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Who Is Obese By Observation Only? Essay

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Can you tell if someone is obese by observation only? Probably not. Can you tell if a person is short or tall by observing? Can you tell by observing what someone’s Body Mass Index? Can you tell by observing someone’s genetic makeup? Moreover, probably not. Then why is America considered obese? In today’s day and age, obesity is determined by height, weight and Body mass index (BMI); as an example, an individual at 5’9” with a weight of 125 lbs. and a BMI of 18.5 is considered obese compliments of the CDC (cdc.gov). The average weight of a United States citizen in 1960 was 150 lbs. as compared to 180.5 lbs. in 2015 (Newsmax.com). This is an increase of 30.5 pounds over the course of 55 years; contemporaneously, according to Living History Farms, McDonald’s had only 1000 restaurants in 1968 and in 2015 McDonald’s had 32,737 locations in operation (Statista.com). How can we hold the nation responsible for unhealthy eating habits when people are constantly inundated with unhealthy, poor options, minimal to no access to better options, the education or knowledge to be able to make what is considered to be the correct option and a capitalistic society greasing the palms of legislatures to reduce Federal Regulations or for legislation to be flexible with the monitoring of how the nation is consuming what foods. The food industry is responsible for obesity in America as evident through marketing, legislation, economy, and restaurants. By exploring these four components over the

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