Obesity : The Problem Of Obesity

In America today one in three adults are considered to be obese. Over the years the rate of obesity keeps climbing up and up. Some people blame fast-food or the environment Americans live in. After all,someone can purchase a chocolate bar at a bookstore nowadays. But, most people are looking at the incorrect factor to blame. Although the food industry is a huge contribution to obesity in America, people are ultimately responsible for their own health.

“I couldn't open up a magazine, you couldn't read a newspaper, you couldn't turn on the TV without hearing about the obesity epidemic in America.” is a quote by Morgan Spurlock, that acutely describes the obesity problem going on in America. Any way one can want to talk about the problem, it will always be a huge dilemma throughout the United States. For a long time now, people have been discussing who is to blame for the obesity crisis going on. Some people prefer to blame the government, several blame the restaurants, others the parents and even the schools receive criticism for obesity. People should develop their own ideas on the obesity crisis and to figure out who is to blame and how to fix the problem.

Obesity is becoming one of the biggest problems in the country, but there has to be reasons for it. It can be the economy, society now, or people and companies. It’s time that our country starts to realize that we can’t live like this anymore. We need to see what is causing the sudden rise in obesity, and what we can do to fix it. Education of risks and solutions can be very helpful. Obesity is killing so many people, yet is still 100 percent avoidable. Our country is beginning to care less and really let themselves go. The fast food industry, supermarkets, and schools are the ones at fault for the spreading problem of obesity.

We are all guilty, we rather spend five dollars on a McDonalds or Burger King meal, instead of taking a little time the day before and making our self our own meal, but let’s keep on mind that just because is made home doesn’t mean is healthy. According to article “The state of obesity” by better policies of America more than one third of adults (34.9) are obese in the United States. But why is there so much obesity on the United States and who is there to blame? We can go ahead and blame the fast food restaurants or we can blame the people itself. In my opinion the individuals are the ones to blame for the obesity in the United States because they rather have fast and easy food even though it’s not healthy, individuals rather have cheaper meal, and because they don’t exercise enough to burn the calories they consume throughout the day.

Everyone cares about looks and fitness. Ironically the obese rate is ever increasing, but who is to blame? According to Inga Kiderra in her article “Obesity is Socially Contagious” believes that the people we associate ourselves with determine our overall health. However, David K. Li in his article “NJ Woman Attempting to be the Worlds Fattest” writes about a New Jersey woman whom is driven by fame in her effort to be the world’s heaviest women. Yet, David Zinczenko in his article “Don’t Blame the Eater” explains that it is fast food corporations that are making people obese. Being obese has many factors, but these ideas more closely relate to the majority of people. I agree that our social life, societal pressures, and social life paradigms influence the, obesity problem in the United States.

With obesity rates rapidly increase in the last 20 years, who is to blame for the widespread obesity? Many push sole blame on the individual because ultimately a person is responsible for their unhealthy lifestyle, but there are many other contributing factors to be considered. It is true that obesity has gone up because Americans do not exercise enough but many other forces have impacted the obesity rates in the United States such as “gender, race, socioeconomic position and age”(Ailshire & House 1).

Bruce Y. Lee’s article entitled “How our Health-Care System Is Feeding the Obesity Epidemic” (2015), suggests that while it’s correct to suggest that personal choices can be blamed for the obesity health crisis, the health care system in the United States also has to shoulder some of the blame.

In America Obesity has become an epidemic. It has claimed over 400,000 lives just in the last year alone. This is because 1 in 4 Americans eat at Mcdonalds and other fast food restaurants every day where they are served “toxic food”. With the rise of fast food all over the world obesity has doubled in the past 20 years. At this rate obesity is expected to pass smoking in deaths. If this trend continues 1 in 3 children will get diabetes and 1 in 20 will develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Also 17 million people have diabetes just in the U.S. Also Mcdonalds has spent over 1.4 billion on ads to promote their food.

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.

America’s obesity problem is increasing and every one is blaming big fast food corporations. Daniel Weintrub in the article “The battle against fast food begins in the home” agrees that parents are to blame for their children being overweight, but fast food companies aren’t the problem. Weintrub supports his argument by explaining the data and reason used to show that most studies focused on “The increasing in consumed position of fast food and soft drink, larger portion sizes and restaurants. Daniel Weintrub’s person is to raise awareness and inform readers that parent’s need to take responsibility so that children could stop blaming others for something they have. Weintrub write’s in a informal tone for adults with children at home.

There is an on-going controversy about who is to blame for obesity- individuals, parents, or fast-food restaurants and manufacturers. A scholarly article “Who is to Blame for the rise in obesity” by Jayson Lusk and Brenna Ellison discusses the research done to reveal who the majority of the people in the United States believe is responsible for the increased rates of obesity. The researchers asked the participants to put food manufacturers, grocery stores, restaurants, government policies, farmers, individuals, and parents in three categories: primarily, somewhat, and not at all to be blamed for the rise in obesity. Lusk and Ellison states, “eighty percent said individuals were primarily to blame for the rise in obesity and another 14% said

Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.

Childhood obesity is a worldwide epidemic that has increased dramatically over the past few years. There are many reasons this could be and research shows that as cultures are developing kids are spending more time indoors than being active outside. Technology is becoming so advanced that people are now able to play sports right from the comfort of his or her living room couch. Although these technological advancements are quite outstanding and has created an easier atmosphere in which society could function, it is also acting as a crutch and, as a result, creating a lazier society. Due to this inactivity in which children are partaking, the statistics of overweight and obesity in children

What is the extent of obesity in the U.S.? American’s love to eat, but eating any type of food with little or no physical movement is the main cause of being overweight or obese. Approximately, 17 % of children and teenagers (ages 2 to 19) are obese and 31.8 % are either overweight or obese. More than one in twelve children is obese in early childhood (The State of Obesity). American’s choose to stay inside and watch television, play video games, or focus on their phones. Stress can play a big role as well in overeating. Indulging in food can be a distraction from their stress or a belief to make matters better, where a smoker smokes to give them a distraction from their stress. Eating can be a disease, a pleasurable addiction that spirals out of control. However, like most addictions it can be controlled. Indiana now has the seventh highest adult obesity rate in the nation. Indiana’s adult obesity rate is currently 32.7 %. Adult obesity rate by age are; 18 to 25 is 19.9 %,

Unfortunately, the United States in 2012 is not a healthy country, and has not been for some time. Studies from a number of private and public research areas tell us that the alarming trend toward obesity has put the nation at risk, costing over $135 billion per annum on the low end of estimates. Indeed, it is alarming to note that the trend toward obesity has exponentially risen in every single region of the United States since 1991, as reported by the "Get America Fit Foundation" (Obesity Related Statistics in America, 2008).