The American Obesity Epidemic

1300 Words3 Pages

“More die in the United States of too much food than of too little”

― John Kenneth Galbraith

Why are Americans getting bigger by the day? And what's so bad about that anyway? Studies

have shown that there are many negative effects associated with obesity. Obesity has been

accused of contributing to many long-term conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, high blood

pressure, osteoarthritis, diabetes and cancer (Pennybacker 15). Along with the fact that obesity is

the most common form of malnutrition in the Western world, it also affects sixty-four percent of

Americans (Pennybacker 15; Brownell 1). Obesity is one of today' s most visible, yet neglected

conditions affecting more Americans each day.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of obesity is “a condition

characterized by excessive bodily fat” (Merriam-Webster). Moreover, the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention labels the obesity problem as an “epidemic” (Brownell 1). Basically,

obesity is the long-term result of a diet that delivers more calories in than are consumed through

daily activity. Nevertheless, obesity is a serious medical condition that impacts a high percentage

of Americans and should be treated with concern.

There are many possible factors for the rise in the number of overweight and obese

Americans. Brownell outlines these factors very well in Food Fight and writes, “The reasons for

this growing problem are simple and complex at the same time. People eat too much and

exercise too little...” (Brownell 2). Furthermore, by taking a look at the modem lifestyle of our

world today, one could say it does not discourage obesity in the least way. One obstacle

Americans need to overcome is t...

... middle of paper ...

... Food Linked to Obesity.” HealthDav Reporter. 30 Dec 2005.

Mathur, Ruchi. Obesity (Weight Loss). 22 July 2003. Available http://www.medicinenetcom.

“Meet McDonald's Nutrition Expert, Dr. Cathy Kapica.” Retrieved

http://www.rmhc.com/usa!_eat/nutritionisthtm1.

“Obesity and Genetics.” Office of Genomics & Disease Prevention, Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention. 31 Aug 2005. Available

http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/info/perspectives/fi1es/ obesity.html.

“Obesity.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 20 Oct 2005. Available http://www.m-w.com/.

Pennybacker, Mindy. “Reducing ‘Globesity’ Begins at Home.” World Watch. (Sep/Oct 2005):

15.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, 2001.

“What is Obesity?” 2000. Retrieved http://www.hateweightcom/what_is_obesity.htm1.

Show More
Related

  • Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York: Perennial, 2002.

    Read More

  • Fast Food Nation Summary

    1394 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale). Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen,

    Read More

  • Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser

    1927 Words  | 4 Pages

    Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.

    Read More

  • Proud to Be an Obesemerican

    1294 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, now that one is able to identify the causes of why so many Americans are becoming obese, a new approach to the trend could propose a solution to the rise of obesity. A new foundation to propose a solution for the rise in the average Americans obese life could be consuming more organic foods and less fast food, start new active lifestyle, containing ones eating disorders, and overcoming ones genetic disposition of obesity.

    Read More

  • A Proposal to Reverse Obesity Rates

    1830 Words  | 4 Pages

    Studies have linked obesity to many things from ear infections, to pollution, to air-conditioning, to socializing with obese people. The reason Americans are obese is because of the increasing luxury available to them. Obesity is a rising problem in the United States, and with all the privileges given to its citizens, the country has become increasingly lazy. With portion sizes rising and physical activity decreasing, it is easy to see how obesity rates have skyrocketed.

    Read More

  • Obesity in America

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    Obesity in America is a very serious problem affecting many Americans currently and is a problem that continues to grow each year. “Over the past 40 years, the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled in the United States” (Wimalawansa). This issue is known to many but believed not be an issue to care much about but this is not true. Obesity in America affects everyone regardless if they are obese or not. In order to resolve the problem, we can slaughter all the adults that are currently obese in America.

    Read More

  • Obesity in America

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident is that food intake is higher than the calories burned in physical activity. Excess of energy from food is stored in the body as fat causing an increase of weight. During the course of the last 40 years, obesity has grown enormously in the United States and the rates remain on the rise (pgs. 272-273).

    Read More

  • Food Deserts

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over 60 million people are obese in the world today. The socioeconomic statuses of the Americans play a major part in the obesity rates across the country. People with higher incomes are less likely to be obese than people with lower incomes. One in every seven preschool-aged children living in lower income areas are obese (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). A 2008 study showed that obesity is highest among American Indian and Alaska Native (21.2 percent) and Hispanic Americans (18.5 percent) children, and it is lowest among white (12.6 percent), Asian or Pacific Islander (12.3 percent), and black (11.8 percent) children (Get America Fit).

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders

    2394 Words  | 5 Pages

    "Obesity." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

    Read More

  • Overview of the Obesity Epidemic

    1810 Words  | 4 Pages

    There is no doubt that obesity has taken its seat as one of the top disease that strikes the world today. In America, obesity has now spread through the country leaving 2 out of 3 adults either overweight or obese, and worldwide 1.5 billion are overweight or obese (Overweight). The cause of this disease stems from multiple reasons such as the increase in modern food production, putting out ample amounts of food causing the prices for meat, groceries, and especially junk food to plummet. Subsequently, Americans especially were more inclined to purchase more food and showed an increase in the average American house hold food intake by 1,000 more calories a day (Dreifus).

    Read More

  • Obesity in America on the Rise

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    Obesity is when a person’s calorie intake exceeds one’s activity level. Activity burns calories and what ever calories are not burned, are stored as fat cells in the body. 19-24% is a healthy body mass index (BMI) for an individual. Mary Jo Thomas, M.D., states that “One that is obese has a body mass index of over 30. With a BMI of 30 or greater, one is at an immediate health threat.” (Thomas, 2013) Scientific evidence supports that the main causes of an obesity may include: ““increasingly sedentary lifestyle; high consumption of simple carbohydrates and fats (especially the refined sugars and greasy preparations common in junk and fast foods); and stress. To a lesser degree illnesses such as hypothyroidism (u...

    Read More

  • The Obesity Epidemic in America

    2913 Words  | 6 Pages

    Since the 1960?s obesity in America has more than tripled regardless of sex or race. Today 30.5 percent, or 69 million, American Adults are considered obese (?AOA Fact Sheets? np). In addition, 13 percent of children aged 6-11 years old are considered overweight, and well on their way to becoming obese. Obesity causes over 300,000 deaths a year and costs the country $117 billion dollars, prompting health care providers and the government to label it an epidemic (?Overweight and Obesity?? np).

    Read More

  • hgk

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    Section 1: Typically, we need a well-balanced meal to give us the energy to do day-to-day tasks and sometimes we aren’t able to get home cooked meals that are healthy and nutritious on a daily basis, due to the reasons of perhaps low income or your mom not being able to have the time to cook. People rely on fast food, because it’s quicker and always very convenient for full-time workers or anyone in general who just want a quick meal. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation argues that Americans should change their nutritional behaviors. In his book, Schlosser inspects the social and economic penalties of the processes of one specific section of the American food system: the fast food industry. Schlosser details the stages of the fast food production process, like the farms, the slaughterhouse and processing plant, and the fast food franchise itself. Schlosser uses his skill as a journalist to bring together appropriate historical developments and trends, illustrative statistics, and telling stories about the lives of industry participants. Schlosser is troubled by our nation’s fast-food habit and the reasons Schlosser sees fast food as a national plague have more to do with the pure presence of the stuff — the way it has penetrated almost every feature of our culture, altering “not only the American food, but also our landscape, economy, staff, and popular culture. This book is about fast food, the values it represents, and the world it has made," writes Eric Schlosser in the introduction of his book. His argument against fast food is based on the evidence that "the real price never appears on the menu." The "real price," according to Schlosser, varieties from destroying small business, scattering pathogenic germs, abusing wor...

    Read More

  • The Obesity Epidemic Sweeping the Nation

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...oo dominant to change their way of production but if the consumer who pays the money demands a change, change will come. All of these problems evident in the nation’s food and diet present the same question to each person “Are you willing to make an effort for change, or will you remain oblivious and blind to the ever present issues?”.

    Read More

  • Problems of the Food System

    2097 Words  | 5 Pages

    Works Cited Schlosser, Eric. A. Fast Food Nation. N. p. : Harper Perennial, 2001. Print.

    Read More

More about The American Obesity Epidemic

Open Document