Nutrition And Fitness Dbq Essay

Over the last few decades our knowledge about nutrition and fitness has been on the rise. In Document one and two in chapter 11 of American Appetites we can see the United States government continuing to improve and spread knowledge about developing a proper diet. Looking especially at document two, the USDA changes from a pyramid to a plate helping to better convey how much of each food group someone should be eating. Document four in chapter 11 touches on the combination of a healthier diet coupled with exercise when speaking about Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. This is similarly seen in document one where not only do they change the language of the guidelines to avoid discouraging people from eating foods with sugar and salt but

Also, nutritionists and personal trainers have become more popular professions because of an increase in demand. All of this information about healthy living has become readily available to the masses thanks to the internet but despite all these resources there has been an increase in unhealthy living which has caused the obesity epidemic that we see today. In the past 30 years we have seen obesity rates in adults rise over double and obesity in children more that triple ("Obesity Rates & Trends Overview"). The problem is not that people are ignoring new information, its that they cannot follow these new discoveries.The two largest factors that contribute to the unhealthy habits are time and

People who live in poorer communities are more susceptible to obesity, the bottom 20 percent of counties in terms of wealth had obesity rates around 32 percent while the top 20 percent of counties in terms of wealth had obesity rates down near 27 percent (Levine "Poverty and Obesity in the U.S."). There are a multitude of reasons as why poorer communities suffer from higher obesity rates most of which are outline in a study done by the Food Research and Action Center. First off, families that are living in poor areas face many limitations accessing healthy foods in general. It is quite common for grocery stores in these areas to have fresh and low fat foods. On top of that even when healthier options are available they are much more expensive compared to unhealthier and more filling options. Healthier foods also tend to be perishable which drives lower income families away from them as they run the risk of wasting food. Fast food options are also more common in low income areas which serve low cost high energy meals, contributing to more poor food choices. In addition to lack of quality food choices, low income families tend to develop bad eating habits. Inconsistent meals are common among poorer families developing problems with metabolism. However, it is made worse as they form cycles of not eating for long times followed by overeating. Poorer families also have higher levels of stress, anxiety, and other