Obesity In America Research Paper
America - Land of the Free, home of the obese? As our country wages war against terrorism overseas, another domestic battle is taking place: the battle against fat. At the turn of the millennium, an estimated 64 percent of American adults were either overweight or obese (CDC). This unsettling statistic reveals the fact that the United States' proud citizens have trouble digesting, that we are the fattest country on the planet. In today's society, technological advances allow us to go about daily life with the least possible amount of physical exertion. Combine that with an infinite supply of cheap, delicious, and high-calorie food and it adds up to a problem of "supersized" proportion. It became official in 2000 when U.S. Surgeon General David
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Satcher declared obesity a national epidemic. Although the government failed to anticipate this problem before it exploded to such an epic proportion, the obesity epidemic in America could have been foreseen before it escalated to this level. America's sedentary lifestyle, overconsumption, growing portions, high fat foods, and a barrage of advertisements from food companies equated to the growing number of obese.
It is no secret that physical activity is essential to maintaining one's health and well-being. However, many Americans do not get adequate exercise. In fact, twenty-seven percent of American Adults engage in no physical activity at all (Brownell 71). In the past, one could manage to maintain weight by simply going about their daily routine, whether it was school, work, or engaging in recreational activities. However, in today's world, elevators, escalators, cars, dishwashers, riding lawnmowers, and other machines make it possible to get by with the least amount of physical activity. Computers and the Internet make a trip to the library a thing of Harnois 2 the past. Now there is even a device that will walk for you! Many people have simply become lazy, and if there are machines to do everything for us, then why not? Most do not realize the detrimental health effects of sedentariness. However, those who want to take the extra time to get cardiovascular exercise would have trouble doing so, as most streets and highways are not suitable for bicyclers or pedestrians. City smog makes air inadequate for breathing during strenuous activity, and many roads do not even have sidewalks. Gym memberships fees exceed many Americans' budgets. Our society does not make the opportunity to exercise easy accessible by any means. It is clear that technology has made life nearly physically effortless, and trends show no signs of stopping. Adults are not the only people at risk for inactivity. Almost half of all children do not participate in any regular physical activity (Brownell 72), and the number of children participating in sports is steadily decreasing. Many schools have cut Physical Education requirements to make room for more academics, so exercise in school is not happening. The effects of increasing sedentariness among youth are becoming more and more prevalent. Indicators of heart disease can now be found in children, and inactive children have higher blood pressure and lower levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. While kids are out of school, however, free time is spent watching television or using a computer, rather than playing sports or walking to a friend's house. Overweight children are likely to become overweight adults if no intervention in activity is administered. People typically eat whatever they want, whenever they want, then wonder why they are 50 pounds overweight. When becoming obese is imminent, they will try one or more of several "fad diets" to try to lose the weight. Most of these diets promise fast results after eating what the program calls for, such as restricted or discontinued consumption of carbohydrates or fat, and
Harnois 3 some will tell you exactly what to eat for each meal. Most do not stay on such diets because it is almost impossible to stick with any drastic change to one's habits, and former eating patterns are reinstated. The whole "weight rollercoaster" phenomenon could be avoided entirely by eating nutritious foods in moderation, rather than the junk food binges which typify the American diet. Many Americans view a healthy diet and exercise as only a means to reverse damages done by a lifetime of poor health habits, otherwise unnecessary. We have all heard statements along the lines of, "You don't need to go to the gym, you're already skinny." This is the mentality that brought about this heavy prevalence of obesity. From personal experience, it is very common to be asked why I am eating healthily, and why I exercise. It is unfortunate that the American people view a healthy lifestyle only as a way to lose the weight acquired by overconsumption, rather than what it is: a life-long necessity for weight control and health maintenance. "Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music - combined (Schlosser 3)." In fact, American spending on fast food has increased eighteen fold since 1970 - from $6 billion to $110 billion annually (Brownell 8). Overconsumption defines America's eating (as well as spending) habits. This comes as no surprise as we are surrounded by food. Food is available 24 hours a day, accessible in restaurants, machines, and stores, sold in places previously unrelated to eating (gas stations, drug stores), and above all, cheap. As Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation puts it, "Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive throughs, at stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools, elementary schools, universities, on cruise ships, trains, and airplanes, at K-Marts, Wal-Marts, gas stations, and even at hospital cafeterias." McDonalds has 30,000 locations.
Harnois 4
Overconsumption, an inevitability in America, is one of the leading causes of obesity. America seems to like the word "big." Whether it's Big Gulp, Big Grab, Big Mac, or Biggie Fry, bigger is always better. In trying to get the most food for one's money, bigger portions are demanded, and subsequently supplied by the food industry. Advertisements for restaurants and food sold in grocery stores often boast how much you get, like the 24 ounce steak or the bag of frozen french fries that is "25% larger." Food portions that are too large for healthy consumption are often the only sizes that people eat. We give our foods names like Double Whopper with Cheese, Super Supreme Pizza, Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Colossal Burger, Double Decker Taco Supreme, Extreme Gulp. Chicken requires a bucket (Brownell 8). It has been discovered that larger portions lead to eating more (190). Foods offered in large portions tend to be higher-calorie foods, higher calorie foods taste better, and better tasting foods are eaten in larger quantities. This vicious cycle explains why we eat such huge portions of food. In comparison to France, food portions in American restaurants are 25 percent larger, and individual portions of foods in U.S. supermarkets are 37 percent larger. Huge portions, as well as a rampant obese population, are primarily a U.S. phenomenon. Eating to much is not the only problematic contributor to our situation, it is what America is eating that also has a large bearing on the effects of overconsumption. In the phenomenon of "nutrition replacement," healthy foods are replaced with higher fat, higher calorie, nutritionally deficient foods. It is an unfortunate fact that unhealthy foods are far more easily attainable than healthier ones. But it goes further than that. High fat, high calorie foods taste better, are more easily prepared, and are often pre-packaged and pre-cooked for convenience. Modern food is designed by food technologists to taste extremely good, and keep
Harnois 5 people coming back for more. The contents of many of such foods are startling. The majority of frozen and processed foods contain, besides obscene amounts of fat, sugar, and sodium, what is known as trans fatty acids, or trans fat. These fats consist of partially hydrogenated oils and are created by food technologists and added to packaged foods as a stabilizer. Ingestion of trans fat leads to elevated levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, hardening of arteries, and coronary heart disease. Trans fat causes an estimated 30,000 premature deaths annually (Gladwell 416). Trans fat is present in virtually all fast food, shortening, margarine, crackers, cookies, and food fried in partially hydrogenated oil. With that said, the average American eats 30 pounds of french fries every year. The consumption of such dangerous foods is a large contributing factor of obesity in America. Beverages, although often neglected as a cause of obesity, can contribute to poor health as much as food can, and researchers found that soft drinks do, in fact, have a strong link to obesity. Sugared soft drinks have upwards of 15 teaspoons of sugar per 12 ounce can, with the 20 ounce bottle quickly becoming the normal serving size. The excessive amounts of sugar are converted into fat and stored by the body. Surveys reveal that at least 75 percent of teenage children have soft drinks every day. This heavy consumption of "liquid candy" is catalyzed by the increasing number of contracts that under-funded schools have made with soft drink companies in order to function. These schools often have sales quotas to meet, and soda consumption is heavily promoted in schools. In 2002, scientists reported that more than half of the average child's caloric intake now comes from sodas, juices, and other high calorie drinks.
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The increase of soda consumption creates another domain for nutrition replacement. Healthy drinks such as milk and water are being replaced with sugar-filled sodas and fruit juices. Twenty years ago, teenagers were drinking twice as much milk as soda. Now those figures have reversed. One might ask, "Why do Americans eat such unhealthy foods?" Many people will give reasons (or excuses) such as, "I am not overweight," or "I'm not on a diet." In reality, the majority of U.S. citizens simply do not know the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods. Nutrition education in America is extremely inadequate and is usually received during elementary school. Kids are also sent mixed messages: they are told to eat healthily, but then awarded for academic success with pizza and ice cream parties. Young students are taught to follow the extremely flawed USDA food pyramid guideline, an ambiguous model describing what should be eaten on a daily basis. The pyramid recommends different types of foods to be eaten in specific numbers of servings, such as six to eleven servings of complex carbohydrates (bread, cereal, pasta), three to five servings of fruits and vegetables, etc. Fats and sweets are to be consumed "sparingly." What is sparingly? Eating fast food for every other meal? Many people do not know how large a serving size is, and it is harder than ever to tell with the increasing food portions served. Also, the guideline labels all fats as bad, when this is clearly untrue as the body needs fats to function. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in foods like nuts, seafood, vegetables, and other natural sources, as well as saturated fats like Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids oil found in fish, are rich in essential elements and offer many healthful benefits (Simontacchi 84). Based on the pyramid, one could fulfill the daily requirement of carbohydrates with Mcdonalds' hamburger buns that are loaded with trans fat, of
Harnois 7 dairy with an ice cream cone or McFlurry, which also has trans fat and a high sugar content, and of protein with the hamburger patty saturated, in saturated fat. Advertising plays a huge role in what people eat. Giants such as McDonalds and Coca Cola have multi-billion dollar budgets to spend on advertising. One cannot walk a city block without seeing dozens of food advertisements, most of which are for unhealthy foods. Companies advertise wherever they can, whether it be in magazines, newspapers, on buses, blimps, stadiums, television, radio, or even in movies. Big-name companies have become part of popular culture as a result of aggressive advertising campaigns. Every group of people is targeted by ads, and most often children are the target. Children affect the way billions of dollars are spent every year, so companies have developed techniques to advertise specifically to kids. There are books, advertising journals, and conferences describing how to best market to children (Brownell 9). Some of the more popular methods of marketing to children are placing popular figures on products, using brightly colored and attractive packaging, using characters such as cartoons or other mascots in commercials (i.e. Silly Rabbit, the leprechaun, friendly captain, pitcher with a smiling face), or all of the above. McDonalds has the notorious reputation for luring kids with playgrounds, birthday parties, toys, happy meals, and a clown (Spurlock).
McDonald's mascot is so widely promoted that Ronald McDonald is the second most recognized figure in the world, topped only by Santa Claus (Brownell 13). It would be one thing if the obesity situation were merely aesthetic: if simply being fat or thin were at stake. However, the epidemic is affecting more than pant sizes. In the United States, obesity now contributes more to chronic illness and health care costs than does smoking (Brownell 4). Children have an increased risk for Adult Onset Diabetes. Larger BMI's
Harnois 9 correspond to increased risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke, and a slew of other preventable ailments. America's epidemic of obesity is the result of a laundry list of factors, but obesity can be overcome if America became more pro-active in the war on fat.
Works Consulted
Brownell, Kelly D. And Katherine Battle Horgen. Food Fight. New York: Contemporary Books. 2004.
Crister, Greg. Fat Land. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2003.
Gladwell, Malcolm. "The Trouble with Fries." The Prentice Hall Reader, 7th ed. New Jersey: Pearson. 2004
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Harper Collins Books. 2002.
Simontacchi, Carol. The Crazy Makers. New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc. 2000.
Supersize Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Perf. Morgan Spurlock. 2004. DVD. Kathbur Pictures, Inc., 2004.
United States. Food and Drug Administration. "Questions and Answers about Trans Fat Nutrition Labeling." Updated March 2004. Accessed 21 November 2004. .
United States. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. "Defining
Overweight and Obesity." Updated 24 June 2004. Accessed 11 November 2004. .
Outline
Thesis: America's sedentary lifestyle, overconsumption, growing portions, high fat foods, and a barrage of advertisements from food companies equated to the growing number of obese.
I. Lack of physical activity A. Physical activity essential to health B. Americans do not exercise 1. Not necessary for daily living 2. Not accessible to many
II. Lack of physical activity in children A. Sports decreasing B. P.E. cut C. Effects of inactivity in children
III.
American Mentality on Healthy Living A. Americans' normal diet is of junk food B. "Dieting" and exercise only to get rid of fat accumulation C. Fad diets
IV. Overconsumption A. Over spending on food B. Over eating C. Food everywhere
V. Huge portions A. Americans like "big" B. Names for our food C. Why huge portions lead to obesity 1. Large portion foods tend to be high calorie 2. Higher calorie foods taste better 3. Better tasting foods eaten in larger amounts D. U.S. portions compared to French
VI. What foods America eats A. Nutrition Replacement B. Why Americans eat unhealthy foods 1. Healthy foods harder to attain and prepare 2. Junk food tastes better, cheaper, pre-packaged C. Content of foods 1. Sugar, fat, sodium 2. Trans fat
VII. What America drinks A. Soft drink consumption leads to obesity B. Sugar content of soda C. Soda in schools
VIII. America's lack of nutrition knowledge A. People cannot distinguish between healthy and unhealthy food B. Nutrition education in school system is inadequate C. Food guide pyramid is ambiguous
IX. Advertising A. Multi-billion dollar budgets for big corporations B. Advertising mediums C. Advertising to
Children
Satcher declared obesity a national epidemic. Although the government failed to anticipate this problem before it exploded to such an epic proportion, the obesity epidemic in America could have been foreseen before it escalated to this level. America's sedentary lifestyle, overconsumption, growing portions, high fat foods, and a barrage of advertisements from food companies equated to the growing number of obese.
It is no secret that physical activity is essential to maintaining one's health and well-being. However, many Americans do not get adequate exercise. In fact, twenty-seven percent of American Adults engage in no physical activity at all (Brownell 71). In the past, one could manage to maintain weight by simply going about their daily routine, whether it was school, work, or engaging in recreational activities. However, in today's world, elevators, escalators, cars, dishwashers, riding lawnmowers, and other machines make it possible to get by with the least amount of physical activity. Computers and the Internet make a trip to the library a thing of Harnois 2 the past. Now there is even a device that will walk for you! Many people have simply become lazy, and if there are machines to do everything for us, then why not? Most do not realize the detrimental health effects of sedentariness. However, those who want to take the extra time to get cardiovascular exercise would have trouble doing so, as most streets and highways are not suitable for bicyclers or pedestrians. City smog makes air inadequate for breathing during strenuous activity, and many roads do not even have sidewalks. Gym memberships fees exceed many Americans' budgets. Our society does not make the opportunity to exercise easy accessible by any means. It is clear that technology has made life nearly physically effortless, and trends show no signs of stopping. Adults are not the only people at risk for inactivity. Almost half of all children do not participate in any regular physical activity (Brownell 72), and the number of children participating in sports is steadily decreasing. Many schools have cut Physical Education requirements to make room for more academics, so exercise in school is not happening. The effects of increasing sedentariness among youth are becoming more and more prevalent. Indicators of heart disease can now be found in children, and inactive children have higher blood pressure and lower levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. While kids are out of school, however, free time is spent watching television or using a computer, rather than playing sports or walking to a friend's house. Overweight children are likely to become overweight adults if no intervention in activity is administered. People typically eat whatever they want, whenever they want, then wonder why they are 50 pounds overweight. When becoming obese is imminent, they will try one or more of several "fad diets" to try to lose the weight. Most of these diets promise fast results after eating what the program calls for, such as restricted or discontinued consumption of carbohydrates or fat, and
Harnois 3 some will tell you exactly what to eat for each meal. Most do not stay on such diets because it is almost impossible to stick with any drastic change to one's habits, and former eating patterns are reinstated. The whole "weight rollercoaster" phenomenon could be avoided entirely by eating nutritious foods in moderation, rather than the junk food binges which typify the American diet. Many Americans view a healthy diet and exercise as only a means to reverse damages done by a lifetime of poor health habits, otherwise unnecessary. We have all heard statements along the lines of, "You don't need to go to the gym, you're already skinny." This is the mentality that brought about this heavy prevalence of obesity. From personal experience, it is very common to be asked why I am eating healthily, and why I exercise. It is unfortunate that the American people view a healthy lifestyle only as a way to lose the weight acquired by overconsumption, rather than what it is: a life-long necessity for weight control and health maintenance. "Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music - combined (Schlosser 3)." In fact, American spending on fast food has increased eighteen fold since 1970 - from $6 billion to $110 billion annually (Brownell 8). Overconsumption defines America's eating (as well as spending) habits. This comes as no surprise as we are surrounded by food. Food is available 24 hours a day, accessible in restaurants, machines, and stores, sold in places previously unrelated to eating (gas stations, drug stores), and above all, cheap. As Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation puts it, "Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive throughs, at stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools, elementary schools, universities, on cruise ships, trains, and airplanes, at K-Marts, Wal-Marts, gas stations, and even at hospital cafeterias." McDonalds has 30,000 locations.
Harnois 4
Overconsumption, an inevitability in America, is one of the leading causes of obesity. America seems to like the word "big." Whether it's Big Gulp, Big Grab, Big Mac, or Biggie Fry, bigger is always better. In trying to get the most food for one's money, bigger portions are demanded, and subsequently supplied by the food industry. Advertisements for restaurants and food sold in grocery stores often boast how much you get, like the 24 ounce steak or the bag of frozen french fries that is "25% larger." Food portions that are too large for healthy consumption are often the only sizes that people eat. We give our foods names like Double Whopper with Cheese, Super Supreme Pizza, Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Colossal Burger, Double Decker Taco Supreme, Extreme Gulp. Chicken requires a bucket (Brownell 8). It has been discovered that larger portions lead to eating more (190). Foods offered in large portions tend to be higher-calorie foods, higher calorie foods taste better, and better tasting foods are eaten in larger quantities. This vicious cycle explains why we eat such huge portions of food. In comparison to France, food portions in American restaurants are 25 percent larger, and individual portions of foods in U.S. supermarkets are 37 percent larger. Huge portions, as well as a rampant obese population, are primarily a U.S. phenomenon. Eating to much is not the only problematic contributor to our situation, it is what America is eating that also has a large bearing on the effects of overconsumption. In the phenomenon of "nutrition replacement," healthy foods are replaced with higher fat, higher calorie, nutritionally deficient foods. It is an unfortunate fact that unhealthy foods are far more easily attainable than healthier ones. But it goes further than that. High fat, high calorie foods taste better, are more easily prepared, and are often pre-packaged and pre-cooked for convenience. Modern food is designed by food technologists to taste extremely good, and keep
Harnois 5 people coming back for more. The contents of many of such foods are startling. The majority of frozen and processed foods contain, besides obscene amounts of fat, sugar, and sodium, what is known as trans fatty acids, or trans fat. These fats consist of partially hydrogenated oils and are created by food technologists and added to packaged foods as a stabilizer. Ingestion of trans fat leads to elevated levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, hardening of arteries, and coronary heart disease. Trans fat causes an estimated 30,000 premature deaths annually (Gladwell 416). Trans fat is present in virtually all fast food, shortening, margarine, crackers, cookies, and food fried in partially hydrogenated oil. With that said, the average American eats 30 pounds of french fries every year. The consumption of such dangerous foods is a large contributing factor of obesity in America. Beverages, although often neglected as a cause of obesity, can contribute to poor health as much as food can, and researchers found that soft drinks do, in fact, have a strong link to obesity. Sugared soft drinks have upwards of 15 teaspoons of sugar per 12 ounce can, with the 20 ounce bottle quickly becoming the normal serving size. The excessive amounts of sugar are converted into fat and stored by the body. Surveys reveal that at least 75 percent of teenage children have soft drinks every day. This heavy consumption of "liquid candy" is catalyzed by the increasing number of contracts that under-funded schools have made with soft drink companies in order to function. These schools often have sales quotas to meet, and soda consumption is heavily promoted in schools. In 2002, scientists reported that more than half of the average child's caloric intake now comes from sodas, juices, and other high calorie drinks.
Harnois 6
The increase of soda consumption creates another domain for nutrition replacement. Healthy drinks such as milk and water are being replaced with sugar-filled sodas and fruit juices. Twenty years ago, teenagers were drinking twice as much milk as soda. Now those figures have reversed. One might ask, "Why do Americans eat such unhealthy foods?" Many people will give reasons (or excuses) such as, "I am not overweight," or "I'm not on a diet." In reality, the majority of U.S. citizens simply do not know the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods. Nutrition education in America is extremely inadequate and is usually received during elementary school. Kids are also sent mixed messages: they are told to eat healthily, but then awarded for academic success with pizza and ice cream parties. Young students are taught to follow the extremely flawed USDA food pyramid guideline, an ambiguous model describing what should be eaten on a daily basis. The pyramid recommends different types of foods to be eaten in specific numbers of servings, such as six to eleven servings of complex carbohydrates (bread, cereal, pasta), three to five servings of fruits and vegetables, etc. Fats and sweets are to be consumed "sparingly." What is sparingly? Eating fast food for every other meal? Many people do not know how large a serving size is, and it is harder than ever to tell with the increasing food portions served. Also, the guideline labels all fats as bad, when this is clearly untrue as the body needs fats to function. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in foods like nuts, seafood, vegetables, and other natural sources, as well as saturated fats like Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids oil found in fish, are rich in essential elements and offer many healthful benefits (Simontacchi 84). Based on the pyramid, one could fulfill the daily requirement of carbohydrates with Mcdonalds' hamburger buns that are loaded with trans fat, of
Harnois 7 dairy with an ice cream cone or McFlurry, which also has trans fat and a high sugar content, and of protein with the hamburger patty saturated, in saturated fat. Advertising plays a huge role in what people eat. Giants such as McDonalds and Coca Cola have multi-billion dollar budgets to spend on advertising. One cannot walk a city block without seeing dozens of food advertisements, most of which are for unhealthy foods. Companies advertise wherever they can, whether it be in magazines, newspapers, on buses, blimps, stadiums, television, radio, or even in movies. Big-name companies have become part of popular culture as a result of aggressive advertising campaigns. Every group of people is targeted by ads, and most often children are the target. Children affect the way billions of dollars are spent every year, so companies have developed techniques to advertise specifically to kids. There are books, advertising journals, and conferences describing how to best market to children (Brownell 9). Some of the more popular methods of marketing to children are placing popular figures on products, using brightly colored and attractive packaging, using characters such as cartoons or other mascots in commercials (i.e. Silly Rabbit, the leprechaun, friendly captain, pitcher with a smiling face), or all of the above. McDonalds has the notorious reputation for luring kids with playgrounds, birthday parties, toys, happy meals, and a clown (Spurlock).
McDonald's mascot is so widely promoted that Ronald McDonald is the second most recognized figure in the world, topped only by Santa Claus (Brownell 13). It would be one thing if the obesity situation were merely aesthetic: if simply being fat or thin were at stake. However, the epidemic is affecting more than pant sizes. In the United States, obesity now contributes more to chronic illness and health care costs than does smoking (Brownell 4). Children have an increased risk for Adult Onset Diabetes. Larger BMI's
Harnois 9 correspond to increased risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke, and a slew of other preventable ailments. America's epidemic of obesity is the result of a laundry list of factors, but obesity can be overcome if America became more pro-active in the war on fat.
Works Consulted
Brownell, Kelly D. And Katherine Battle Horgen. Food Fight. New York: Contemporary Books. 2004.
Crister, Greg. Fat Land. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2003.
Gladwell, Malcolm. "The Trouble with Fries." The Prentice Hall Reader, 7th ed. New Jersey: Pearson. 2004
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Harper Collins Books. 2002.
Simontacchi, Carol. The Crazy Makers. New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc. 2000.
Supersize Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Perf. Morgan Spurlock. 2004. DVD. Kathbur Pictures, Inc., 2004.
United States. Food and Drug Administration. "Questions and Answers about Trans Fat Nutrition Labeling." Updated March 2004. Accessed 21 November 2004. .
United States. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. "Defining
Overweight and Obesity." Updated 24 June 2004. Accessed 11 November 2004. .
Outline
Thesis: America's sedentary lifestyle, overconsumption, growing portions, high fat foods, and a barrage of advertisements from food companies equated to the growing number of obese.
I. Lack of physical activity A. Physical activity essential to health B. Americans do not exercise 1. Not necessary for daily living 2. Not accessible to many
II. Lack of physical activity in children A. Sports decreasing B. P.E. cut C. Effects of inactivity in children
III.
American Mentality on Healthy Living A. Americans' normal diet is of junk food B. "Dieting" and exercise only to get rid of fat accumulation C. Fad diets
IV. Overconsumption A. Over spending on food B. Over eating C. Food everywhere
V. Huge portions A. Americans like "big" B. Names for our food C. Why huge portions lead to obesity 1. Large portion foods tend to be high calorie 2. Higher calorie foods taste better 3. Better tasting foods eaten in larger amounts D. U.S. portions compared to French
VI. What foods America eats A. Nutrition Replacement B. Why Americans eat unhealthy foods 1. Healthy foods harder to attain and prepare 2. Junk food tastes better, cheaper, pre-packaged C. Content of foods 1. Sugar, fat, sodium 2. Trans fat
VII. What America drinks A. Soft drink consumption leads to obesity B. Sugar content of soda C. Soda in schools
VIII. America's lack of nutrition knowledge A. People cannot distinguish between healthy and unhealthy food B. Nutrition education in school system is inadequate C. Food guide pyramid is ambiguous
IX. Advertising A. Multi-billion dollar budgets for big corporations B. Advertising mediums C. Advertising to
Children