America and Obesity: What is the Cost?

As obesity seems to spread far and wide across America, one cannot help but wonder what the causes of obesity are and how we can start to combat it.  Obesity is now the leading cause of death in the United States as it comes along with heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and certain cancers.  It is a major problem we see that is exploding at what seems like an uncontrollable rate not only in the United States but throughout the world as well.  How can this problem be so far spread out, amongst all types of people throughout the entire world?  This question brings researchers to look a little deeper into the molecular and cellular aspects of obesity: genetics. 

Dr. Jennifer Beshel and her fellow researchers looked into the genetics aspect of obesity and tried to find a connection between the two that could possibly explain this massive increase in obesity since the 1970's.  Drosophila flies were used to look into this genetics aspect of obesity and more specifically, Dr. Beshel looked into the effects of upd1 in the brain.  People with obesity consume more food than is needed and in return store the excess energy they consumed in the form of fat.  One might say, "well why don't they just stop eating?" but this is not as simple as it may seem.  Dr. Beshel discovered with the fly models that this upd1 gene, if knocked down, in fact caused increased food attraction, increased consumption, and overall weight gain.  These behaviors are all seen with obese patients, and could be an explanation for some why this is.  

Obesity is a major problem in the United States and has lead to Diabetes among many obese patients.  It had cost more than $327 billion in 2017 for diabetes expenses, with 90% being for diabetes type 2 caused by obesity according to the New York Times article, "The Toll of America's Obesity," by David S. Ludwig and Kenneth S. Rogoff.  What is more interesting is that the obesity increase has seemed to hit lower income individuals at a higher rate in America.  This means that the economic hardships of diseases and conditions associated with obesity hit the lower income individuals a lot more.  Insulin needed for patients who develop type 2 diabetes from obesity is trending towards over $900, making a diabetes diagnosis among lower income individuals life altering in more ways than one.  But what could cause this higher rate of obesity amongst lower income communities?  The answer lies in the food manufacturing and big businesses that are forcing these people into diets that aren't healthy as grocery stores do not tend to be located in areas that are in reach of these individuals causing food deserts.  These people do not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, which are also very expensive, and instead are forced into processed foods that are cheap and produced in mass quantities by these money hungry companies that do not care about the health of America, which is what needs to end.

Considering the effects these "big food companies" are having on America's health, this New York Times article suggest the government needs to step in and take action and I think they are absolutely right.  These money making machines will not stop until someone stops them.  Until this is done, we might not see a decline in the this country's leading cause of death for awhile.  I hope the government will soon come to see the impact obesity is having on our country and soon take action to stop it.

Works Cited
Beshel, Jennifer, et al. “A Leptin Analog Locally Produced in the Brain Acts via a Conserved Neural Circuit to 
      Modulate Obesity-Linked Behaviors in Drosophila.” Cell Metabolism, vol. 25, no. 1, 2017, pp. 208–217.,                      doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2016.12.013.
Ludwig, David S., and Kenneth S. Rogoff. “The Toll of America's Obesity.” The New York Times, The New York 

      Times, 9 Aug. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/opinion/cost-diabetes-obesity-budget.html