, all states had an obesity prevalence more than 20%, 25 states and Guam had obesity rates >30% and four of those 25 states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia) had rates >35% (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016 ; Figure ​ Figure1). 1 ). Approximately 35% and 37% of adult men and women, respectively, in the United States have obesity (Yang & Colditz, 2015 ). Adult obesity is most common in non‐Hispanic black Americans, followed by Mexican Americans, and non‐Hispanic white Americans (Yang & Colditz, 2015 ). Individuals are also getting heavier at a younger age; birth cohorts from 1966 to 1975 and 1976 to 1985 reached an obesity prevalence of ≥20% by 20–29 years of age, while the 1956–1965 cohort only reached this prevalence by age 30–39 years (Lee et al., 2010 ). Additionally, the prevalence of childhood obesity in 2‐ to 17‐year‐olds in the United States has increased from 14.6% in 1999–2000 to 17.4% in 2013–2014 (Skinner & Skelton, 2014 ). Childhood obesity is an increasing health issue because of the early onset of comorbidities that have major adverse health impacts, and the increased likelihood of children with obesity going on to become adults with obesity (50% risk vs. 10% for children without obesity; Whitaker, Wright, Pepe, Seidel, & Dietz, 1997 ).

U.S. obesity epidemic 2015.

Source . Figure adapted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html .

Association of obesity with mortality and comorbid disease

Obesity is associated with a significant increase in mortality, with a life expectancy decrease of 5–10 years (Berrington de Gonzalez et al., 2010 ; Kuk et al., 2011 ; Prospective Studies Collaboration et al., 2009 ). There is evidence to indicate that all‐cause, CVD‐associated, and cancer‐associated mortalities are significantly increased in individuals with obesity, specifically those at Stages 2 or 3 of the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS; Kuk et al., 2011 ; Figure ​ Figure2). 2 ). Mortality related to cancer is, however, also increased at Stage 1, when the physical symptoms of obesity are marginal (Figure ​ (Figure2). 2 ). Recently, a large‐scale meta‐analysis that included studies that had enrolled over 10 million individuals, indicated that, relative to the reference category of 22.5 to <25 kg/m 2 , the hazard ratio (HR) for all‐cause mortality rose sharply with increasing BMI (The Global BMI Mortality Collaboration, 2016 ). For a BMI of 25.0 to <30.0 kg/m 2 , the HR was 1.11 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10, 1.11), and this increased to 1.44 (1.41, 1.47), 1.92 (1.86, 1.98), and 2.71 (2.55, 2.86) for a BMI of 30.0 to <35.0, 35.0 to <40.0, and 40.0 to <60.0 kg/m 2 , respectively.

Association between EOSS stage and risk of all‐cause (A), CVD (B), cancer (C), and non‐CVD or noncancer mortality (D) in men and women. © 2011.

Source . Reproduced with permission from NRC Research Press, from Kuk et al. ( 2011 ). CVD, cardiovascular disease; NW, normal weight.

Comorbidities

Obesity is a chronic disease that is associated with a wide range of complications affecting many different aspects of physiology (Dobbins, Decorby, & Choi, 2013 ; Guh et al., 2009 ; Martin‐Rodriguez, Guillen‐Grima, Marti, & Brugos‐Larumbe, 2015 ; summarized in Table ​ Table1). 1 ). To examine these obesity‐related morbidities in detail is beyond the scope of this review and therefore only a brief overview of some of the key pathophysiological processes is included next.

Morbidities associated with obesity (Hamdy, 2016 ; Petry, Barry, Pietrzak, & Wagner, 2008 ; Pi‐Sunyer, 2009 ; Sakai et al., 2005 ; Smith, Hulsey, & Goodnight, 2008 ; Yosipovitch, DeVore, & Dawn, 2007 )

The progression from lean state to obesity brings with it a phenotypic change in adipose tissue and the development of chronic low‐grade inflammation (Wensveen, Valentic, Sestan, Turk Wensveen, & Polic, 2015 ). This is characterized by increased levels of circulating free‐fatty acids, soluble pro‐inflammatory factors (such as interleukin [IL] 1β, IL‐6, tumor necrosis factor [TNF] α, and monocyte chemoattractant protein [MCP] 1) and the activation and infiltration of immune cells into sites of inflammation (Hursting & Dunlap, 2012 ). Obesity is also usually allied to a specific dyslipidemia profile (atherogenic dyslipidemia) that includes small, dense low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) particles, decreased levels of high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) particles, and raised triglyceride levels (Musunuru, 2010 ). This chronic, low‐grade inflammation and dyslipidemia profile leads to vascular dysfunction, including atherosclerosis formation, and impaired fibrinolysis. These, in turn, increase the risk for CVD, including stroke and venous thromboembolism (Blokhin & Lentz, 2013 ).

The metabolic and cardiovascular aspects of obesity are closely linked. The chronic inflammatory state associated with obesity is established as a major contributing factor for insulin resistance, which itself is one of the key pathophysiologies of T2D (Johnson, Milner, & Makowski, 2012 ). Furthermore, central obesity defined by waist circumference is the essential component of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definition of the metabolic syndrome (raised triglycerides, reduced HDL cholesterol, raised blood pressure, and raised fasting plasma glucose; International Diabetes Federation, 2006 ).

Obesity is also closely associated with OSA. To start, a number of the conditions associated with obesity such as insulin resistance (Ip et al., 2002 ), systemic inflammation, and dyslipidemia are themselves closely associated with OSA, and concurrently, the obesity‐associated deposition of fat around the upper airway and thorax may affect lumen size and reduce chest compliance that contributes to OSA (Romero‐Corral, Caples, Lopez‐Jimenez, & Somers, 2010 ).

The development of certain cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic, kidney, endometrial, postmenopausal breast, and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus to name a few, have also been shown to be related to excess levels of fat and the metabolically active nature of this excess adipose tissue (Booth, Magnuson, Fouts, & Foster, 2015 ; Eheman et al., 2012 ). Cancers have shown to be impacted by the complex interactions between obesity‐related insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, sustained hyperglycemia, oxidative stress, inflammation, and the production of adipokines (Booth et al., 2015 ). The wide range of morbidities associated with obesity represents a significant clinical issue for individuals with obesity. However, as significant as this array of risk factors is for patient health, the risk factors can be positively modified with weight loss.

Obesity‐related morbidities in children and adolescents

As was referred to earlier, children and adolescents are becoming increasingly affected by obesity. This is particularly concerning because of the long‐term adverse consequences of early obesity. Obesity adversely affects the metabolic health of young people and can result in impaired glucose tolerance, T2D, and early‐onset metabolic syndrome (Pulgaron, 2013 ).There is also strong support in the literature for relationships between childhood obesity and asthma, poor dental health (caries), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD; Pulgaron, 2013 ). Obesity can also affect growth and sexual development and may delay puberty in boys and advance puberty in some girls (Burt Solorzano & McCartney, 2010 ). Childhood obesity is also associated with hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in girls (Burt Solorzano & McCartney, 2010 ). Additionally, obesity is associated with psychological problems in young people including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, poor self‐esteem, and problems with sleeping (Pulgaron, 2013 ).

Modest weight loss and its long‐term maintenance: Benefits and risks

Guidelines endorse weight‐loss targets of 5%–10% in individuals with obesity or overweight with associated comorbidities, as this has been shown to significantly improve health‐related outcomes for many obesity‐related comorbidities (Cefalu et al., 2015 ; Figure ​ Figure3), 3 ), including T2D prevention, and improvements in dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, osteoarthritis, stress incontinence, GERD, hypertension, and PCOS. Further benefits may be evident with greater weight loss, particularly for dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hypertension. For NAFLD and OSA, at least 10% weight loss is required to observe clinical improvements (Cefalu et al., 2015 ).

Benefits of modest weight loss. Lines demonstrate the ranges in which weight loss has been investigated and shown to have clinical benefits. Arrows indicate that additional benefits may be seen with further weight loss.

Source . Figure adapted from Cefalu et al. ( 2015 ).

Importantly, the weight‐loss benefits in terms of comorbidities are also reflected in improved all‐cause mortality. A recent meta‐analysis of 15 studies demonstrated that relatively small amounts of weight loss, on average 5.5 kg in the treatment arm versus 0.2 kg with placebo from an average baseline BMI of 35 kg/m 2 , resulted in a substantial 15% reduction in all‐cause mortality (Kritchevsky et al., 2015 ).

Cardiovascular health

Weight loss is associated with beneficial changes in several cardiovascular risk markers, including dyslipidemia, pro‐inflammatory/pro‐thrombotic mediators, arterial stiffness, and hypertension (Dattilo & Kris‐Etherton, 1992 ; Dengo et al., 2010 ; Goldberg et al., 2014 ; Haffner et al., 2005 ; Ratner et al., 2005 ). Importantly, weight loss was found to reduce the risk for CVD mortality by 41% up to 23 years after the original weight‐loss intervention (Li et al., 2014 ; Figure ​ Figure4). 4 ). Evidence including the biological effects of obesity and weight loss, and the increased risk for stroke with obesity indicates that weight loss may be effective for primary‐ and secondary‐stroke prevention (Kernan, Inzucchi, Sawan, Macko, & Furie, 2013 ).

Reduction in cardiovascular mortality with modest weight reduction. Cumulative incidence of CVD mortality during 23 years of follow‐up in the Da Qing study (Li et al., 2014 ). Figure © 2014 Elsevier.

Source . Reproduced with permission from Li et al. ( 2014 ).

Type 2 diabetes

Three major long‐term studies, the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), the Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS), and the Da Qing IGT and Diabetes (Da Qing) study, have demonstrated that modest weight loss through short‐term lifestyle or pharmacologic interventions can reduce the risk for developing T2D by 58%, 58%, and 31%, respectively, in individuals with obesity and prediabetes (DPP Research Group et al., 2009 ; Pan et al., 1997 ; Tuomilehto et al., 2001 ). Long‐term benefits were maintained following the interventions; for example, in the DPP, the risk reduction of developing T2D versus placebo was 34% at 10 years and 27% at 15 years following the initial weight‐loss intervention (DPP Research Group, 2015 ; DPP Research Group et al., 2009 ). Weight loss increased the likelihood of individuals reverting from prediabetes to normoglycemia (DPP Research Group et al., 2009 ; Li et al., 2008 ; Lindstrom et al., 2003 , 2006 ; Tuomilehto et al., 2001 ), and also improved other aspects of glycemic control including fasting and postprandial glucose, and insulin sensitivity (Haufe et al., 2013 ; Li et al., 2008 ).

Sleep apnea

Data indicate that weight loss is beneficial, although not curative, in patients with obesity who experience OSA. Meta‐analyses of patients who underwent treatment with either intensive lifestyle intervention (Araghi et al., 2013 ) or bariatric surgery (Greenburg, Lettieri, & Eliasson, 2009 ) demonstrated improvements in apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI) following treatment. In the first of these meta‐analyses, in randomized controlled trials, lifestyle intervention lead to a mean reduction in BMI of 2.3 kg/m 2 , which was associated with a decrease in mean AHI of 6.0 events/h. As expected, weight loss was much higher in the second meta‐analysis that investigated the effect of bariatric surgery on measures of OSA, and this was associated with greater reductions in AHI; the mean BMI reduction of 17.9 kg/m 2 resulted in AHI events being reduced by a mean of 38.2 events/h. Once these improvements in AHI have occurred, they seem to persist for some time, irrespective of a certain degree of weight regain. In one study, an initial mean weight loss of 10.7 kg resulted in a persistent improvement in AHI over a 4‐year period despite weight regain of approximately 50% by Year 4 (Kuna et al., 2013 ).

Intentional weight loss of >9 kg reduced the risk for a range of cancers including breast, endometrium, and colon in the large‐scale Iowa Women's Health Study (Parker & Folsom, 2003 ). The overall reduction in the incidence rate of any cancer was 11% (relative risk, 0.89; 95% CI 0.79, 1.00) for participants who lost more than 9 kg compared with those who did not achieve a more than 9 kg weight loss episode. Additionally, weight loss in participants with obesity has been established to be associated with reductions in cancer biomarkers including soluble E‐selectin and IL‐6 (Linkov et al., 2012 ).

Additional health benefits

The substantial weight loss associated with bariatric surgery has been shown to improve asthma with a 48%–100% improvement in symptoms and reduction in medication use (Juel, Ali, Nilas, & Ulrik, 2012 ); however, there is a potential threshold effect so that modest weight loss of 5%–10% may lead to clinical improvement (Lv, Xiao, & Ma, 2015 ). Similarly, modest weight loss of 5%–10% improves GERD (Singh et al., 2013 ) and liver function (Haufe et al., 2013 ). A study utilizing MRI scanning to examine the effects of weight loss on NAFLD has reported a reduction in liver fat from 18.3% to 13.6% ( p = .03), a relative reduction of 25% (Patel et al., 2015 ). Taking an active role in addressing obesity through behavioral modifications or exercise can also reduce the symptoms of depression (Fabricatore et al., 2011 ), improve urinary incontinence in men and women (Breyer et al., 2014 ; Brown et al., 2006 ), and improve fertility outcomes in women (Kort, Winget, Kim, & Lathi, 2014 ). Additionally, weight loss can reduce the joint‐pain symptoms and disability caused by weight‐related osteoarthritis (Felson, Zhang, Anthony, Naimark, & Anderson, 1992 ; Foy et al., 2011 ).

Mitigating risks

Despite the array of benefits, weight loss can also be linked with certain risks that may need to be managed. One such example is the risk for gallstones with rapid weight loss, which is associated with gallstone formation in 30%–71% of individuals. Gallstone formation is particularly associated with bariatric surgery when weight loss exceeds 1.5 kg/week and occurs particularly within the first 6 weeks following surgery when weight loss is greatest. Slower rates of weight loss appear to mitigate the risk for gallstone formation compared to the general population but may not eliminate it entirely; as was noted in the year‐long, weight‐loss, SCALE trial that compared liraglutide 3.0 mg daily use to placebo and resulted in gallstone formation in 2.5% of treated subjects compared to 1% of subjects taking placebo. For this reason, the risk for cholethiasis should be considered when formulating weight‐loss programs (Weinsier & Ullmann, 1993 ).

Strategies to help individuals achieve and maintain weight loss

Rogge and Gautam have covered the biology of obesity and weight regain within another section of this supplement (Rogge & Gautam, 2017 ), so here we focus on some of the clinical strategies for delivering weight loss and weight loss maintenance lifestyle programs. Structured lifestyle support plays an important role in successful weight management. A total of 34% of participants receiving structured lifestyle support from trained‐nursing staff achieved weight loss of ≥5% over 12 weeks compared with approximately 19% with usual care (Nanchahal et al., 2009 ). This particular structured program, delivered in a primary healthcare setting, included initial assessment and goal setting, an eating plan and specific lifestyle goals, personalized activity program, and advice about managing obstacles to weight loss. Additionally, data from the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), which is the longest prospective compilation of data from individuals who have successfully lost weight and maintained their weight loss, confirm expectations that sustained changes to both diet and activity levels are central to successful weight management (Table ​ (Table2). 2 ). Therefore, an understanding of different clinical strategies for delivery‐structured support is essential for the nurse practitioner.

Lifestyle factors associated with achieving and maintaining weight loss

Note . Data from (NWCR, 2016 ).

a Walking was the most common activity undertaken.

Realistic weight‐loss targets

From the outset, a patient's estimate of their achievable weight loss may be unrealistic. Setting realistic weight‐loss goals is often difficult because of misinformation from a variety of sources, including friends, media, and other healthcare professionals (Osunlana et al., 2015 ). Many individuals with obesity or overweight have unrealistic goals of 20%–30% weight loss, whereas a more realistic goal would be the loss of 5%–15% of the initial body weight (Fabricatore et al., 2007 ). Promoting realistic weight‐loss expectations for patients was identified as a key difficulty for nurse practitioners, primary care nurses, dieticians, and mental health workers (Osunlana et al., 2015 ). Visual resources showing the health and wellness benefit of modest weight loss may thus be helpful (Osunlana et al., 2015 ). Healthcare practitioners should focus on open discussion about, and re‐enforcement of, realistic weight‐loss goals and assess outcomes consistently according to those goals (Bray, Look, & Ryan, 2013 ).

Maintaining a food diary

The 2013 White Paper from the American Nurse Practitioners Foundation on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity considers a food diary as an important evidence‐based nutritional intervention in aiding weight loss (ANPF). Consistent and regular recording in a food diary was significantly associated with long‐term weight‐loss success in a group of 220 women (Peterson et al., 2014 ). This group lost a mean of 10.4% of their initial body weight through a 6‐month group‐based weight‐management program and then regained a mean of 2.3% over a 12‐month follow‐up period, during which participants received bimonthly support in person, by telephone, or by e‐mail (Peterson et al., 2014 ). Over the 12‐month follow‐up, women who self‐monitored consistently (≥50% of the extended‐care year) had a mean weight loss of 0.98%, while those who were less consistent (<50%) gained weight (5.1%; p < .01). Therefore, frequent and consistent food monitoring should be encouraged, particularly in the weight‐maintenance phase of any program.

Motivating and supporting patients

Motivational interviewing is a technique that focuses on enhancing intrinsic motivation and behavioral changes by addressing ambivalence (Barnes & Ivezaj, 2015 ). Interviews focus on “change talk,” including the reasons for change and optimism about the intent for change in a supportive and nonconfrontational setting, and may help individuals maintain behavioral changes.

For patients that have achieved weight loss, the behavioral factors associated with maintaining weight loss include strong social support networks, limiting/avoiding disinhibited eating, avoiding binge eating, avoiding eating in response to stress or emotional issues, being accountable for one's decisions, having a strong sense of autonomy, internal motivation, and self‐efficacy (Grief & Miranda, 2010 ). Therefore, encouraging feelings of “self‐worth” or “self‐efficacy” can help individuals to view weight loss as being within their own control and achievable (Cochrane, 2008 ).

Strengthening relationships with patients with overweight or obesity to enhance trust may also improve adherence with weight‐loss programs. Patients with hypertension who reported having “complete trust” in their healthcare practitioner were more than twice as likely to engage in lifestyle changes to lose weight than those who lacked “complete trust” (Jones, Carson, Bleich, & Cooper, 2012 ). It may be prudent to ensure the healthcare staff implementing weight‐loss programs have sufficient time to foster trust with their patients.

Continued support from healthcare staff may help patients sustain the necessary motivation for lifestyle changes. A retrospective analysis of 14,256 patients in primary care identified consultation frequency as a factor that can predict the success of weight‐management programs (Lenoir, Maillot, Guilbot, & Ritz, 2015 ). Individuals who successfully maintained ≥10% weight loss over 12 months visited the healthcare provider on average 0.65 times monthly compared with an average of 0.48 visits/month in those who did not maintain ≥10% weight loss, and 0.39 visits/month in those who failed to achieve the initial ≥10% weight loss ( p < .001; Lenoir et al., 2015 ).

Educational and environmental factors

It is important to consider a patient's education and environment when formulating a weight loss strategy as environmental factors may need to be challenged to help facilitate weight loss. A family history of obesity and childhood obesity are strongly linked to adult obesity, which is likely to be because of both genetic and behavioral factors (Kral & Rauh, 2010 ). Parents create their child's early food experiences and influence their child's attitudes to eating through learned eating habits and food choices (Kral & Rauh, 2010 ). Families can also impart cultural preferences for less healthy food choices and family food choices may be affected by community factors, such as the local availability and cost of healthy food options (Castro, Shaibi, & Boehm‐Smith, 2009 ). Alongside this, genetic variation in taste sensation may influence the dietary palate and influence food choices (Loper, La Sala, Dotson, & Steinle, 2015 ). For example, sensitivity to 6‐n‐propylthiouracil (PROP) is genetically determined, and PROP‐tasting ability ranges from super taster to nontaster. When offered buffet‐style meals over 3 days, PROP nontasters consumed more energy, and a greater proportion of energy from fat compared with super tasters. So it is possible that a family's genetic profile could contribute to eating choices. To address behavioral factors, it is important to ensure that families have appropriate support and information and that any early signs of weight gain are dealt with promptly.

A healthy home food environment can help individuals improve their diet. In children, key factors are availability of fresh fruit and vegetables at home and parental influence through their own fresh fruit and vegetable intake (Wyse, Wolfenden, & Bisquera, 2015 ). In adults, unhealthy home food environment factors include less healthy food in the home and reliance on fast food ( p = .01) are all predictors of obesity (Emery et al., 2015 ).

Family mealtimes are strongly associated with better dietary intake and a randomized controlled trial to encourage healthy family meals showed a promising reduction in excess weight gain in prepubescent children (Fulkerson et al., 2015 ). Another study showed that adolescents with any level of baseline family meal frequency, 1–2, 3–4, and ≥5 family meals/week, had reduced odds of being affected by overweight or obesity 10 years later than adolescents who never ate family meals (Berge et al., 2015 ). Community health advocates have identified the failure of many families to plan meals or prepare food as a barrier to healthy family eating patterns (Fruh, Mulekar, Hall, Fulkerson et al., 2013 ). Meal planning allows healthy meals to be prepared in advance and frozen for later consumption (Fruh, Mulekar, Hall, Adams et al., 2013 ) and is associated with increased consumption of vegetables and healthier meals compared with meals prepared on impulse (Crawford, Ball, Mishra, Salmon, & Timperio, 2007 ; Hersey et al., 2001 ).

The role of the nurse practitioner

The initial and ongoing interactions between patient and nurse practitioner are keys for the determination of an effective approach and implementation of a weight loss program and subsequent weight maintenance. The initial interaction can be instigated by either the nurse practitioner or the patient and once the decision has been made to manage the patient's weight, the evaluation includes a risk assessment, a discussion about the patient's weight, and treatment goal recommendations (American Nurse Practitioner Foundation, 2013 ). Across this process, it may be advantageous to approach this using objective data and language that is motivational and/or nonjudgmental. Patients may struggle with motivation, and therefore, ongoing discussions around the health benefits and improvements to quality of life as a result of weight loss may be required (American Nurse Practitioner Foundation, 2013 ). It may be valuable to allocate personalized benefits to the weight loss such as playing with children/grandchildren (American Nurse Practitioner Foundation, 2013 ). Treatment approaches encompass nonpharmacological and pharmacological strategies; however, it is important to remember that any pharmacological agent used should be used as an adjunct to nutritional and physical activity strategies (American Nurse Practitioner Foundation, 2013 ). Pharmacotherapy options for weight management are discussed further in the article by Golden in this supplement.

Conclusions/summary

The importance of obesity management is underscored both by the serious health consequences for individuals, but also by its increasing prevalence globally, and across age groups in particular. Obesity promotes a chronic, low‐grade, inflammatory state, which is associated with vascular dysfunction, thrombotic disorders, multiple organ damage, and metabolic dysfunction. These physiological effects ultimately lead to the development of a range of morbidities, including CVD, T2D, OSA, and certain cancers along with many others, as well as causing a significant impact on mortality.

However, even modest weight loss of 5%–10% of total body weight can significantly improve health and well‐being, and further benefits are possible with greater weight loss. Weight loss can help to prevent development of T2D in individuals with obesity and prediabetes and has a positive long‐term impact on cardiovascular mortality. Beneficial, although not curative, effects have also been noted on OSA following >10% weight loss. In addition, weight loss reduces the risk for certain cancer types and has positive effects on most comorbidities including asthma, GERD, liver function, urinary incontinence, fertility, joint pain, and depression.

Weight‐loss programs that include realistic weight loss goals, frequent check‐in, and meal/activity diaries may help individuals to lose weight. Setting realistic weight‐loss goals can be difficult; however, visual resources showing the health and wellness benefit of weight loss may be helpful in discussing realistic goals, and help motivate the patient in maintaining the weight loss. Techniques such as motivational interviewing that focus on addressing resistance to behavioral change in a supportive and optimistic manner may help individuals in integrating these changes to allow them to become part of normal everyday life and thus help with maintaining the weight loss. Positive reinforcement in terms of marked early‐weight loss may also assist in improving adherence, so this should be a key goal for weight‐loss programs. Encouraging feelings of “self‐worth” or “self‐efficacy” can help individuals to view weight loss as being within their own control.

Nurse practitioners play a major role in helping patients achieve weight loss through all aspects of the process including assessment, support, motivation, goal‐setting, management, and treatment. With their in‐depth understanding of the research in the field of obesity and weight management, nurse practitioners are well placed to effect meaningful changes in the weight‐management strategies deployed in clinical practice.

List of helpful resources

Acknowledgments.

The authors are grateful to Watermeadow Medical for writing assistance in the development of this manuscript. This assistance was funded by Novo Nordisk, who also had a role in the review of the manuscript for scientific accuracy. The author discussed the concept, drafted the outline, commented in detail on the first iteration, made critical revision of later drafts, and has revised and approved the final version for submission.

Dr. Sharon Fruh serves on the Novo Nordisk Obesity Speakers Bureau. In compliance with national ethical guidelines, the author reports no relationship with business or industry that would post a conflict of interest.

Writing and editorial support was provided by Watermeadow Medical, and funded by Novo Nordisk.

The copyright line in this article was changed on 9 August 2018 after online publication.

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Thomas L. Friedman

Why the Campus Protests Are So Troubling

By Thomas L. Friedman

Opinion Columnist

Readers have been asking me, and I have been asking myself of late, how I feel about the campus demonstrations to stop the war in Gaza. Anyone reading this column since Oct. 7 knows that my focus has been on events on the ground in the Middle East, but this phenomenon has become too big to ignore. In short: I find the whole thing very troubling, because the dominant messages from the loudest voices and many placards reject important truths about how this latest Gaza war started and what will be required to bring it to a fair and sustainable conclusion.

My problem is not that the protests in general are “antisemitic” — I would not use that word to describe them, and indeed, I am deeply uncomfortable as a Jew with how the charge of antisemitism is thrown about on the Israel-Palestine issue. My problem is that I am a hardheaded pragmatist who lived in Beirut and Jerusalem, cares about people on all sides and knows one thing above all from my decades in the region: The only just and workable solution to this issue is two nation-states for two indigenous peoples.

If you are for that, whatever your religion, nationality or politics, you’re part of the solution. If you are not for that, you’re part of the problem.

And from everything I have read and watched, too many of these protests have become part of the problem — for three key reasons.

First, they are virtually all about stopping Israel’s shameful behavior in killing so many Palestinian civilians in its pursuit of Hamas fighters, while giving a free pass to Hamas’s shameful breaking of the cease-fire that existed on Oct. 7. On that morning, Hamas launched an invasion in which it murdered Israeli parents in front of their children, children in front of their parents — documenting it on GoPro cameras — raped Israeli women and kidnapped or killed everyone they could get their hands on, from little kids to sick grandparents.

Again, you can be — and should be — appalled at Israel’s response: bombing everything in its path in Gaza so disproportionately that thousands of children have been killed, maimed and orphaned . But if you refuse to acknowledge what Hamas did to trigger this — not to justify what Israel has done, but to explain how the Jewish state could inflict so much suffering on Palestinian men, women and children in reverse — you’re just another partisan throwing another partisan log on the fire. By giving Hamas a pass, the protests have put the onus on Israel to such a degree that its very existence is a target for some students, while Hamas’s murderous behavior is passed off as a praiseworthy adventure in decolonization .

Second, when people chant slogans like “liberate Palestine” and “from the river to the sea,” they are essentially calling for the erasure of the state of Israel, not a two-state solution. They are arguing that the Jewish people have no right to self-determination or self-defense. I don’t believe that about Jews, and I don’t believe that about Palestinians. I believe in a two-state solution in which Israel, in return for security guarantees, withdraws from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Arab areas of East Jerusalem, and a demilitarized Palestinian state that accepts the principle of two states for two peoples is established in those territories occupied in 1967.

I believe in that so strongly that the thing I am most proud of in my 45-year career is my interview in February 2002 with the Saudi crown prince, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, in which he, for the first time, called on the entire Arab League to offer full peace and normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for full withdrawal to the 1967 lines — a call that led the Arab League to hold a peace conference the next month, on March 27 and 28, in Beirut to do just that. It was called the Arab Peace Initiative .

And do you know what Hamas’s response was to that first pan-Arab peace initiative for a two-state solution? I’ll let CNN tell you . Here’s its report from Israel on the evening of March 27, 2002, right after the Arab League peace summit opened:

NETANYA, Israel — A suicide bomber killed at least 19 people and injured 172 at a popular seaside hotel Wednesday, the start of the Jewish religious holiday of Passover. At least 48 of the injured were described as “severely wounded.” The bombing occurred in a crowded dining room at the Park Hotel, a coastal resort, during the traditional meal marking the start of Passover. … The Palestinian group Hamas, an Islamic fundamentalist group labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Yes, that was Hamas’s response to the Arab peace initiative of two nation-states for two peoples: blowing up a Passover Seder in Israel.

Hey, Friedman, but what about all the violence that Israeli settlers perpetrated against Palestinians and how Bibi Netanyahu deliberately built up Hamas and undermined the Palestinian Authority, which embraced Oslo?

Answer: That violence and those Netanyahu actions are awful and harmful to a two-state solution as well. That is why I am intensely both anti-Hamas and anti-Netanyahu. And if you oppose just one and not also the other, you should reflect a little more on what you are shouting at your protest or your anti-protest. Because no one has done more to harm the prospects of a two-state solution than the codependent Hamas and Netanyahu factions.

Hamas is not against the post-1967 occupation. It is against the existence of a Jewish state and believes there should be an Islamic state between the river and the sea. When protests on college campuses ignore that, they are part of the problem. Just as much as Israel supporters who ignore the fact that the far-right members in Netanyahu’s own coalition government are for a Jewish state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. How do I know? Because Netanyahu wrote it into the coalition agreemen t between himself and his far-right partners.

The third reason that these protests have become part of the problem is that they ignore the view of many Palestinians in Gaza who detest Hamas’s autocracy. These Palestinians are enraged by precisely what these student demonstrations ignore: Hamas launched this war without permission from the Gazan population and without preparation for Gazans to protect themselves when Hamas knew that a brutal Israeli response would follow. In fact, a Hamas official said at the start of the war that its tunnels were for only its fighters, not civilians.

That is not to excuse Israel in the least for its excesses, but, again, it is also not to give Hamas a pass for inviting them.

My view: Hamas was ready to sacrifice thousands of Gazan civilians to win the support of the next global generation on TikTok. And it worked. But one reason it worked was a lack of critical thinking by too many in that generation — the result of a campus culture that has become way too much about what to think and not how to think.

I highly recommend a few different articles about how angry Gazans are at Hamas for starting this war without any goal in mind other than the fruitless task of trying to destroy Israel so Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, could get his personal revenge.

I was particularly struck by a piece in The National, a newspaper in Abu Dhabi, by Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian American raised in Gaza. The headline is: “Israel’s War Has Killed 31 Members of My Family, Yet It’s Vital to Speak Out Against Hamas.” Alkhatib placed Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack in the context of the rising protests against its inept and autocrat rule that have broken out periodically in Gaza since 2019, under the banner of “We Want to Live.”

Wrote Alkhatib, a political analyst who is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council: “Having grown up in Gaza, I experienced Hamas’s rise to power and their gradual grip over the Strip and Palestinian politics and society, hiding behind a resistance narrative and using extremist politics to sabotage prospects for a peaceful resolution to the conflict with Israel. Months before Oct. 7, tens of thousands of Gazans protested in the streets in defiance of Hamas, just as they had in 2019 and 2017.”

Alkhatib added that the “‘We Want to Live’ protest movement decried living conditions and unemployment in Gaza, as well as the lack of a political horizon for meaningful change in the territory’s realities and opportunities. Hamas’s regime consisted of a criminal and despotic enterprise that used Gaza as a haven for the group’s members and affiliates and turned Palestinians there into aid-dependent subjects reliant on the international community” and turned Gaza into “a ‘resistance citadel’ that was part of a nefarious regional alliance with Iran.”

A campus with critical thinkers might have had a teach-in on the central lawn on that subject, not just on the violence of Israeli settlers.

Against this backdrop, we are seeing college presidents at places like Rutgers and Northwestern agree to some of the demands by students to end their protests. As NPR summarized them, the “demands vary by school, though they generally call for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, disclosures of institutional investments and divestment from companies with ties to Israel or that otherwise profit from its military operation in Gaza.”

What Palestinians and Israelis need most now are not performative gestures of disinvestment but real gestures of impactful investment, not the threat of a deeper war in Rafah but a way to build more partners for peace. Invest in groups that promote Arab-Jewish understanding, like the Abraham Initiatives or the New Israel Fund. Invest in management skills capacity-building for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, like the wonderful Education for Employment network or Anera, that will help a new generation to take over the Palestinian Authority and build strong, noncorrupt institutions to run a Palestinian state.

This is not a time for exclusionary thinking. It is a time for complexity thinking and pragmatic thinking: How do we get to two nation-states for two indigenous peoples? If you want to make a difference and not just make a point, stand for that, work for that, reject anyone who rejects it and give a hug to anyone who embraces it.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Thomas L. Friedman is the foreign affairs Opinion columnist. He joined the paper in 1981 and has won three Pulitzer Prizes. He is the author of seven books, including “From Beirut to Jerusalem,” which won the National Book Award. @ tomfriedman • Facebook

134 Childhood Obesity Essay Topics & Examples

If you’re writing an academic paper or speech on kids’ nutrition or weight loss, you will benefit greatly from our childhood obesity essay examples. Besides, our experts have prepared a list of original topics for your work.

Teens come up with trigonometry proof for Pythagorean Theorem, a problem that stumped math world for centuries

By Bill Whitaker

May 5, 2024 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News

As the school year ends, many students will be only too happy to see math classes in their rearview mirrors. It may seem to some of us non-mathematicians that geometry and trigonometry were created by the Greeks as a form of torture, so imagine our amazement when we heard two high school seniors had proved a mathematical puzzle that was thought to be impossible for 2,000 years. 

We met Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson at their all-girls Catholic high school in New Orleans. We expected to find two mathematical prodigies.

Instead, we found at St. Mary's Academy , all students are told their possibilities are boundless.

Come Mardi Gras season, New Orleans is alive with colorful parades, replete with floats, and beads, and high school marching bands.

In a city where uniqueness is celebrated, St. Mary's stands out – with young African American women playing trombones and tubas, twirling batons and dancing - doing it all, which defines St. Mary's, students told us.

Junior Christina Blazio says the school instills in them they have the ability to accomplish anything. 

Christina Blazio: That is kinda a standard here. So we aim very high - like, our aim is excellence for all students. 

The private Catholic elementary and high school sits behind the Sisters of the Holy Family Convent in New Orleans East. The academy was started by an African American nun for young Black women just after the Civil War. The church still supports the school with the help of alumni.

In December 2022, seniors Ne'Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson were working on a school-wide math contest that came with a cash prize.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: I was motivated because there was a monetary incentive.

Calcea Johnson: 'Cause I was like, "$500 is a lot of money. So I-- I would like to at least try."

Both were staring down the thorny bonus question.

Bill Whitaker: So tell me, what was this bonus question?

Calcea Johnson: It was to create a new proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. And it kind of gave you a few guidelines on how would you start a proof.

The seniors were familiar with the Pythagorean Theorem, a fundamental principle of geometry. You may remember it from high school: a² + b² = c². In plain English, when you know the length of two sides of a right triangle, you can figure out the length of the third.

Both had studied geometry and some trigonometry, and both told us math was not easy. What no one told  them  was there had been more than 300 documented proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem using algebra and geometry, but for 2,000 years a proof using trigonometry was thought to be impossible, … and that was the bonus question facing them.

Bill Whitaker: When you looked at the question did you think, "Boy, this is hard"?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yeah. 

Bill Whitaker: What motivated you to say, "Well, I'm going to try this"?

Calcea Johnson: I think I was like, "I started something. I need to finish it." 

Bill Whitaker: So you just kept on going.

Calcea Johnson: Yeah.

For two months that winter, they spent almost all their free time working on the proof.

CeCe Johnson: She was like, "Mom, this is a little bit too much."

CeCe and Cal Johnson are Calcea's parents.

CeCe Johnson:   So then I started looking at what she really was doing. And it was pages and pages and pages of, like, over 20 or 30 pages for this one problem.

Cal Johnson: Yeah, the garbage can was full of papers, which she would, you know, work out the problems and-- if that didn't work she would ball it up, throw it in the trash. 

Bill Whitaker: Did you look at the problem? 

Neliska Jackson is Ne'Kiya's mother.

Neliska Jackson: Personally I did not. 'Cause most of the time I don't understand what she's doing (laughter).

Michelle Blouin Williams: What if we did this, what if I write this? Does this help? ax² plus ….

Their math teacher, Michelle Blouin Williams, initiated the math contest.

Bill Whitaker: And did you think anyone would solve it?

Michelle Blouin Williams: Well, I wasn't necessarily looking for a solve. So, no, I didn't—

Bill Whitaker: What were you looking for?

Michelle Blouin Williams: I was just looking for some ingenuity, you know—

Calcea and Ne'Kiya delivered on that! They tried to explain their groundbreaking work to 60 Minutes. Calcea's proof is appropriately titled the Waffle Cone.

Calcea Johnson: So to start the proof, we start with just a regular right triangle where the angle in the corner is 90°. And the two angles are alpha and beta.

Bill Whitaker: Uh-huh

Calcea Johnson: So then what we do next is we draw a second congruent, which means they're equal in size. But then we start creating similar but smaller right triangles going in a pattern like this. And then it continues for infinity. And eventually it creates this larger waffle cone shape.

Calcea Johnson: Am I going a little too—

Bill Whitaker: You've been beyond me since the beginning. (laughter) 

Bill Whitaker: So how did you figure out the proof?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Okay. So you have a right triangle, 90° angle, alpha and beta.

Bill Whitaker: Then what did you do?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Okay, I have a right triangle inside of the circle. And I have a perpendicular bisector at OP to divide the triangle to make that small right triangle. And that's basically what I used for the proof. That's the proof.

Bill Whitaker: That's what I call amazing.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Well, thank you.

There had been one other documented proof of the theorem using trigonometry by mathematician Jason Zimba in 2009 – one in 2,000 years. Now it seems Ne'Kiya and Calcea have joined perhaps the most exclusive club in mathematics. 

Bill Whitaker: So you both independently came up with proof that only used trigonometry.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: So are you math geniuses?

Calcea Johnson: I think that's a stretch. 

Bill Whitaker: If not genius, you're really smart at math.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Not at all. (laugh) 

To document Calcea and Ne'Kiya's work, math teachers at St. Mary's submitted their proofs to an American Mathematical Society conference in Atlanta in March 2023.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Well, our teacher approached us and was like, "Hey, you might be able to actually present this," I was like, "Are you joking?" But she wasn't. So we went. I got up there. We presented and it went well, and it blew up.

Bill Whitaker: It blew up.

Calcea Johnson: Yeah. 

Ne'Kiya Jackson: It blew up.

Bill Whitaker: Yeah. What was the blowup like?

Calcea Johnson: Insane, unexpected, crazy, honestly.

It took millenia to prove, but just a minute for word of their accomplishment to go around the world. They got a write-up in South Korea and a shout-out from former first lady Michelle Obama, a commendation from the governor and keys to the city of New Orleans. 

Bill Whitaker: Why do you think so many people found what you did to be so impressive?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Probably because we're African American, one. And we're also women. So I think-- oh, and our age. Of course our ages probably played a big part.

Bill Whitaker: So you think people were surprised that young African American women, could do such a thing?

Calcea Johnson: Yeah, definitely.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: I'd like to actually be celebrated for what it is. Like, it's a great mathematical achievement.

Achievement, that's a word you hear often around St. Mary's academy. Calcea and Ne'Kiya follow a long line of barrier-breaking graduates. 

The late queen of Creole cooking, Leah Chase , was an alum. so was the first African-American female New Orleans police chief, Michelle Woodfork …

And judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Dana Douglas. Math teacher Michelle Blouin Williams told us Calcea and Ne'Kiya are typical St. Mary's students.  

Bill Whitaker: They're not unicorns.

Michelle Blouin Williams: Oh, no no. If they are unicorns, then every single lady that has matriculated through this school is a beautiful, Black unicorn.

Pamela Rogers: You're good?

Pamela Rogers, St. Mary's president and interim principal, told us the students hear that message from the moment they walk in the door.

Pamela Rogers: We believe all students can succeed, all students can learn. It does not matter the environment that you live in. 

Bill Whitaker: So when word went out that two of your students had solved this almost impossible math problem, were they universally applauded?

Pamela Rogers: In this community, they were greatly applauded. Across the country, there were many naysayers.

Bill Whitaker: What were they saying?

Pamela Rogers: They were saying, "Oh, they could not have done it. African Americans don't have the brains to do it." Of course, we sheltered our girls from that. But we absolutely did not expect it to come in the volume that it came.  

Bill Whitaker: And after such a wonderful achievement.

Pamela Rogers: People-- have a vision of who can be successful. And-- to some people, it is not always an African American female. And to us, it's always an African American female.

Gloria Ladson-Billings: What we know is when teachers lay out some expectations that say, "You can do this," kids will work as hard as they can to do it.

Gloria Ladson-Billings, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, has studied how best to teach African American students. She told us an encouraging teacher can change a life.

Bill Whitaker: And what's the difference, say, between having a teacher like that and a whole school dedicated to the excellence of these students?

Gloria Ladson-Billings: So a whole school is almost like being in Heaven. 

Bill Whitaker: What do you mean by that?

Gloria Ladson-Billings: Many of our young people have their ceilings lowered, that somewhere around fourth or fifth grade, their thoughts are, "I'm not going to be anything special." What I think is probably happening at St. Mary's is young women come in as, perhaps, ninth graders and are told, "Here's what we expect to happen. And here's how we're going to help you get there."

At St. Mary's, half the students get scholarships, subsidized by fundraising to defray the $8,000 a year tuition. Here, there's no test to get in, but expectations are high and rules are strict: no cellphones, modest skirts, hair must be its natural color.

Students Rayah Siddiq, Summer Forde, Carissa Washington, Tatum Williams and Christina Blazio told us they appreciate the rules and rigor.

Rayah Siddiq: Especially the standards that they set for us. They're very high. And I don't think that's ever going to change.

Bill Whitaker: So is there a heart, a philosophy, an essence to St. Mary's?

Summer Forde: The sisterhood—

Carissa Washington: Sisterhood.

Tatum Williams: Sisterhood.

Bill Whitaker: The sisterhood?

Voices: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: And you don't mean the nuns. You mean-- (laughter)

Christina Blazio: I mean, yeah. The community—

Bill Whitaker: So when you're here, there's just no question that you're going to go on to college.

Rayah Siddiq: College is all they talk about. (laughter) 

Pamela Rogers: … and Arizona State University (Cheering)

Principal Rogers announces to her 615 students the colleges where every senior has been accepted.

Bill Whitaker: So for 17 years, you've had a 100% graduation rate—

Pamela Rogers: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: --and a 100% college acceptance rate?

Pamela Rogers: That's correct.

Last year when Ne'Kiya and Calcea graduated, all their classmates went to college and got scholarships. Ne'Kiya got a full ride to the pharmacy school at Xavier University in New Orleans. Calcea, the class valedictorian, is studying environmental engineering at Louisiana State University.

Bill Whitaker: So wait a minute. Neither one of you is going to pursue a career in math?

Both: No. (laugh)

Calcea Johnson: I may take up a minor in math. But I don't want that to be my job job.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yeah. People might expect too much out of me if (laugh) I become a mathematician. (laugh)

But math is not completely in their rear-view mirrors. This spring they submitted their high school proofs for final peer review and publication … and are still working on further proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. Since their first two …

Calcea Johnson: We found five. And then we found a general format that could potentially produce at least five additional proofs.

Bill Whitaker: And you're not math geniuses?

Bill Whitaker: I'm not buying it. (laughs)

Produced by Sara Kuzmarov. Associate producer, Mariah B. Campbell. Edited by Daniel J. Glucksman.

Bill Whitaker is an award-winning journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent who has covered major news stories, domestically and across the globe, for more than four decades with CBS News.

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Title: constant velocity physical warp drive solution.

Abstract: Warp drives are exotic solutions of general relativity that offer novel means of transportation. In this study, we present a solution for a constant-velocity subluminal warp drive that satisfies all of the energy conditions. The solution involves combining a stable matter shell with a shift vector distribution that closely matches well-known warp drive solutions such as the Alcubierre metric. We generate the spacetime metric numerically, evaluate the energy conditions, and confirm that the shift vector distribution cannot be reduced to a coordinate transformation. This study demonstrates that classic warp drive spacetimes can be made to satisfy the energy conditions by adding a regular matter shell with a positive ADM mass.

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Argumentative Essay on Obesity

• Categories: Nutrition Obesity

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Published: Mar 5, 2024

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