Obesity Epidemic In America

Obesity today in North America has doubled. Society and Healthcare provider have blame the

food industry for the epidemic of obesity. Obesity can be defined as a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of body fat. The food industry needs to help combat the amount salt, sugar and fats that are in the food. Salt is used for seasoning or preserving food. Too much salt for the body can do a lot of damage long term. The Obesity Epidemic that is taking place now is the Food Industry fault.

In the late 70s, the Citizens of Finland were consuming huge amounts of sodium, eating on average more than two teaspoons of salt a day. As a result, the country had developed a significant issue with high blood pressure, which in turn brought

an epidemic of heart attacks and strokes, Indeed, men in the eastern part of Finland had the highest rate of cardiovascular disease in the world. In order to address the problem of the salt in the food, the Finland government went right after food industry. (302).
Any item on the shelves that was high in sodium was labeled, “High Salt Content.

By putting the label in place, there was an 80 per cent decline in the numbers of death from strokes and heart disease. Despite the fact that the governments around the world and other health experts had advised consumer to decrease their salt intake that they are using, the public is still consuming to much salt. The public need to be educated more about how much is too much salt in their daily diet. (The cost of America‘s Obesity epidemic extends far beyond emotional pain and low self-esteem. Obesity is now second only to smoking as a cause of mortality in the United States. The CDC estimates that about 280, 000 Americans die every year as a direct result of being overweight. (Salt, Sugar, Fats) (241) (The Obesity epidemic that began in the United States during the late 1970s is now spreading to the rest of the world, with fast food as one of its vectors. Schlosser, Eric

(242).
Another cause of obesity is sugar. Sugar is defined as a sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants, especially sugar cane and sugar beet, consisting essentially of sucrose, and used as a sweetener in food and drink. For years, scientists knew that sugar would play a role in our diet. They did not know how much.
In 2001, they identified the actual protein molecule, T1R3 that sits in the taste bud and detects sugar. More recently they have been tracking the sugar sensors that are spread throughout the digestive system, and they now suspect that these sensors are playing a variety of key roles in our metabolism. (Salt, Sugar, Fats)(7) The Food Industry knew a long time ago the effect sugar would have on the body. Everybody like sweetness, the question is how much is too much? The Food Industry has known since the 1970‘s that sugar foods can become addicting. Since that first study, several other studies have taken place. The Food Industry has funded a lot of the studies. Highly processed, nutritionally deprived and calorie-rich foods tend to be the profit drivers most heavily marketed by their manufacturers. (Public Health; Obesity) Apparently, the food industry and the government have played a role in concealing the facts about how much sugar would be in our food. Test was done, but to what extent.
Another thing the food industry fails to mention is the fat that is in our food. Fat is defined as a type of nutrient. You need some fat in your diet, but not too much. The food industry has known for a long time the effect that fat would have on the body. The food industry started testing fat in the food, in the year of 2003. The industry noticed the population was only get fatter each year. The Food Industry knew before we did, that the population on was going getting fatter. Did the food industry make that information available to the public? The answer is no. Food Industry has long understood the power of fat. Twenty-four centuries later, fat is seen as one of the most potent components of processed food, a pillar ingredient even more powerful than sugar. (Salt, Sugar, Fat).
The USDA panel had always had access to federal data to tell how much salt, sugar, and fat was being eating by the American people. The information concerning fat was not told to the public for a very long. But here is where consumer advocates and consumer advocacy at the USDA diverge, and strikingly so. For starters, the 2010 guide buried the information about where we are getting all our saturated fat, slipping it into a single chart that appears on page 26 of the 95-page report. (Salt, Sugar, Fat)(216). In the past the public was not concern about how much fat was in their diet. The attitude of some people has change dramatically since some more information is out about how much salt, sugar, and fat that is in our food. To make a change in our diet may be a little too late for some. The damage has already been done for some. One of the earliest measures to address obesity and overweight has nutritional labeling, which is required on packaged foods sold in markets. (Obesity)( 17) The country right now is in an epidemic. It is just about too late. The Food industry has gotten away with not letting the public know anything for so long, you do not know who or what to believe now. The lack of public disclosure enables the companies to maintain the secrecy of their formulas. (Fast Food Nation. (125.) The Food Industry knew if they reduced intake of salt, sugar they might lost revenue and business. The Food Industry for a long has misinformed the public concerning how much information was available.
The industry did not inform the public concerning the finding of certain studies that had been done since the 70’s. Now the industry and the health expert want you to know the result. They want you to know now because the epidemic is so great that it is out of control. They want you as the public to help take some of the responsibility. I agree we should take some of the responsibility, but if I as a consumer would have known sooner I could have made better food choice for myself.
The information that we have now what can we do with it? We can use it, but will we? I think the food industry need to invest more money in finding ways to educate the public more about salt, and sugar content. There is information available, but it is not enough. I have never seen a TV ads concerning how much salt, and sugar may be in your food. I do not think that will never happen. The food Industry just might lose some business if they did TV ads.
Some people are still concern about what is in their food.

I am sure if I go on the internet I could find any available information I needed concerning the subject at hand. Making the information available now I am sure is just a short cut the industry can say they have done for the public. The industry is probably saying the information is available now you can use it if you want to. The information that is available now should have help the public to combat obesity, but the information was made available to late.

The epidemic is out of control now. It is hard for some people to change their eating habit by themselves. Additional help would need to be put in place in order to combat obesity. Some of that help should come from the government. Programs to help fight obesity cost money some people do not have. How many people are going to go to a programs to fight obesity? Not very many people will try to get help in this area of their life, due to the fact that half the population is in the same

predicament.
Now that the information is out concerning salt, and sugar, and fat let us see what we can do to fight this growth epidemic which has been around a long. The food industry itself has made billions of dollars off the consumers for years. Now it is time for the industry to give back to the public. To do that, the industry needs to make available funds that will help the public get assist with a weight loss program being they are partially the blame. At this point we need to look at the situation to see how much damage has been done. You would not have to look too far. All we have to do is look around it is some many people that is obesity or even overweight. At this point only one can hope to do the right thing for themselves. The epidemic of obesity still falls on food industry.