ohn Njenga was born and raised in Kenya, East Africa, where he attended a Catholic high school. We went on to graduate from Egerton University, with a BA in Sociology and a minor in Philosophy and Psychology. John worked as a community worker with Community Education Concern, helping rural communities innovate better academic and health education programs. John came to America in 1998 to pursue a Masters Degree in Counseling under a work study scholarship at Philadelphia Biblical University. After graduation, he worked as a clinical case manager with PSI Services INC, helping families with adoption and foster care. He also worked as a Mobile Therapist and a Behavior Specialist Consultant at Devereux Foundation. He returned to school to pursue Physician Assistant studies at Drexel University, graduating in 2007.
John worked at Lancaster General Hospital as a Diabetes and Endocrinologist Specialist before joining La Pine Community Health Center. John's areas of interest include diabetes, psychiatry, family medicine and geriatrics. He loves watching and playing soccer, table tennis, traveling, watching the stars, and playing with his young son. |
Growing Epidemic in America
by John Njenga, PA-C
The obesity epidemic is one that can be seen simply by observing the world around us. Look around at the apparel stores found inside any mall in America. We are seeing plus sizes becoming more accessi-ble and appealing. Take a glimpse into a schoolhouse and observe America’s youth struggling to climb a set of stairs. Look at TV shows and you will notice many shows and commercials geared towards weight loss. Or, peek into the waiting room of a health clinic and see the astounding number of pa-tients being treated for illness and disease associated with obesity. More and more Americans are suf-fering from obesity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over among adults. BMI is a standardized estimate of a person’s relative body fat calculated from his or her height and weight. Normal BMI is 18.5-24.9. The prevalence of obesity in America is astounding. 63.1 % of the 310 million Americans are either obese or overweight. About 63.3 million Americans (31.4 percent of total US population) are obese (BMI greater or equal to 30). Of these, 35 million (32.2 %) are women and 28.6 million (29.5 %) are men. From 1960 to 2004, the prevalence of obesity increased from 13.3% to 32.1% percent in U.S. adults age 20 to 74.
What are the causes of Obesity in America?
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Increased consumption of calories:
Eating more fast food
Increased soda consumption (drinking our calories)
Less and less people are having family meals
Expense of healthy foods (poverty)
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Lack of or decreased exercise in adults:
Increased use of and reliance on TV, video games and computers for entertainment
Cut backs in school physical education
Poverty
Only approximately 26% of adults exercise three or more times a week in the U.S
About 59 percent of adults do no vigorous physical activity at all in their leisure.
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