Obesity Epidemic: A Case Study

Despite actions to fight obesity there are still problems that are difficult for the Federal Government to fight. Factors such as socioeconomic status and environmental factors have a direct link to obesity in Americans. According to (cdc.gov), “blacks had the highest prevalence of obesity, followed by Hispanics, and then whites.” Also, the Food and Research action center stated that “Lower income neighborhoods have fewer physical activity resources than higher income neighborhoods”, making a healthier lifestyle harder to maintain. Part of the problem can be traced back to the increase of healthy food prices which tend to rise every year preventing more people from affording them. Although people, who are disadvantaged, do face a higher risk of obesity, it is not always their fault. A study from the American Journal of Public Health has found that African American adults, who live in Houston, tend to be more overweight due to increased amounts of fast food restaurants found in urban areas. Overall, the

Rose, Caitlin. “Obesity in America.” Down to earth. 16 September 2011. Web. 29 April 2013.

Obesity has been increasingly taking over the nation in the past 30 years or more. Although food choices are different from person to person, the underlying cause is not primarily the individual’s choice, but a combination of predetermined inherent attributes. Race, gender, social class, and age have significant roles in how obesity affects the nation.

Certain features of the built environment –such as the presence of sidewalks, streetlights, interconnectivity of street, population density and use mix – appear to encourage physical activity and thus reduce the risk of obesity and related health problems. Other factors – such as cul de sacs, lack of parks, high speed traffic and auto-mobile focused transportation – may function to discourage activity and ultimately increase obesity risk. (9)

Obesity has always been a topic that many have had due to the increase attention it has received. Across America, there has been a lot of attention on the obesity epidemic. In America and the inner cities, more people are eating meals away from home in addition to consuming larger portions from fast food restaurants. At this rate, gaining weight is the likely outcome. High energy dense food has become convenient and affordable. Fast food is almost everywhere in America and, contributes to the growing obesity epidemic. Access to healthy foods are either expensive or have a limited access to it. For example, soda is everywhere for low costs, but coconut water is expensive or not found easily depending on the demand for it. Our environment

Obesity among Americans has been a growing issue in the United States predominantly over the past decade. Many may argue American’s are obese because of poor food choices, over-eating, genetic disposition, lack of exercise, or the environment which one lives, while others blame it all on fast-food chains and restaurants. Throughout my research I have come to find a lot of facts and statistics about fast food consumption causing obesity. Statistics show that without a doubt the United States is the most obese country in the world.

American Obesity Eating Fast food,is the American culture.A lot of average Americans eat Fast food almost every day.But somehow a lot of people Worldwide donnot know what’s in the food.Consumers from time to time don’t care to read the food labels.Consequently,Obesity is becoming the #1 threat,plaguing America and Everywhere Nationwide.

The Walt Disney production “Wall-E” is a portrayed image of what our world could soon become. If you aren’t familiar with what the film is about, it is about obese humans relying on technology to do everything and anything for them. They weren’t concerned with their health at all, ordering jumbo soda and super-sized meals of fast food, for every meal. As Wall-E broads the ship and knocks some humans out of their delusional life style, they begin to realize something is seriously wrong with their health. Maybe it was because they couldn’t walk or maybe it was the realization that they couldn’t do anything for themselves. To make sure this doesn’t happen to the people of our world today, there is

If a person was given two plates in front of them, one with the chocolate cake and the other one with celery sticks, which one would be? My guess is that chocolate cake would be gone faster than the celery sticks. It is been heard that “you are what you eat” and that is fairly true. The food a person puts in their mouth affects the way they look. A very striking epidemic in America is the way people eta and how that effects them. It is becoming a great concern about the way people eat and how little to no exercise they get. Nearly 1/3 of adults are considered overweight or obese. The question is how does a person become that way in why haven’t they done anything about it? Obesity has become a national epidemic regarding social economic status along with the personal choice of living an inactive lifestyle and begins with children’s mental stability.

The United States has seen a rapid increase in the number of obese adults. More precisely, the late 1970’s marks a point in which the percentage of obese adults started to jump. Within a twenty year period, the percentage of obese adults had risen almost twenty percent. Today, we sit at sixty-eight percent of the population obese or overweight and the numbers only continue to rise. With a boom in the popularity of fast food restaurants in the mid 1900’s, society had easy access to food, fast. Still today, we rely on fast food to feed us, fast and cheap. However, most fast food is not only easy to access, contributing to over eating, but is also very unhealthy. I see this as a major contributor to the issue of obesity.

The Obesity Epidemic is a topic widely studied and mentioned in several contexts’ both medical and social. Obesity is described by Boero (2012) to have exploded in meaning Post- World War II to be more than a “physical flaw.” Weight concern became an idea that debuted in magazines mainly targeting women and emphasizing “natural thinness.” The disappearance of the normally worn “corset” and popularization of the typical 1920’s “boy catching” flapper, increased the production of diet products and the ideology of “desirable thinness” which gave birth to a social and moral model of obesity as a disease (Boero 2012). Throughout her book, Boero (2012) examines the ways in which the view of obesity has transformed into a medicalized epidemic, rather than a simple “flaw in human biology” in addition to the implications that come along with the “epidemic” title it has been given. Although there is a relationship between poor health and fatness, the Obesity epidemic would fail to exist in the absence of societies constant fat shaming, medicalization of fatness and an emphasis on individual blame. The Mayo Clinic’s “My Weight Solution” pamphlet and “The HAES Manifesto” each approach health and weight from a different angle. The Mayo Clinic’s pamphlet takes the Anti-Obesity Approach giving reasons as to why people should have a negative outlook on Obesity while also blaming a handful of obesity-related issues on the bad habits of an individual person. The HAES Manifesto adopts a more

People make conscious decisions when they gorge their mouths with ninety-nine cent triple cheeseburgers that takes two minutes to make. Yeah America is great and all, but obesity is not. The McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Carl’s Jr, on every corner is driving America down a very unhealthy and scary road. As time goes on people find new ways to be lazy. There needs to be an epidemic for exercise, and healthiness. The normal body type should be fit and lean, not over weight and fat. There needs to be a scare across America where people are being too healthy, and too fit, not too large, and too unhealthy. Although the portion size of food, and quality of food is a part of the obesity problem, people need to exercise to end this epidemic of obesity.

Health Committee, 2015). However, according to Astrup (2016) the strategy fails to include the two measures, which Public Health England (PHE) stated, would have the greatest influence on the childhood obesity epidemic. This suggests poor credibility, as inadequate response to the recommendations may lead to higher obesity rates. This means more strain to the NHS will build up as children are at greater risk of obesity. (REF)

that obesity can be seen as a sign of market success – fast food restaurant franchises are

There are many different types of food all over the world, but the two utmost distinguishable categories are good food, and bad food. Good food being natural, unprocessed produce, while bad food being unhealthy processed foods, usually served at fast food restaurants. Since the 70’s, health in the U.S. has declined, and cases of obesity have skyrocketed, due to an increase in popularity of fast food chains as a cheap alternative for a larger meal. With fast food being a cheaper and faster alternative than having to buy ingredients and squander time away, families, especially those with low income, resort to picking up, rather than putting out. It is because more are choosing to eat out without regard to the deleterious effects, that health rates are declining. With consumers putting more calories into their bodies than they are willing to work off, the health of said consumers is at a steady decline. Regularly exercising helps burn the extra calories consumed that are not used in daily processes. Without proper education on the differences between processed and natural foods, and how to properly diet and exercise, obesity will continue to be precedent in the United States.