Obesity


 * Lauren Cascio**

A person is considered obese when they have excessive body fat, or "extra" of what is considered normal, proper or healthy. Obesity affects people of both sexes, all ages, and over the past few generations, has become an extreme problem among Native Americans. For adults, if your body mass index (BMI), which uses your height and weight, is between 25 and 29.9 you are considered overweight. If your BMI is 30 or higher, you are considered obese. There are over 500 Native American tribes in America and 1.9 million people characterize themselves as Native American or Alaska Native. Poverty, life-style change, and diet are all things that are causing obesity in many Native Americans.

Adults, Children and Adolescents
Obesity is found most frequently in adult Native Americans between the ages of 35 and 64 years old. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, Native Americans are more likely to be obese than Caucasians. One of the problems that causes this is the high poverty status among Native Americans which caused them many lifestyle changes.

A pregnant mothers who is obese or diabetic while pregnant is more likely to pass it on to her child and having them diagnosed with diabetes or being obese at a young age, rather than a mother who is not. For children, it can often be out of their control weather or not they are diagnosed with diabetes or become obese. Native American reservations have no parks or playgrounds, and schools are too far to walk or ride a bike, so children are often stuck inside watching T.V. or getting rides to school. This then leads to children being diagnosed with diabetes or other diseases by the time they are teens.

What Obesity Leads To
Once someone becomes obese, it opens the door to several other illnesses or diseases you could eventually be diagnosed with. Obesity can lead to Type II diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertriglyceridemia, low cholesterol, and endometrial cancer in women and colorectal cancer in men. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Native Americans claiming 2,712 deaths in 2003 and death from a stroke is number 5 with 552 deaths in 2003.

Environmental and Economic Effects
It's hard to believe the high obesity level in Native Americans after learning about all the hard work they have done over the years. In the past, Native American families hunted, fished, gathered, farmed and raised domesticated animals. This didn't just guarantee that the food would be fresh, doing all these tasks involved physical activity, something they lack today; their lifestyles have clearly changed.

In 1990 the U.S. census indicated that 31% of American Indians were living below the poverty level. This has lead to families purchasing high calorie, fatty, processed foods which are less expensive compared to fresh fruits and vegetables that they should buy,, but are too expensive. Foods like butter, lard, whole milk, sweets, snacks and fry bread along with fast food are all things the Native Americans eat now that they never used to. The cost of food, its availability and shelf life all contributed to what the Native Americans buy.

Prevention
By adding exercise to their daily routine and changing their diet, Native Americans will be able to become healthier. The cafeterias at school should help practice healthy eating habits since the Native American children eat 2 meals a day there. If a recreational or exercise facilities, such as a YMCA, health club or parks, were built on the reservation, that would allow the Native Americans to have somewhere to go for extra activity. A walking, jogging or hiking path would also allow people to get out of the house. The problem with all of this always stems back to the lack of money and funding the Native Americans have to put towards projects like these.

Work Cited
__American Indians and Alaska Native Heart Disease and Stroke Fact Sheet__. 17 January 2012. 28 April 2012 .

Broussard, Brenda, et al. __The Epidemic of Obesity in American Indian Communities and The Need for Childhood Obesity-Prevention Programs__. April 1999. 28 April 2012 .

Goetz, Gretchen. __Nutrition a Pressing Concern for Native Americans__. 5 Math 2012. 28 April 2012 .

Walsh, Bryan. __It's Not Just Genetics__. 12 June 2008. 28 April 2012 .