The Sweet Choice : Obesity Rates

With obesity rates increasing at an exponential rate, a tax on fat foods and specifically high sugar beverages of 20% or about 1 cent per ounce could reduce obesity rates by 3.5%, bringing the rate down to 30% among adults (Kalaidis). While 3.5% may not sound like a lot, if you take an approximate U.S. population of 350 million people, suddenly that mere 3.5% turns into over 12 million Americans who would no longer be considered obese. Marion Nestle, a well-respected expert in food policy, recently conducted a study investigating the impact of a junk food tax through predictive modeling. Her study revealed that 2,600 deaths, 9,500 heart attacks, and 240,000 new cases of diabetes could be prevented with a simple 1 cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages (Satran). A junk food tax of this kind could greatly increase the health of the American public as a whole by reducing death rates and healthcare

Being obese is detrimental to your health, we are seeing a rise of these complications as obesity

Sugary beverages suggest a poor dietary quality; they are loaded with added sugars and attribute to the body’s energy density. “A 20-year study on 120,000 men and women found that people who increased their sugary drink consumption by one 12-ounce serving per day gained more weight over time—about 4 pounds per year” (19). Through increasing the daily intake in trivial increments, the body substantially results in an increased BMI (body mass index) and an increased body fat percentage score. Another study conducted at Harvard found that a 60 percent increase occurs in children for each 12-ounce they additionally drink daily. (________) The growing correlation between obesity and sugar has led to further studies, and statistical data. Researchers have revealed that in total, “half the people in the U.S. consume sugary drinks; 1 in 4 get at least 200 calories from such drinks; and 5% get at least 567 calories.” It was additionally found that one-fourth of Americans are consuming more than 135 grams of sugar per day from soda and other sweetened beverages, which compares to people of the past who only had 10 grams of fructose a day (_____). Such a high daily intake of sugar and calories illustrates the risk that arises when people consume too much sugar; that is, sugary drinks result in weight issues and medical consequences.

According to the media article, Whose Fault is our Fat? Obesity solely stems from Americans not participating in enough physical activity. On the other hand, Family Stressors and Child Obesity, attributes the stem of childhood obesity to stressors, particularly family stressors. Another possible explanation for obesity, other than Americans not getting enough physical activity or stressors, comes from the movie, watched in lecture, The Weight of the Nation. This movie makes the connection of rates of obesity to living in poverty areas. The movie also firmly believes that Americans are turning to quick, processed, and readily made meals, instead of healthy food options.

In the United States, a crisis is breaking out known as the Obesity epidemic. For the first time in history, it is possible for the children of this generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents. Millions of Americans are exposed to ads that are luring them into eating the cheap, fast food of billion dollar companies such as McDonald’s. Obesity has established itself as the fastest growing disease in the nation and continues to make an impact on the general population. The issue of Obesity is directly related to todays technology through television, cell phones, video games and all of sorts of new gadgets.

Us Americans love to eat food and eat more than we need to. We tend to snack and constantly eat even when we even arent hungary. Childhood obesity has brought many problems for kids and has allowed them to suffer from things. Surgeon general Richard states that “Because of the increasing rates of obesity, unhealthy eating habits and physcial inactivity, we may see the first generation that will be less healthy and have a shorter life expectancy than their parent.” Childhood obesity is increasing among the years, it tends to have many health effects, environmental causes, theories, and many reasons on how to prevent it.

The United States of America is known for having a high obesity level. According to David Frum from CNN, except for Mexicans, American citizens are more likely to become obese than any other nationality. Some obese countries have enforced an extra high tax on fast foods and other high calorie foods, and many people believe that the U.S. should adopt the fat tax as well. According to Dictionary.com, the fat tax is “a tax imposed on or proposed for high-fat or otherwise unhealthy foodstuffs”. Although a tax on junk food could reduce obesity, the low prices could protect low income families from going broke, and therefore a tax on junk food would not be beneficial to America.

But now it is found and occurring in many children. At a young age moderate obesity can dramatically increase the risk of getting diabetes. Because of the excess amount of stress put on the knees and hips, obesity can affect the joints in a serious way. Most obese persons cannot receive joint replacement surgery. The additional fat tissue that is formed in the body need oxygen and nutrients in order to live. This causes high blood pressure because the blood vessels cannot circulate more blood to the fat tissue and increases the workload of the heart. The heart now has to pump more blood through the blood vessels. All the extra weight raises the rate of your heart and reduces the body’s ability to transport the blood to where it is needed. The risk of cancer increases tremendously as well. Men that are overweight get a higher risk of colon cancer and prostate cancer. Women that are overweight have a higher chance of breast cancer, colon, uterus, and gallbladder. Our social culture is defined on the idea of physical attractiveness. When it comes to psychosocial effects, being overweight plays a major role in the health of an individual. Culture believes in the perfect ideal person to be thin and in shape. This is considered the “sexy” and norm of our society. The people that are overweight and obese are often blamed for their weight and are automatically considered lazy and weak minded. This ultimately results in these people having fewer love lives and being placed in

For years cartoons have depicted obese kids rolling down streets, however, this may become an unfortunate truth. The issue of the obesity epidemic in America has become an enormous issue. Obesity, which is the accurate term to describe being above overweight on the body mass index (bmi), is an epidemic with many causes that can have staggering effects. Industries have found ways to market their food products in order to gain money, uncaring of the trouble and harm they may be causing to others. The obesity epidemic has become a very controversial political topic being discussed nationwide. Despite how bad things have gotten there are ways to fix this broken country.

Obesity is one of America’s problems that we struggle with every day. Even other countries see America for obesity and how much junk food and pop we consume. Our first lady is even trying to help fix this problem. Schools are gaining healthy lunches and changing up a few things in how make what school’s eat. That’s a great step, but you can always avoid school lunches. I know that people can’t force people to eat healthy. But I realize that how we are is really not anyone’s fault, except ours. Obesity is how much self control people have and how we handle our food options.

Obesity has increased a lot over the years and health problems have not gotten any better. “... [T]he average person has increased 24 pounds since 1960” (Stewart ). The government has a reason to be concerned and worries about our obesity rates raising. Society likes to include themselves in every problem America has, and since obesity is a growing problem in America it is understandable why society wants others to be healthy. Even though it is understandable why the government wants to be involved, society and the government is too involved in the growing issue of obesity. The government cannot have a say in how someone wants to live their life. “A New Jersey woman, who now tips the scale at 604 pounds, said it’s be a “fantasy” to gobble her way to fame and someday weight 1,000 pounds” (Li). The government cannot control how people want to live their lives whether it be healthy or

Obesity is a very serious subject that a lot of people take lightly, especially us as Americans. America is the most obese country in the world. Statistics show that 300,000 people die a day in the United States of America due to obesity. This clearly shows that we have a serious problem that is massively underestimated. Obesity is also something that countries all across the world suffer from. For example, Australia is also one of the most obese countries in the world, and 50,000 people die a year from obesity in Australia. That’s 140 people who die per day in Australia. To solve the problem of obesity the prices of junk food should be raised and the prices of healthy food should be lowered and more convenient.

With a growing epidemic of obesity in America, some states and lawmakers have resorted to taking unconventional measures in order to counter the growing issue. Many legislators are debating the effectiveness of a “fat tax” would be on limiting the consumption of soda, high fat foods, and high sugar foods, and ultimately reducing the rate of morbidity and mortality due to obesity. The idea is that long term consumption of high fat, high sugar foods and drinks lead to many health problems, so making them more expensive and less accessible should decrease the health issues related to their consumption.

Although we all pay taxes is it right to tax junk foods and sugary beverages. Politicians has debated this for years. Taxation is an excellent form of raising money for governmental usage. This type of taxation should reach about 90% of the public. Hopefully it will be able to benefit these same people as well.

Economic costs of obesity are increasing and will continue to do so if nothing is done. Healthy Communities for A Healthy Future state that the estimated annual health care costs related to obesity are 190 billion dollars. This is 21% of total health care costs. This includes direct costs, such as preventive and treatment services, while indirect costs include income lost to days debilitated or future income lost to death. On an individual level, an obese person will cost 42% more in health care than a person of healthy weight. A tax directly related to products known to cause obesity would offset the cost of health care, and hopefully result in less obesity in the Nation.