Since the 1970s, obesity has spread throughout the United States like the plague, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also known as the CDC, “data from 2015-2016 show that nearly 1 in 5 school age children and young people (6 to 19 years) in the United States has obesity.” Obesity is classified by having an excess amount of body fat which can increase the likeliness of illnesses. Most doctors and other professionals use Body Mass Index, also known as BMI, to measure “a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of a person’s height in meters,” this gives doctors and other professionals a general idea whether a person is obese or not. Furthermore, according to the CDC, the “CDC defines overweight in children and young people as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and less than the 95th percentile for young people of the same age and sex. CDC [also] defines obesity in children and young people as BMI at or above the 95th percentile for young people of the same age and sex.” In this essay, I will be talking about whether obesity is more prevalent in those that have this trait in their genetic makeup or if eating fast food raises the likelihood of catching obesity.
One of the many causes of obesity can be tied to genetics; according to the American Journal of Pharmacogenomics, “a single gene has a major effect in determining the occurrence of obesity.” However, one might be asking where this genes mutation comes from? According to the Genetics of Obesity, scientist predicted that we as a species inherited this mutation when there was “regular periods of extreme food shortage (famines), during which time fatter individuals would have had a selective advantage.” However, in this day and age, due to our advance health care and resources, “this genetic predisposition[of over eating] prepares us for a famine that never comes, and an epidemic of obesity follows.” Though some genes may have been passed down through the ages, according to the American Journal of Pharmacogenomics recent mutations, there are a handful of mutations that may have a direct correlation to obesity. Some of these genes may include, but not limited to, “leptin gene and its receptor, pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), prohormone convertase 1 (PC1) and more frequently, mutations in the melanocortin receptor 4 (1 to 4% of very obese cases) genes,” have all been key components of obesity, according to Genetics of obesity and the prediction of risk for health. The leptin gene and its receptors, “plays a major role in the regulation of food intake, energy balance, and body weight in both rodents and humans,” according to the US National Library of Medicine. However, if for some reason there is a gene deficiency, one is more likely to “affected individuals develop abnormal eating behaviors such as fighting with other children over food, hoarding food, and eating in secret.” This is most likely the reason why many children develop childhood obesity. A study, according to the Effects of Recombinant Leptin Therapy in a Child with Congenital Leptin Deficiency, shows that leptin therapy is beneficial to those that have leptin deficiency for children. In this study, patients were given controlled doses of recombinant methionyl leptin daily for about 12 months and weight was taken daily. Results show that there was a dramatic decrease in body mass. In the beginning, the patient's body weight was 55.9kg of fat, however, after the treatment, the patient lost about 15.6 kg of fat in the span of 12 months which is 95% of the weight that was lost overall.
Though genetics can be one cause of obesity, another likely cause of obesity can be the kinds of food that one eats, such as fast food. Fast food is a growing industry that has spread throughout the United States like wildfire. According to The Balance Small Business, “ there are 14,344 McDonald's within the U.S. and 21,914 restaurants internationally. Of the 19,420 KFCs in operation, 15,029 are located outside the U.S. At Burger King, the number of global restaurants just edges out U.S. restaurants with 7,246 outside and 7,126 in the U.S. The number of Pizza Hut restaurants is still greater in the U.S. with 7,908, but international is catching up quickly — the current count is 7,697 locations.” These numbers show the immense growth that fast food industries have grown throughout the United States. Fast food restaurants have grown due to its easy access, cheap food, and big portions. However, though this may sound good, the effects that these food have on one's body is very malnutrition and contain chemicals that should not be entering into the human body. Shanthy A. Bowman, Steven L. Gortmaker, Cara B. Ebbeling, Mark A. Pereira and David S. Ludwig conducted a study that included “6212 children and adolescents 4 to 19 years old in the United States participating in the nationally representative Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals.” Furthermore, the scientist measured “dietary quality using between-subject comparisons involving the whole cohort and within-subject comparisons involving 2080 individuals who ate fast food on one but not both survey days.” After conducting this experiment for two years, these scientists concluded that “Consumption of fast food among children in the United States seems to have an adverse effect on dietary quality in ways that plausibly could increase the risk for obesity.” This study shows that eating fast food on a daily basis increases the risk of getting obesity, especially in children. Another study conducted at the University of Leeds delved into whether or not obesity is caused by fast food in the United Kingdom. In this study, which is very similar to the previous one, scientist weighed patients in order to see the “relationships between fast-food consumption at age 13 years and weight status at ages 13 and 15 years, and separately between fast-food accessibility and consumption.” After completing their research, scientist concluded that “consumption of fast food was associated with a higher BMI SD score (β=0.08, 95% CI=0.03, 0.14); higher body fat percentage (β=2.06, 95% CI=1.33, 2.79); and increased odds of being obese (OR=1.23, 95% CI=1.02, 1.49). All these relationships were stationary and did not vary over space in the study area.”
After looking at the evidence, I feel that obesity can be caused by both genetic and fast food. However, I feel that having such an abundance of fast food chains all throughout the United States has a bigger impact on obesity than genetics does. As seen in the study of the Leptin Therapy in a Child with Congenital Leptin Deficiency, leptin deficiency therapy can be used in order to help that have childhood obesity. Furthermore, genetic mutations that cause obesity can be controlled through medications and the problems may go away. However, I feel that due to the abundance of fast food chains all throughout the United States as well as the cheap produce, big portions, and lack nutrient items on the menu is a key reason why obesity has dramatically risen in the last couple years. I feel that the way to counteract obesity is to constantly educate people about the harmful effects that fast food has upon the body. Furthermore, I feel that if fast food joints serving more nutritious meals, there would be a dramatic decrease in obesity all throughout the United States. Lastly, if there was a drop in obesity all throughout the United States, the likelihood of having childhood obesity due to genetics can be greatly reduced in the coming future.