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Surgeon General Project Essay

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Surgeon General Project
In today’s day and age, I believe obesity is the primary health problem in the United States. Obesity affects every state, city, community and school across the nation. According to the CDC, nearly one third (36%) of American are obese and one in five school aged children (6-19) are obese.
Obesity is a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity is caused by inactivity, unhealthy diet and eating habits. When one takes in more calories than one burns through exercise or normal daily activities, your body stores the excess calories as fat. Weight gain is inevitable when diets consist of high calories and are full of processed foods and high-calorie beverages. An average American consumes …show more content…

Implementing a tax strategy to lower consumption of food and beverages that serve minimal nutritional value, such as fast food and sugary beverages such as carbonated soda and juices. The government should develop media campaigns, using radio, internet, television, and social media to promote exercise and healthy eating using consistent and positive messages. Planning, building, and maintaining more sidewalks, trails, parks and playgrounds that are safe and attractive for playing. Schools should and need to have physical education classes and school cafeterias should have strict rules on what should be served to children.
There are several ways in which the food industry could help the consumer make healthy food choices. Food manufacturers/industry should be committed to providing clear, consistent, and honest product claims, as well as working with retailers and restaurants to offer consumers correct information about the products they are purchasing. The food industry should promote nutrition education and boost nutrition awareness at the consumer level. The food industry can create new products that meet nutritional needs, revise existing products to be healthier (limit levels of saturated fats, trans fat, limit sugar, and salt) and provide controlled portion sizes. With this, the industry can develop healthier

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