United States Department Of Agriculture

This article was to examine how the US government uses dietary guidelines for Americans and how the guidelines were supposed to help us eat and stay healthy. Diet and chronic diseases are sometimes connected. For example, it is proven that nutrient deficiency disease like scurvy can be cured by consuming the lost nutrients. However, it is also shown that some nutrient exposure can cause chronic illness such as energy, fats, sodium dietary fiber, and food exposures, etc. making it difficult to set dietary guidelines. In addition to some nutrient causing chronic diseases, nondietary factors such as stress, lack of exercise, smoking and other environmental factors are linked to causing chronic illnesses (Slavin, 2012).

America is a great country; with high emphasis on freedom, education, acceptance, and philanthropy, there is a strong basis to create a diverse, successful country. However, there is one aspect that America lacks: nutrition. The average American’s diets exceeds the recommended intake of solid fats and added sugars, refined grains, sodium, and saturated fats, and the average amount of calories consumed per American has increased approximately 600 calories per day. Clearly, America struggles to keep citizens’ diets nutritious. In fact, recent studies have projected that by 2030, half of all American adults will be obese (US Dept. of Health). At this rate, Americans will struggle

It has become impossible for low-income families to provide healthy meals for their families. Government, Farm policies and the food industry itself are main reasons as to why the cost of healthy foods has become harder for American families, especially low-income families, to provide the healthy foods needed to fight the obesity epidemic. With low- income families being the main focus point on the problem of

Why does America have an obesity problem? Do we blame it on ourselves, the government, or the supermarket? It is obviously and individual’s responsibility to keep one’s self healthy, but are there ways the government can strive for an overall healthier diet for Americans? Can we change the manipulative ways of Super Markets and persuade them to look past profit? The American government should put in effort to provide a better dietary path for American citizens by working on motivating individuals to make better choices in their diet, pushing Super markets and industries to work together to lower prices of healthier foods, and placing policies and banning unhealthy ingredients in junk foods. It may not be the governments fault, but obesity is such a big issue in American culture that we need to make some major changes and the government is the only one who can make that happen.

As seen in the film Fed Up, obesity in the U.S. can be traced back to changes in food production. The novel Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard describes an alternative food system option in which family farms and farmer’s markets become once again important components of the U.S. food system. The American food system has evolved

After reading chapters 15 and 21 in our Current Issues and Enduring Questions book and viewing Forks Over Knives, I am afraid I do not see this worrisome food issue in America improving in the near future. Obesity is a known epidemic and it is widespread throughout the entire country. According to the documentary film, Forks Over Knives, “We spend $2.2 trillion a year on healthcare: over five times more than the defense budget.” This quote reveals the issue regarding the state of health and by maintaining a healthier diet not only do people benefit, but the government does as well. The current relationship between food and health industries brings an uncertainty that should be seen as a critical concern to the eyes of the public. Too many people

In the United States of America, there is a current epidemic of obesity throughout the country. Every age group is affected by this unfortunate trend. Even children are not immune to the national obesity problem. For a country that has an abundance of job opportunities, educational opportunities, and financial opportunities, it is a sad statement of fact that far too many people are tipping the scales in unhealthy ways. It is a fact that a disproportionate amount of the nation's citizens are dangerously overweight. If the country as a whole wishes to reverse this disparaging state of affairs, then the first thing to do is to determine why so large a percentage of the population is suffering in this way. People who are suffering from obesity or who are dangerously overweight encounter a myriad of health concerns both physically and mentally. There has even been proved a correlation between obesity and lower life expectancy (Flicker 2010). Two of the many reasons why the Americans have such a problem with obesity is the fact that there the diets of most Americans are heavily based on corn or corn-based products and that Americans lead a more sedentary and inactive lifestyle than people in other nations.

In the past forty years, the average American’s weight has skyrocketed. This can be traced to the introduction of fast food into our everyday lives. Fatty cheeseburgers and grease laden French fries have replaced fresh fish and crisp vegetables. Americans have come to value convenience more highly than personal health and consequently we are paying for what we consume.

In the United States, more than one third of adults are obese. One in five American deaths are now associated with obesity. The prevalence of obesity has increased at an alarming rate in the USA: in 1960 only 13% of Americans were obese. Obesity has become an epidemic and the number of preventable deaths from obesity-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease continues to rise. Despite the well-documented association between obesity and significant morbidity and mortality the American administration has not taken many steps to combat this problem. There have been attempts by government to try and stem this epidemic, but the food industry is so wealthy and influential that policies against obesity are very

This source provides a lot of study based research information on several topics that relate to obesity. The article gives a lot of information about the battle between for fighting obesity and advocates that want Americans to make their own choices about the food they consume. This article covers a wide range of informative data from food served in schools, to the rise of industrial farming. The author is a freelance reporter that does not seem to have a bias for the obesity subject. Instead this author provides information for the government to regulate or not regulate the food Americans consume on a day to day base. The article’s audience could be made up of people looking to for the pros and cons of government regulations to help fight obesity. This source provides information to help anyone with some research material to in order to form their own opinion on the problems of obesity in this country. I found this source while using the CQ researcher website and searched for obesity in America.

Obesity has rapidly emerged as a serious health issue in America. The cause of obesity results from America’s social injustices. Today, food advertisements are in all places promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. Considering the great expense of healthy foods, low income families can barely afford fruits and vegetables. These two factors contribute to the increasing obesity rate in the United States. Unfortunately, it has taken an excessive amount of Americans to become obese for America to become aware of the issue and take action. Although obesity is still an increasing problem, America is fighting to reduce the number of obese citizens. As a result of low income and the media advertising unhealthy lifestyles, America is in the midst of an obesity epidemic.

It is no secret that the food industry in the United States has many flaws and problems that need to be addressed. Among the worst offenders is the obesity problem that the American public faces due to our highly processed food industry. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately seventeen percent of children 2 – 19 years of age have obesity (“Childhood Obesity Facts”). This statistic gets worse as you look at the adult population of which about thirty five percent are considered obese (“Adult Obesity Facts”).

The United States Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion focuses on the well-being of each citizen. According to its mission Statement “The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion works to improve the health and well-being of Americans by developing and promoting dietary guidance that links scientific research to the nutrition needs of consumers” (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1). However since the 1980s, public health declined and led to an epidemic of obesity among adults and children. According to Table 1, the United States ranks highest among other

According to a survey done by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), it was found out that in America the average daily calorie intake per person is 2700 which has increased by 24.5 percent or about 530 calories between 1970 and 2000 [usda.gov]. This is a reflection of the growing demand in the food industry in the last decade. To cater to such high demand is particularly very challenging especially with the growing consumption rate. According to another survey done by the food science department of Purdue University, it was seen that in 1995, the food manufacturing industry accounted for about 14% of the total US manufacturing output. In that same year, the processed food market represented in $372 billion in value added. Clearly, the food manufacturing sector has been a dominant sector since then in the US economy [Sasha et al., 2001].

The answer to the increasing American’s waistline is not simple regulation. According to Jeffery Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, exercise needs to be part of the normal routine and there is a need for more affordable healthy foods. Dr. Kelly D. Brownell, director of Yale University’s Russ Center for Food Policy and Obesity, believes that “until the government takes on the food industry, we’ll continue to see the appalling numbers in this report” (Healy, Melissa).