Obesity

Obesity is an epidemic that affects millions of people in the United States everyday. It is a lifestyle disease that affects individuals of all races, age and gender. Childhood obesity has been increasing rapidly over the past few years. The problem with obesity is that it makes individuals highly susceptible to diseases like diabetes and hypertension. Seventeen percent of all children in the United States suffer from obesity today. Obesity is generally caused when the calories eaten exceed the calories our body dissipates. This occurs either when high calorie food is consumed or due to lack of physical fitness. In order to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle a balance of proper food and physical fitness is important. However, in the sedentary lifestyle of modern day America, we have less time to exercise. Therefore, making a healthy choice in what we eat is important to maintain a healthy standard of living. The rise of fast food chains like McDonald’s, KFC and Taco Bell may have contributed partly to the problem of obesity. However, critics who believe that these chains of restaurants are the main cause of obesity in America today are highly mistaken. The problem of obesity is caused, not due to the chains selling unhealthy food but by people choosing to purchase and consume these unhealthy foods. The lack of education regarding what people should eat and how much they should eat is the most prominent cause of obesity in America.

“I just don’t know a lot about obesity. Until you realize it you’re blinded. Then you get to an age where you suddenly say “ ‘Oh my God! What have I done to myself?'’’ This was the statement of the mayor of a town where obesity among adults peaks at 51 percent. The town doesn’t have a park, bicycle trail or even a gym. However, it isn’t such that the town is underdeveloped at all. Right at the intersection that leads into town, a hoard of fast food chains can be found, where most of the town’s people eat their daily meals.

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