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Social influences on fitness behavior


Physical fitness is maintained by a range of physical activities. Physical activity is defined by the World Health Organization as "any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure." Human factors and social influences are important in starting and maintaining such activities. Social environments can influence motivation and persistence, through pressures towards social conformity.

Obesity is a physical marker of poor health, increasing the likelihood of various diseases. Due to social constructs surrounding health, the belief that being skinny is healthy and discrimination against those perceived to be 'unhealthy', people who are considered overweight or obese on the BMI scale face many social challenges. Challenges can range from basic things such as buying clothes, pressure from society to change their body, and being unable to get a job. This can lead to various problems such as eating disorders, self-esteem issues, and misdiagnosis and improper treatment of physical ailments due to discrimination.

Obesity has become a serious health risk throughout the developed world. More than 1 billion adults are overweight, and more than 300 million of them are clinically obese. Furthermore, 40% of adults in the United States in 1997 reported engaging in no physical activity, while 59% do not engage in vigorous leisure-time physical activity. Although these percentages and occurrences of inactivity among older adults may vary by racial and ethnic group, and by gender, it's stated that inactivity appears, "From 47 percent among woman age 75 and older to 59 percent in older black males and 61 percent in older black females" (Hughes et al. 55).

Nearly one in five children in the United States are overweight. Ogden et al., studied 3,958 children and adolescents between the ages of 2–19 from 2003–2004. The study was a part of the NHANES which is the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It showed that 17.1% of the 3,958 children were overweight, with over 35% percent of children ages 6–19 being seriously overweight. Ogden et al., had results showing 37.4% of this group was considered to be seriously overweight. Another age range where there are a high percentage of children who are overweight, are the range from 6–11. Ogden et al., was a study which was conducted in 2003–2004. The data collected was arranged into different age ranges. It showed that 18.8% of children ages 6–11 are overweight. Research has shown that obesity in children has increased from 1999 to 2004. The 1999 study showed that 28.2% of children from the ages of 2–19 were overweight. In the 2004 study, that amount was 33.6%. The age range that was the most affected was children from the ages of 6–11, for which the percentage rose 7.4 points from 29.8% to 37.2%.


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