Why Is American Samoa's Unhealthy Culture

It is proved that a healthy diet costs more that an unhealthy diet. Supermarkets have been criticised for focusing on high – fat, salty and sugary foods when running promotions.

America is known for being one of the most obese countries in the world. Once you step foot in America, people can quickly find out why; everywhere you look there are a ton of fast food chains on nearly every block. Fast food to Americans is a quick, easy, and affordable way to get food. In the past Forty years, more than 160,000 fast food restaurants have opened in America (Pirello). This cheap and quick meal comes at a cost; according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDCP), more than 66 percent of Americans are overweight and obese. To make things worse, the CDCP notes that one third of children and adolescents are obese. David Zinczenko, the editor-in- chief of Men’s Health

The health of both overweight and obese people lies in jeopardy due to the extra stress placed on the body, especially the heart, due to the high amount of excess fat they carry with themiv. Being overweight or obese increases a person’s risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, some types of cancer, stroke, and several other devastating ailments. The percentage of the obese population in the United States has risen from 23% to its present day rate of 30% in only eight yearsv. This skyrocketing trend is most likely related to the increase in portion sizes and calories at many American restaurants, the rising level of stress and expectation during the average workday, and the logarithmic increase in fast food restaurant options over the last 20 years. To understand how the Japanese diet supersedes the typical American diet in numerous health issues, several aspects of the diets must be evaluated.

Apart from healthcare issue, the country has adopted the fast-moving life style, which has pushed most of our citizens to succumb to obesity as a result of fast foods. In fact, a recent report by the UN has ranked the United States as the most obese country in the world. Parramore (2012) outlines that, “Obesity is currently being considered as a national crisis in the United States and that it contributes 100,000 to 400,000 deaths per year. Statistics at the CDC and Prevention in 2010 indicate that 35.7% of the American adult is obese.” Many input trends exist in the American society, “First and foremost, people are highly used to fried foods, sugary drinks, and processed meats among others. There is also the sedentary lifestyle that has been adopted by many,” (Huffington Post, 2013). In fact, most of us love relaxing without exercise and too much television watching. These are some of the factors that contribute to obesity. The result is health complications problems such as diabetes, stroke, and heart disease just to mention but a few. These affect the longevity of life.

One of the most unhealthy diets in the world is that of an American. It is made up of processed foods and a good amount of television. America easily has the most fast food restaurants in the entire world. Leave it to McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King or any other fast-food restaurant to serve extremely cheap and even unhealthier food at any time during the day or night. ”It tastes good so why not?” That seems to be the question many people are asking now-a-days. Because it is so easily accessible and processed, it is made to be very tasty and extremely unhealthy. Many Americans find his or herself indulging on the these fatty foods of America on a day-to-day basis. While it may taste good at the time, it has a terrible effect on your body

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

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.

Indeed, Obesity in America is a huge problem that continues to escalate due to fast food chains. Fast food places are everywhere and close range from one another. I don’t even have to walk more than a mile to get to a fast food place. According to Mandal, “Fast foods reduce the quality of diet and provide

America has been faced with the growing obesity epidemic. This is becoming very wide spread among all races and class levels due in part to the abundance of inexpensive food available and how easily people are becoming persuaded to but things they do not need. David Zinczenko published article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, Zinczenko argues that fast-food industries are not doing their job to provide clear enough nutritional information for hazardous food.

Obesity is a continuing problem in the American society. Obesity, occurs when, the amount of energy taken is more than the energy released (Abraham 237). The growing obesity rates could be slightly declined by the availability of more affordable, healthier foods and the decline of these temporary quick fit diets, many Americans put themselves on as a means to get fit. The opposing viewpoint may suggest that obesity can be fixed simply by shopping for better, healthier food choices in grocery stores and learning how to count calories to maintain a healthy weight; but that simple solution may not be an achievable solution for every American. Furthermore, the difference of cost between healthy compared to unhealthy foods is completely outrageous. Numberless people strive to go into a grocery store and select all of the healthy food options of their liking; however, healthy food options cost more and are seemingly unaffordable compared to junk food. The government should regulate the prices of junk and healthy food as a means to combat obesity in America, so that all persons can achieve good health.

The author explains, that growing number of overweight and obese are the result of processed foods and lack of nutritional information serve in the restaurant.

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.

Our culture pressures Americans to eat unhealthy through economics and convenience. For example, a commercial for a soft drink verses a commercial for bottled water. The commercials for soft drinks are loud, bold, and exciting. Vending machines charge from fifty to eighty-five cents for a soft drink while bottled water ranges from eight-five cents to a dollar. "A typical meal at a restaurant has 1000 calories, not counting the appetizer or dessert" (1). Many

The first reason Hastings et al., mention is the weight gain as a result of eating food with insufficient calories. Hastings et al., stresses that almost 50 % of the population from Samoa has been diagnosed with obesity when compared to 30 years ago. In other words, the number of obesity has increased due to the people choices of consuming canned corned beef, popular in England. However, the authors do not detail if this source of obesity is only related to the canned beef consumption, presumably there might be some unclear evidences that played roles in gaining weight. By the same token, the authors also remark that a similar case had been noted in Fiji due to the swap from the production of their own fresh fruits and vegetables practices to canned soda and sheep fat

Obesity on small islands, especially those located in the Pacific Ocean have many causes such as, the diet lifestyle, culture and globalization of those living on the island. Before World War II, they had access to eating crops, fruits, vegetables, and fish, but soon after WW II, there was a high exposure to processed food and they begin living a sedentary lifestyle. This involved their diets changing to favor imorted foods. This effected not only their culture but their genetics as well, causing their bodies to store fat easier. It changed the cultures perspective on the intake of food, rather than food being a necessity in life, food became a luxury, a sign of respected and changed the view of social status, those that were larger in size