Innovation, Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Innovation, - Assignment Example In fact, obesity is now considered to be an epidemic such that it has alarmed public health officials and policy makers to consider some methods to reduce the high rates of obesity (Pool, 2000). As a note, obesity is measured using the body mass index (BMI) of a person. BMI is computed by dividing the body mass (in kilograms) by the square of that person's height (in meters); hence the BMI is given in units of kgs/m2. A person whose BMI is below 18.5 is considered underweight; a BMI between 18.5 to 25 is normal weight or optimal; a BMI above 25 up to 30 indicates the person is overweight, and finally, a BMI of above 30 is accepted as obese, while anyone with a BMI of over 30 is morbidly obese (or a condition of morbid obesity, which means there is now a real danger of physical complications and even death). The American Medical Association (AMA) had recently declared obesity as a disease by itself that is now so prevalent worldwide (The Boston Globe, 2013). More people are also findi ng it more convenient to drive their own motor vehicles to work or to go someplace rather than take the public transport system, like the bus or the metro rail system. Moreover, there are now more senior citizens driving their own cars due to increasing longevity from better health interventions; people who are sixty years and above are considered as senior citizens by the World Health Organization (WHO) as older adults (WHO, 2002). Considering all these, it is fair to expect a demand and people will buy this new gadget once introduced to the market. What has to happen – the number of driver-related road accidents are increasing every year due to a number of factors, such as reckless driving (teen-aged drivers ignorant of traffic laws and ignore safety in proper driving procedures), driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI), people who were drowsy or sleepy or worse, even fell asleep as they were driving, those who still drive despite being diagnosed with hyperten sion (high blood pressure) which can affect both their judgment and reflexes, and finally, people who suffered a stroke (heart attack) while driving such as those mentioned earlier (people who are at increased risk for strokes such as elderly drivers) or older adults in their sixties, seventies, and even in their eighties and nineties who still drive their own motor vehicles despite the increased risks for collisions and accidents. In the United States of America, which has one of the highest density of motor vehicles ownership, the number of accident statistics grouped by age brackets by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed the age group 25-34 years-old as having the highest rate of fatal accidents (19.8%), followed by the 35-44 years-old age bracket (17.6%), then next is the 45-54 years-old age group (16.7%), followed next by the 20-24 years-old age bracket (15.0%), and the youngest age group of 19 years-old and under (12.2%). For older drivers who belong to the 55-64 years-old age bracket, the accident rate per 100,000 licensed driver is 10.4%, followed by the next age group of 65-74 years old at 5.0%, and lastly, those who are 75 years old or above, at 3.3% (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2012); for these last three oldest age groups, their collective rate is at a cumulative 18.7% which is close to the