How America's Kids Packed on the Pounds Summary

Jefferey Kluger makes a good point in his article “How America’s Children Packed on the Pounds”. He clearly puts it “It wasn’t easy to produce a generation of overfed kids- but it might well have been inevitable”. Americans love their food. The settlers came to a new place that was abundant with it. No shortage of game, and fields that produced plentiful yields. Americans love with food started early, the first national holiday established was Thanksgiving. Americans have always been in an environment where food was plentiful. Kluger states “Humans, like most animals, are hardwired not just to eat but to gorge”. Humans go back to their instincts and not only prefer more food than necessary, but also food that is high in calories. Over eating wasn’t nearly as big of problem back when men and women were burning off almost all the calories they took in. In today’s world it is much different, where people just overeat and don’t do anything to shed the extra intake. If you take into account overweight people not just the obese about two-thirds of Americans weigh more than they should according to Kluger. This problem is becoming more in more common in children. Percentages of children’s obesity have sky rocketed over the past decades. Along with being overweight other problems are arising from this epidemic. Children are contracting diseases thought only possible to get as an adult. “Health experts warn that the current generation of children may be the first in American History to have a shorter life expectancy then their parents”, Kluger put in his paper. Its also become evident that along with taking in an abundance of extra calories no one is worrying about not being active to get rid of them. Schools are cutting physical education programs to save money not caring about the consequences it is causing the students. Americans are fighting back. Some children’s parents are trying to fight it at home in their kitchens. There are public awareness campaigns to bring light to this growing problem. Kluger sums up his paper by saying, “Americans will contine to love good food: the trick will be to learn to love good health even more.”