First assignment of group n° 115
Resources used by the team[modifier | modifier le wikicode]
First description of our project[modifier | modifier le wikicode]
First description of our project's idea
Move Your Body - MYB[modifier | modifier le wikicode]
1. What Problem do you want to solve ?
It is firstly necessary to consider that obesity is a current major problem which has been increasing steadily in recent years worldwide. In fact some studies conducted by the World Health Organization show that obesity has more than doubled since 1980. This delicate health and societal issue is a worldwide prior challenge, as these alarming figures point it out: in 2010, 3.4 million people have died worldwide due to the consequences of obesity (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular events, suicides following depressive periods etc.). Furthermore in 2014, 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight of which 600 million were obese. Most importantly, 42 million of children under five years old were overweight or obese in 2013. Unbelievably most of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity are killing more people than underweight. After looking at this huge problem from all angles, several causes can explain the growth of obesity’s rate. There is no denying that urban lifestyle we are living in, the poverty, the addiction to junk food and bad consumption habits of are the main factors of people in bad health. It is really important to lay stress on the fact that this subject affects both women and men, including children too. Besides, more and more newspapers, magazines or news broadcasts are dealing with this topic, in order to tackle it and trying to find effective solutions. People must realize the undesirable effects of being overweight or obese in their lifestyle. We take a very dim view of what will happen in the future, that is why we would like to raise awareness on this intense and serious situation among the general public. Around the world, an obesity epidemic is spreading and we must find a solution to reduce it drastically.
2. Why does this problem exist?
Whereas obesity is a worldwide issue, none countries have found the right solution yet. We can explain it by the fact that there are many causes that have affected this phenomena:
- First of all the genetics factors, strange as it may seem there are certain kinds of genes that modify the appetite, the storage and the elimination of fat. It is important to notice that they are often passed down from generation to generation. Indeed, 70% of people who suffer from this phenomena have at least one of their parents who also suffered from it.
- Then obviously the behavioural factor which is a major issue. On the one hand, the obesity can also be due to an excess of calories intake like high fat food and sugar content (e.g. alcohol and sodas) better known as junk food. Undoubtedly on the other hand, a clear apparent lack of energy has appeared due to a lack of sleep that drives to an increase of the sedentary lifestyle. In addition, past research have proven that stopping smoking doesn’t help either. We would like to add also that nowadays people practice less and less physical activities. Indeed, this leads to a disequilibrium between calories intake and calories consumption.
- Psychological factors also play an important role, the emotions that you are feeling can have a substantial impact on the way you eat. For instance, if you feel stressed, depressed or tired you could developed some kind of eating disorder: bulimia, snacking, etc.
- Something we have not mentioned so far are the environmental factors. Over the past few years, a consumer trend society has been cultivated to the four corners of the earth. The increase number of fast food chains, marketing strategies conducted by big firms and the development of public transportation have contributed to this major issue which is obesity.
- One more point worth discussing remains, it is about the health conditions. In fact, some serious illnesses as the thyroid gland, medicines such as antidepressant and cortisone have proven to negatively impact people’s weight. Because of all this factors, we are faced to a world that suffer from the obesity phenomena, an important issue that deserves to be solved.
3. What breakthrough are you commited to creating?
Through our crowdfunding campaign we are looking for your innovative solutions that would enable to reduce obesity induced in urban lifestyles. Even if you think about small-scale projects, all your ideas will be welcome and we will put all our expertise through the different experts we keep close to hand at your disposal to create the adequate frame of action.
Remember this phenomenon tackles 3 major problems:
- The proportion of obese people has not stop increasing since the last 30 years throughout the world, becoming one of the major societal and health concern of nowadays societies. To better understand the extent of this phenomenon, it must rely on a global scale, and here is an illustrating fact; obesity kills three times more people than malnutrition across the world. Focusing in France, almost 15% of the population is considered obese and about a third is overweighed.
- Another dimension needed to be taken into account is that obesity is a social and cultural daily handicap. Several characteristics arise from this disease. On the first hand, the psychological and human side, the person feels ugly and develop a tendency to reject his/her body. Self-esteem is attacked and we feel disgusted by ourselves. On the second hand, the social and external influences side, a sense of discrimination penetrates different spheres: school, public places, work environment etc. It is very alarming as the individual is becoming the reason for unemployment; in certain sectors (secretariat, reception jobs) obese people face a high difficulty to obtain a job even if equally qualified as a “healthy” person.
- A third major concern: the increasing amount of medical expenses induced for the treatment of obesity, as well as a weaker productivity at work. Obese population being constantly growing, it brings therefore a considerable rise of the health expenses that is urgent to be taken into consideration to be able to pursue efficient prevention policies. Direct costs linked to the care and treatment of obesity-linked diseases vary according to the evolution of it in the considered countries, unlike indirect costs, generated by the inability to work, which are much more difficult to measure. We can estimate the financial cost of obesity to more than 4% of national health expenditure, allowing us to appraise this cost to 5.6 billion euros. In the long term, if we do not consider seriously obesity’s expansion developing worldwide, the health disaster approaching will be translated into a financial meltdown of health insurance.
Potential experts already identified
Julien Venesson is a consultant in nutrition, health and sports. Scientific journalist and nutrition trainer for professionals, he keeps abreast of recent research advances to remain at the forefront in its areas of intervention. His writings are full of his vision: Responsible health, based on prevention through nutrition and micro nutrition.
Chris Powell, trainer and principal star of “Extreme Weight Loss” In 2014, he managed to help a total of more than a hundred people with morbid obesity to lose weight.
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