Fat America

Fat America

Obesity has secretly and steadily crept into American society leading Americans to form bad habits. This issue is a growing problem among college students worldwide. College students should be aware that the stereotypical American lifestyle is a contributing factor of obesity. More often than not, bad habits begin in college. The hard transition of moving away from home to college life makes self-reliance become more important. One of the biggest aspects of college life is making time for everything. Time is valuable and can be easily wasted. People assume that students come to college for an academic education; however students also come to learn the value of time and how to prioritize life. Amid term papers, final exams and grueling homework assignments, students often fail to make a healthy lifestyle a priority and therefore develop unhealthy habits which eventually snowball into obesity.

America is growing fast economically. The food industry is especially soaring. In fact it is said the food we waste can probably feed a whole third world country. Society is setting college students up for being obese. There is too much unhealthy food to choose from when one is hungry, such as Pizza Hut to KFC or frozen ready to go foods. There are not enough nutritious foods to choose from, like light salads or simple sandwiches. The increasing rate of fast food sales is due to the convenience, taste and cheap prices of fattening fast food. A poor college student's mentality is to save as much money as possible. Consequently, chains of fast food restaurants are quickly spreading into college cafeterias. When a student is in a hurry and needs some food on the go, a Taco Bell burrito is the cheapest and quickest option. A Taco Bell meal could be substituted for a well balanced meal consisting of the right amount of carbs, veggies and protein.

If a student wants a snack from a vending machine it is mostly junk food and soda. What happened to snacking on fruit and vegetables? People's snacks have become chips, chocolate bars and soda. There is an absence of fresh and healthy food choices and people do not understand how unhealthy food choices lead to health problems. The absence of fresh foods is lacking in many vending machines and school cafeteria food. Student cafeteria food now mostly consists of carbohydrates such as pizza, pasta, bread, cake, etc. People are now eating empty calorie meals full of fat and high in sodium. It is too easy to buy fast foods because people have become too lazy to cook on their own and thus they make poor eating decisions. If people would only stop eating refined enriched flour and turn to whole grains, they would realize it is more filling. I think another problem is, most students are in taking more carbohydrates than they are burning off. It is the lack of time and effort to exercise that is a significant problem for college students. When there is not enough exercise, extra calories are stored as fat. So because students have a hard time prioritizing their time, it results in drastic consequences in their eating habits. Eating then becomes a convenience because of timing; a result of social life and school; and the desire to eat becomes a result of pure laziness. I believe the stress that is caused by these three factors is what leads to obesity in the long run.

The fast food industry wants you to think you are saving money and getting a good deal because the food seems filling and nutritious, but in reality it is causing a plethora of health risks including heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, knee and joint problems, and various types of cancer and death. Three hundred thousand deaths each year in the United States are associated with obesity. I believe spending money on fast food is not a great idea if a student wants to save money; especially if they also want to prioritize time and the student does not