Composition & Essay Writing , Obesity , Road Accidents [ 42 ]

42- ] Composition & Essay Writing .

51-] Obesity .

                         It is the condition of having an excessive amount of body fat . It increases a person’s risk for many illnesses including diabetes , heart disease , hypertension , arthritis and cancer . Physicians use a measurement called body mass index [ BMI ] to determine if a person is obese . The body mass index represents the relationship between a person’s weight and height.

                       You can calculate your BMI by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters . For example , a 130 pound [ 59 kilogram  ] woman who is 5 feet 4 inches [ 1.6 meters ] tall has a BMI of 59 divided by 2.56 [ that is 1.6 ] or about 23 .

                      In children , the normal range of BMI changes with age and differs between boys and girls . Physicians use BMI-for-age growth charts to determine obesity in children .In adults a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal . A BMI of 25 t0 29.9 is considered over-weight and a BMI of 30 and above is considered obese .

                      People in industrialized countries tend to be heavier than people who live in underdeveloped countries . A big percentage of the US population is over-weight or obese . Approximately 65% of adults and about 15% of children and adolescents in the US are considered over-weight or obese . The adult figure has doubled since 1980 and it has trebled for children and also adolescents . In 2000 , the US health care system spent $ 61 billion on the diagnosis , care and prevention of obesity .

                  In 2004 Americans spent about $ 115 billion on fast food , more than on higher education or personal computers or new cars . Americans spent about half of their food budget on meals and drinks consumed outside home and consume about a third oif their daily energy this way .

                    Obesity is caused by consuming more calories than are burned over time . The relationship between how much a person eats and how many calories he or she burns is influenced by hereditary and environmental factors . In some cases obesity may be caused by specific diseases or head injuries that affect the release of hormones that cause weight gain .

                   Environmental factors contribute significantly to obesity in people . Life style changes that include eating larger portions of high-calorie food combined with less physical activity have become common in much of the industrialized world .

                  A well-balanced diet should supply calories to maintain a healthy body weight . However, in the US and most industrial nations the amount of food available is usually more than necessary . The wide variety of available foods leads people to consume more calories than needed . In addition , high-calorie snack foods have replaced more nutritious fruits and vegetables in most American diets . Whites in US who eat fast food twice or more a week have a 50% greater risk of obesity than do those who eat this way once or less . Their risk of abnormal glucose control – an inability to break down sugar efficiently that of ten foreshadows diabetes is double .

                   Physical inactivity is an important cause of obesity . Much of this inactivity is related to a modern life style . Many people in industrialized countries have sedentary jobs which involve sitting or standing still . People who engage in social and leisure activities that burn few calories . Such activities include watching television , playing video games , using computers and travelling short distances by automobile instead of walking or bicycling.

Whites in US who eat fast food more than twice a week and also spend at least 2 ½ hours a day watching television have triple the risk of both obesity and abnormal glucose control , compared to those who eat out once or less , watch no more than an hour and a half of TV .

                      Obesity impairs the function of many organ systems in the body such as the circulatory system . The risk of serious medical conditions increases with higher BMI values . In addition , obesity reduces quality of life , complicates recovery from surgery and causes premature death . There  is also discrimination against obese people . Obese people often have less social success than thinner people and find it harder to get jobs .

 

52-] Road Accidents .

                        One of the detrimental and chronic problems of modern civilization has been road accidents . Millions of vehicles move along the roads around the clock throughout the whole world . Hence , road accidents have been rising not falling . Global studies show that in 2002 road traffic deaths were eighth on the list of all causes of death globally and that by 2020 road traffic deaths will be third on that list .

                     Apart from the humanitarian aspect of reducing road deaths and injuries in developing countries , a strong case can be made for reducing road crash deaths on economic grounds alone as they consume massive financial resources that the countries can not afford to lose . A study  conducted almost a quarter of a century ago [ Fouracre and Jacobs , 1977 ] estimated road crashes to cost an average 1 per cent of a country’s gross national product [ GNP ]. Many countries have used this figure and international aid agencies to estimate the scale of costs incurred by road crashes but as countries have developed a higher figure ranges from 1 to 3 per cent has been suggested by the World Band and others for road crash costs .The valuation of injury crashes is limited to those reported to the police . A crude estimate of global and regional costs assumes that the annual cost of road crashes is about 1 % in developing countries , 1.5 % in transitional countries and 2% in highly motorized countries . Overall , it appears that in most countries costs exceed 1 % of GNP that may now be considered to be an under-estimate of national accident costs .

                        The traffic on Egypt’s roads has been growing steadily at an average rate of 3 % every year for the last 20 years and today there are more than 3.4 million vehicles on Egypt’s roads and the number is rising every year . A recent report of the Transportation Ministry estimates some 6.000 Egyptians die in road accidents every year . Egypt had one of the highest traffic accident rates in the world . More than 70 % of these fatalities were associated with poor driving habits and bad behavior on the roads while a further 22 % were due to faulty vehicles and poor maintenance . The statistics in 2004 show that traffic accidents in Egypt cause 10.5 deaths per 100.000 people per year . Traffic police statistics showed that an estimated 8000 people were killed and 320.000 injured in road accidents in Egypt in 2003 .

                      The latest figures also show that 15 % of all hospital beds in Egypt are occupied by people who have been injured in road traffic accidents and road traffic accidents are now the most frequent cause of admission to hospital in Egypt for people aged between 15 to 40 years . Young male adults are three times more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents than young female adults .

While statistics show that poor driving habits and bad behavior on the road in general are the main causes of death on Egypt’s roads , more particular causes of deaths and injury on the roads of Egypt are disregard of road warning signs and signals ; changing lanes without due care , dangerous overtaking , poor maintenance of vehicles , driving too close to the vehicle in front , fatigue , distractions while driving and speeding .

                    It is estimated that the cost of road traffic accidents to the Egyptian economy is an excess of three billion Egyptian pounds every year , which represents between 2-3 % of the country’s Gross National  Product[ GNP ] .

                    Facing these facts and the knowledge that road traffic accidents are the second major cause of death in Egypt , second only to heart disease , calls for a response to the urgent need for more safety – conscious drivers , better driving behavior and improved motoring habits have to be actions on the road to reduce traffic accidents and save the lives of people .