an obese nation english paper

An Obese Nation

Walking down the street a person is more likely to see an obese person than a person of normal weight. This nation is filled with obese adults, and children who seem to be following in their parents' footsteps. Obesity is overrunning America. What are the causes of the obesity epidemic that has swept America, and what solutions can be considered to help decrease obesity? Americans are overweight in growing numbers due to lack of exercise and the convenience of fast food.# Lack of exercise plays an immense part in the obesity problem. People always come up with excuses to get out of exercising, such as believing it will not hurt too much to miss one day or that they do not have time to exercise. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's medical correspondent wrote, “More than 60 percent of American adults do not exercise regularly, and many are content to admit they do not exercise at all” (Gupta, par. 1). Gupta hits the nail on the head in this quote, explaining that Americans do not only realize they do not exercise regularly they also are open to admit it. This means that they do not realize how valuable exercising is for their health. Kinesiologist Steven Bray explains, “College is the first big transition in life, and it becomes an excuse not to exercise” (qtd. in Gupta, par. 3). Bray does a terrific job at showing how people use transitions in life as excuses not to exercise. While lack of exercise contributes to the obesity epidemic it is not the sole cause. # The convenience of fast food has lead to poor diet choices and ultimately an obese nation. The key word is their choice because people do not have to go out to eat. If people do eat out, they can always choose a salad or something healthy. Alison Motluk, author of the article “Supersize Me”, wrote, “It is tempting to blame fat people for the state they are in. But health officials have recently begun to focus on a different culprit: the so-called 'obesogenic' environment. In the US, goes the argument, the prevailing culture actually promotes obesity, making an unhealthy lifestyle the default option” (par. 3). Although Motluk makes a valid point in this quotes, she does not look at it from all sides; sure it is easy to blame the environment, but Americans are as much at fault. Motluk also explained, “Because fewer households have a stay-at-home parent to prepare meals from scratch, families increasingly turn to highly processed convenience foods, takeouts or fast-food restaurants. Half the average American food budget goes on food eaten outside the home, much of which is high-fat” (par. 4). Motluk makes an excellent point in this quote; many families have no time to cook dinner, and convenience foods make it so easy just to go grab something quick to eat. “Another insidious influence on the American diet has been the gradual increase in portion size” (Motluk, par. 5). Motluk does a good job of capturing another reason why fast food restaurants are unhealthy for us. Although this obesity epidemic seems like it is out-of-control, there are several solutions to help get the obesity percentage down. # There are many solutions to the problem of obesity. If we changed the fast food restaurants menu's to serve healthy foods instead of fattening foods, there would not be any way for people to get a hold of fattening foods. If there were more healthy, quick recipes, restaurants could cook those in place of the fattening ones they cook now and people at home could cook those instead of going out. We could make fattening food more expensive than healthy food; this way more people would eat the healthy food and not the fattening food. People should buy more at home exercise plans so that they can work out in the comfort of their own homes or dorms instead of having to go to the public gym. If there were a way to help teach people how to motivate themselves, people could continue to exercise well even after quitting personal training. Scientists could research how to make healthy foods taste better while still keeping them healthy. Scientists should also research how to make fattening foods healthier so that people do not have to give up the foods they love and can still lose weight. If parents started their kids off on only healthy foods and no soda, then they would not get addicted to the soda, which can add considerable pounds, and will not miss the fattening food because they've never tasted it. Schools should also add more physical activity to the curriculum that way kids exercise more and stay healthy. Psychologist Martin Binks explains, “Physical activity gets put on the back burner in favor of test scores” (qtd. in Motluk, par. 6). This quote is so accurate; people care too much about test scores, which only measure how well a person does on a test, and not enough about physical activity and the state of their bodies. If schools would worry less on how well kids can take tests and more on how healthy their bodies were, kids would not be as obese as they are today. People find excuses not to exercise, which means no burning of calories. Fast-foods and other convenience foods make it hard for a person to find something healthy to eat when they have no time to make a home cooked meal. Not to mention, portion sizes have expanded by unthinkable amounts in the past decades. Squeezing at least 30 minutes of exercise a day into a person's schedule and avoiding unhealthy foods could drastically lower the obesity level in the USA.