A Weighty Issue

A Weighty Issue

I know that everyone can think of someone who is not just really healthy, or a little thick around the middle, but is extremely overweight or even morbidly obese. We can all think of that someone who is constantly trying the newest fad diet in yet another unsuccessful attempt to lose weight. Obesity is an epidemic in America. Other countries incidences of obesity in children as well as adults are not nearly as high as those in this country. With all of the past and current pandemics and epidemics in the world, some may think that being fat does not rank in very high importance. The problem of being unhealthy fat may be having a greater impact on our lives in American than we realize. In order to ameliorate the situation, we must first consider some of the underlying causes of this problem.

One of the most prominent reasons for obesity is the wealth of the American Nation. Wealth has a tendency to bring about gluttony. Because the nation as a whole is very economically prosperous, people feel they have the right to overindulge. People in America believe in living well and eating well, but not necessarily in being well. Americans are constantly seeking more "bang for their buck." As a result, fast food chains are commonplace in the American life. That fact combined with infamous super sizing is making Americans fatter and fatter by the generation. The obesity rate of the American population as almost doubled in a mere 25-year time span.

Another reason for the high incidence of Adult obesity is inherently poor eating habits. Parents choose what to feed to their children. A child's strongest shapers of life habits and attitudes are their parents. If parents are obese and have poor eating habits, there is a high likelihood that the children will face the same obstacles as children and even as adults. Thirty percent of American children are overweight. Thirty-five percent of obese children have one or more parents who are overweight. These statistics gathered from the American Obesity Association shed light on a vicious negative cycle of fatness that will continue to plague America unless something is done.

Most prominently in the 20th and 21st century, a sedentary and overly convenient lifestyle has