Obesity In America: The New Epidemic

There is a huge problem spreading across this nation. It's affecting adults and children alike. It' this nation's newest epidemic, it has even been compared to other epidemics such as cigarettes and drugs. The epidemic is obesity and it is sweeping the nation. Americans are now considered to be the fattest people on earth (Pollan, par. 1). The worst part about this epidemic however is not how it is affecting adults but how it is affecting kids. The growing number of overweight kids is getting to be ridiculous. However, it is not these childrens' faults for their being overweight. There are many different factors that come into this equation. America's obsession with fast food and ever growing portion sizes, the amount of advertising to young children for food that is not healthy, and children's inactive lifestyles are all such factors. In addition, the physical and emotional effects on that obesity has on children are just as important.

Americans spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software or new cars (Russo, par. 1 ). No wonder America is getting fat. This should not be a surprise to anyone, as one can find a McDonalds or a Burger King on every corner in just about every own. America has an obsession with fast food for three reasons. It's fast, it's cheap and it tastes good. Why would anyone not want to eat fast food? Most people know that it is terrible for you but to most people the positives in this equation outweigh the negatives. Americans also appreciate value; people in this country want to get the best value for their money. When one is looking at a menu of fast food items, most likely they will want the biggest bang for their buck. Why get one cheeseburger, a small fry and a drink when you can get two cheeseburgers, a large fry, and a large drink for just a dollar more. Most people would opt for the second choice. Most people in fact are choosing this second choice and it's having a huge effect on them. This is mostly due to the skyrocketing portions sizes, which have grown out of control. According to the news staff at www.CTV.ca, a study done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that since 1977, hamburgers have increased nearly 23%, with 97 more calories. French fries have grown by 16% and soft drinks by 52 %(2). With increases like this, it is no wonder that obesity is rampant throughout this country. Americans simply want more for their money. Another problem associated with these large portions is the amount of calories that are in a single meal. Some meals can be enough to fill one's full calorie intake for the day. Greg Critser, the author of "Fat Land" also states an important fact on these large portions:

"People presented with larger portions will eat up to 30 percent more than the y otherwise would. Human hunger is apparently quite elastic, which makes excellent evolutionary sense: it behooved our hunter-gatherer ancestors to feast whenever the opportunity presented itself, thereby storing reserves of fat against future famine. Researchers call this trait "the thrifty gene." The problem is that in an era of fast -food abundance, the opportunity for feasting now presents itself 24/7."

Americans need to wake up and realize that they may be saving money but they are paying a bigger price that they may not realize: their health.

"I laugh because my 2 and 4 year old sons can pick the arches out at least a half a mile away. They can't read at all. But they know those golden arches. If it was up to them, we'd eat there every day." (Emilia, 1) When kids are two and can recognize McDonalds, this shows the power of advertising. Advertising is a very powerful tool in this country used to market food products. Many of these products are not the healthiest things growing kids can eat. Marketing to children is a multibillion dollar industry. Businesses spend 13 billion a year marketing food and drinks to U.S. children and their parents, which is an increase of 5 billion from the last decade.(Emilia, 1). For younger children this is especially bad because they cannot make their own consumption decisions yet. They see a colorful character and think the product that this character is selling is good. So they complain to their parents "that they want" that not knowing how bad this product may be. How can a young child compete with something like this, when the advertising is marketed directly toward them. Children are growing up to be overweight because of poor decisions by their parents and the marketing blitz that doesn't show right from wrong to young children. How can children know what's healthy when "2% of all advertising by food manufacturers is for fruits, vegetables, grains or beans--foods that the government and health professionals encourage (Emilia, 1). So with barely any positive input on good foods coming in and companies spending billions of dollars to advertise non-healthy foods to kids it's no wonder so many kids are overweight. Kids are extremely impressionable especially at a young age. How are they supposed to make these decisions on how to eat healthy? There are a couple reasons why so much money is spent on marketing for children. Besides the fact that children are impressionable, they do also influence what parents buy. Surely, everyone has seen this in your local grocery store before: a child grabs something off of the shelves that he wants, that most likely he has seen on T.V. or has seen advertised somewhere. The child asks his Mother/Father if he can get it and is denied the first time, but constantly keeps asking until the Mother/Father finally give in. This is the power that advertisers know children have. They also buying power: "Children have increasing buying power, not only in terms of purchases but also in influencing family decisions."(Hutchcraft, 10). These days many families are a lot busier as well. Both parents may be working and are usually have less time to make something nutritious at home. So, it is much easier for them to quickly pick something up for dinner. When these parents ask their children what they want to eat, what is the thing there most likely going to say? Fast food and that is where the advertising pays off, in the American home.

There is another problem in the American home besides the eating of unhealthy food. It can be described in one word: laziness. We are in an age of videogames and television, where the cool thing to do isn't going outside and playing sports with your friends, but instead staying inside and playing videogames with your friends on the internet. Plain and simple kids are just not as active anymore. They sit on the couch for hours and watch endless amounts of television instead of spending endless