Is Technology a Contributing Factor in the US?

September 24, 2003

Is Technology a Contributing Factor to Obesity in the U.S.?

As the United States has evolved over time, society has become more and more dependent on technology, and at the same time Americans have become more and more overweight. Obesity affects an estimated 61% of Americans and is associated with approximately 300,000 deaths each year (U.S department of Health and Human Services). Is it just a coincidence that with the increase in technology we have also seen a dramatic increase in overweight and obese Americans?
Obesity can be defined in many different ways and according to the International Obesity Task Force ,”obesity is an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue in relation to lean body mass”. In other words people that are obese have a percentage of body fat that is too high in relation to their height and weight. One method used to determine obesity is the BMI test, or Body Mass Index test. The BMI test is a calculation bas...