The persistent crisis of food and fitness and its effects on people's well-being has been a long-term concern that has risen more prominently in the last couple of years. While controlling eating habits and physical activity is mainly under the control of the person it is affecting, outside influences can also greatly impact the choices you can make. From the lack of grocery stores with healthy shopping resources in lower-class neighborhoods, to limited physical activity in schools and at home, to companies knowingly taking advantage of people's desires and wants in able profit off of their inevitable obesity. Since the 70s obesity has been on an exponential incline in America and the fault cannot be placed entirely on the person who is at …show more content…
As stated by Source 3, “About half of young teens' daily physical activity occurs at school, but it accounts for just a fraction of their time there …” This illustrates that even though students are almost at their most active during school that they are being active for a very limited amount of time and aren’t getting enough physical activity. Source 3 goes on to say that after investigating students' physical activity through GPS tracking, “... they spent an average of 39 minutes a day engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity -- significantly less than the 60 minutes recommended for healthy development and obesity prevention.” This evidence is shocking because, on a daily average, a high school student eats around 2,400 calories, 39 minutes of activity burns around 220 calories, and the amount of resting energy burnt in a day is 1,200 which shows that students aren’t engaging in enough physical activity to combat weight gain and obesity. In Source 7, a study from the U.S. Center for Disease Control, which shows the percentage of poeple who engage in no leisure-time physical activity, illustrates the appalling amount of individuals, who have little to no physical pastime, and one of the most highly influenced states is our home state,
The high obese population can be explained by culture, portion sizes, food companies and restaurant policies, diets, and traditions. Obesity is not only an individual issue; it is most importantly a national matter. It raises both individual and collective problems related to economic and demographic dynamics. Therefore, based on the alarming rate obesity is growing, it is crucial at this point to find a solution in order to slow down and hopefully stop this epidemic. Comparing diets of different countries and taking a look at the background story of American nutrition and regimes, it is clear that the American diet is very different from other nationalities and has worsened over the decades.
Over the past century, America portion sizes and waistlines have grown exponentially. In 1975 the largest soft drink size was seven ounces, today a child’s size is 12 ounces. Also in the seventies high fructose corn syrup was invented and became a common ingredient in fast foods. Technology has contributed to our laziness and the ease of not leaving your couch to order more food. Obesity is a big problem caused by portion sizes, processed food and sugars, and technology.
accepting soft drink and fast-food contracts because they provide large commissions for financially strapped schools. Obesity is a grave public health threat, more serious even than the opioid epidemic. It is linked to chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Obesity accounts for 18 percent of deaths among Americans ages 40 to 85, according to a 2013 study challenging the prevailing wisdom among scientists, which had placed the rate at around 5 percent. This means obesity is comparable to cigarette smoking as a public health hazard; smoking kills one of five Americans and is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
The obesity epidemic is only becoming more world wide spread as years continue to pass. Obesity has dramatically caused many negative effects on America and the way we live today. Obesity is simply defined as having excessive body fat usually resulting in serious medical problems. More specifically, though, obesity occurs when a person's Body Mass Index (BMI) — or, their weight in kilometers divided by the square of height in meters — exceeds 30 or greater. Studies have shown that about 13 million children and adolescents ages 2-19 are obese according to the article “Childhood Obesity: Can it Really Be Child Neglect?” by Abbie Goldbas.
Obesity is a medical condition that affects much of the global population. This medical condition can bring about other medical problems and issues if not treated properly. Obesity is a complex condition with many risk factors that can cause a person to develop the condition. These risk factors are environment, genetics, sleep, etc. Obesity can bring about serious health issues such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and mental health problems.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of America? I am sure many beautiful things come to mind, yet we must look beyond the beauty and face the facts. Did food cross your mind as well? How about fast food? I mean, fast food may come to mind when considering the tremendous number of available options.
The lifestyle in the United States has drastically changed with the raising of health care prices and other factors. Many economists believe that the American middle class is in trouble because average income has drastically decreased while the cost of living has increased. The cost of basic needs such as health care and child care have dramatically risen, causing many families to have to budget every aspect of their lives. The Center for American Progress said that “for a married couple with two children, the costs of key elements of middle-class security… rose by more than $10,000 in the 12 years from 2000-2012,” (Erickson, American Progress), while at the same time, family incomes have remained practically the same. Some researchers attest that the increase of health care prices is the result of
Elyette Millar Professor Ross English 102 30 January 2023 Modern Argument Obesity in America More than two thirds of adults in the United States are either obese or overweight. 36.5 percent of adults are obese with another 32.5 percent overweight. That is more than two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or have obesity. Limiting the availability of fast food and their locations can decrease the obesity rates in the United States. Fast food is one of the top contributors to obesity and should be more regulated.
Obesity kills lots of people with other diseases like heart diseases, diabetes, and some cancers. Obesity is a condition where a person has accumulated so much body fat that it might hurt their health. If a person's body weight is at least 20% higher than it should be, he or she is considered obese. Junk food is one reason people get overweight and have diseases that kill them. There are things people can do to get rid of obesity in America.
The obesity rate in America today is unreasonably high and something needs to be done about it. In the article Taxing Junk food to counter obesity published by the Us National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health in 2013 and states “Several studies suggest that high taxes may lead to measurable decreases in obesity on a population level, particularly if combined with additional interventions”. This law needs to be legalized for the safety and health of our nation for these reasons: Our obesity rate is at a all time high, This has been implemented in other countries around the world, and it more expensive to be obese. Our obesity rate in America is at a high rate and is only increasing, we as a nation need to make an effort to lower this percentage. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “69.1% of American adults age 20 years and over are either overweight or obese.
One reason stems from the fact that many low-income neighborhoods lack safe, accessible places to exercise”. A big factor of this issue is also caused by the food deserts who lack access to large grocery stores who sells fresh products. An estimated total of 23.5 million people in America do not have the access to the supermarket within a mile of their home. As the targeted people get used to the unhealthy lifestyle, it is also known that American restaurants have improved sales with bigger meal sizes because of the growing urge to be satisfied. Not only is “health experts warning that the current generation of children may be the first in American history to have shorter life expectancy than their parents”, but food companies are producing enough foods for each American citizen to consume an overwhelming number – 3800 – calories everyday where as the average human only need 2350 calories in order to survive.
Introduction Obesity is a significant public health issue in the United States. Obesity in Americans continues to rise as the years go on. It is causing a countless amount of issues with loss of productivity, higher healthcare costs, and so many health issues and risks when it comes to the people that are obese. It is an issue in America that is pushed away and overlooked. This is a very serious issue that needs to be fixed and addressed before it is too late.
Over the last few decades, obesity rates have increased by a large margin. In the 1970s, only five-percent of American youth were considered obese. However, as of 2017, this percentage has increased to nineteen percent. Many blame fast food chains for this epidemic, but fail to recognize that a large portion of American eating habits are also a major contributor to the issue at hand, specifically the amount of food that is consumed. The average calorie intake in the 1970s was around two thousand per day, but in 2010 it was twenty-five hundred calories.
Americans today are fighting an obesity epidemic. According to a study published by Genomics & Genetics Weekly, the number of severely obese Americans has increased by 70 percent in a 10-year span (2012). The study also claimed that over 15 million Americans have a body mass index of greater than 40 percent (Genomics & Genetics Weekly, 2012). To put that number into perspective, people with a BMI (body mass index) of 25 to 29 are considered to be overweight while people with a BMI of 30-35 are considered to be obese. Some may ask what has led to this significant increase in obesity?
The limited knowledge on obesity makes it hard for people to grasp a concept on what they are actually doing when trying to become more “fit” based on common misconceptions about obesity, especially when so much information is hidden from us. One example of this being fat-free foods and their impact on health. In the past, when fat was revealed to be detrimental to health, due to the taste/preference factor, fat-free products increased in demand, but it happened to be too good to be true, as it turned out to that companies swapped animal fats for hydrogenated oils and sugar, which was just as equally unhealthy as the original animal fats (publichealth.org). Lack of information and this relationship between Americans and obesity have combined to create