What Is Obesity In America Essay

Emma Stark

Mr. Belluscio

AP Lang

7 June 2023

The Growing Waistline and Issue of Obesity in America 50% of the American population will be obese by 2030, not overweight but obese. Obese is defined as very fat or overweight, however many believe that being obese just means being overweight. To put this in a real life scenario, a 5’9 person’s weight is healthy if they are between the 125-168 pound range. A obese 5 '9 person is 203 pounds or more (Obesity). Obesity is a very serious issue in America that no one is taking seriously. It can cause serious health issues, like diabetes or even kidney disease (Reinberg). It not only affects physical health very badly, but mental and emotional health as well. It can cause depression, stress, and

So why isn’t it getting fixed if it can be fixed so easily? While some people chalk it up to Americans being lazy, it seems to be a mix of things, including the food being eaten, the way that children are being exposed to these foods, as well as the misinformation of the foods being eaten. The food that corporations are feeding Americans are big in both size and calories, making Americans more and more unhealthy every single day. Food and nutrition play a huge intrical part in everyday lives. Food fuels us, and it is very important that people choose the correct foods to stay healthy and have good wellbeing. However people do not always choose the correct foods, or even the proper amount of those foods. In an article about American Obesity they say, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that the average American ate almost 20% more calories in the year 2000 than they did in 1983, thanks, in part, to a boom in meat consumption” (Obesity). This makes sense, as people eat more calories they gain more weight, and as they keep up with that high caloric number their weight also keeps going up. Bigger portions is one of the reasons why this is happening. In America, the portion control is far from

However it is not the parents who are doing this, it is the schools and lunch programs that are urging students to eat terrible foods every day. In an article about childhood obesity it says, “Intended to nourish 60 million children, school nutrition programs often rely on staples such as government-subsidized pizza, high-fat hamburgers, fat-laden french fries, and chicken nuggets. It can be hard to distinguish an elementary school cafeteria from a fast-food restaurant” (Kozikowski). While this has changed with the Obama administration (better and healthier lunches), it does not change the fact that there is not a generation of adults who grew up eating terrible food every school day for years. Many of those adults are probably still eating terribly, not because they want to be unhealthy but because that is what they grew up with. Also, even after what the Obama administration has done, the food still is not great. Speaking from experience, the school food tastes anything but healthy. It also tastes anything but good, but that is besides the point. In the Super Size me documentary, they go to a local school to see what they are feeding the students. Talking about the meals, Spurlock says, “...most of which are reheated, reconstituted packaged foods. Some days the amount of calories in