The Problem of Obesity in the US

I: Healthy People
One of the Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicator topics is “Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity” (2020 LHI Topics, 2018). Nutrition, physical activity and obesity and intimately related to one another and to the nation’s health, as the Healthy People 2020 initiative points out. As Healthy People 2020 points out, “Most Americans, however, do not eat a healthful diet and are not physically active at levels needed to maintain proper health” and as a result Americans have “experienced a dramatic increase in obesity. This is a problem because obesity has been linked to major problems down the line for many people—problems that can result in “heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, which are among the leading causes of death” (2020 LHI Topics, 2018). As Hruby and Hu (2015) note, obesity is fast becoming a major problem in America and needs to be addressed quickly because of the potentially fatal results that can stem from a lifestyle of poor nutrition and exercise habits, which leads to obesity.
II: Research
The incidence of obesity in the U.S. is alarming: Today, approximately 1 in 3 adults (34.0%) and 1 in 6 children and adolescents (16.2%) are obese” (2020 LHI Topics, 2018). One of the major problems is that fact that access to easy, pre-packaged or fast food is so easy today: Hruby and Hu (2015) show that “with few restrictions on access to or availability of food, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the USA climbed virtually unmitigated over the last 50 years” (p. 674). Obesity is very prevalent in the U.S., with obesity rates surging among children 200% to 500% in the past half century (Flynn, McNeil et al., 2015). The impact of this high rate of incidence and high prevalence is that America’s health is worsening and the risk of such serious issues as heart disease, diabetes or stroke is too high.
Two at-risk populations are children and adults. Childhood obesity is a major issue because it impacts a child’s development and can lead a child towards a lifetime of poor health. Adult obesity is problematic because adults are more at risk for developing heart disease or having a stroke. These two populations must be made aware of the risks they face on account of habits related to nutrition and exercise. If they are not eating right or exercising, they will fail to maintain a healthy body.
Current research on obesity indicates that cultural, economic and social inputs have altered the way that people go about consuming food and exercising: The climate of fast food, pre-packaged food, convenience foods, and environments where outdoor play is limited, where more and more people are sitting for longer and longer periods of time, and where family life is not centered on traditional home-cooked meal-times—all contribute to the factors that spread obesity (Cunningham-Myrie et al., 2015).
Four effective public health education strategies that could be employed to counter the problem of obesity are: 1) the application of health literacy, which is the dissemination of health literacy to people so they can understand what it means to eat right and exercise and why they should do it; 2) preventive care, which is the practice of engaging in and building good habits that focus on keeping one healthy, 3) exercise classes, which encourage people (especially young people) to play outdoors, take part in sports, and develop a lifestyle in which exercise plays a big part, and 4) nutrition classes, so that people can learn about the benefits of a healthy or organic diet.
Five public health related agencies that are instrumental in addressing the problem of obesity in the campus region, Atlanta region, state region, national region and international stage are:
1) The Atlanta University Center Public Health Association at Morehouse College located at: 830 Westview Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 3031. This association organizes “trips to programs/schools and agencies focusing on public health, sponsor interdisciplinary seminars, offer workshops on current public health issues, and participate in numerous community service projects” and their website is reached at http://www.morehouse.edu/phsi/AUCPHA.html
2) GlobeCoRe Inc Psychological & Global Consulting Treatment facility located at 2801 Buford Highway, NE, Suite 195, Atlanta, Georgia 30329
https://www.globecoreinc.com/
3) Georgia Shape: “a statewide, multiagency, multidimensional initiative that brings together governmental, philanthropic, academic, and business communities to address childhood obesity. By forming deep and meaningful relationships with partners across the state, Georgia Shape is able to create health-related change throughout Georgia.” http://www.georgiashape.org/
4) Obesity Help: 4482 Barranca Parkway, Suite 252, Irvine, CA 92604
http://www.obesityhelp.com/
5) World Obesity Federation: Charles Darwin 2, 107 Gray’s Inn Road,
London   WC1 X8TZ, United Kingdom https://www.worldobesity.org/what-we-do/policy-prevention/
References
2020 LHI Topics. (2018). Nutrition, physical activity, and obesity. Retrieved from
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Nutrition-Physical-Activity-and-Obesity
Cunningham-Myrie, C., et al. (2015). Associations between neighborhood effects and
physical activity, obesity, and diabetes: The Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey, 2008. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(9), 970-978.
Flynn, M., Mcneil, et al. (2015). Reducing obesity and related chronic disease risk in
children and youth: A synthesis of evidence with 'best practice' recommendations. Obesity Reviews, 7(Suppl 1), 7-66.
Hruby, A., & Hu, F. B. (2015). The epidemiology of obesity: a big picture. 
Pharmacoeconomics, 33(7), 673-689.