Obesity in USA

Obesity in the USA
Good morning my fellow students. I want to give a speech about obesity in the U.S. because it’s a major problem today, much more than in the pass. I want to talk about what there has been causing the major obesity in today’s U.S. and what we can do to make the situation better.
Obesity is a major cause of death and overweight people has a big chance to get heart disease, cancer or diabetes. 10 % of the national medical budget is spent on obesity which is 150 billion dollars each year. We can conclude that obesity is a major health and economic problem for the American society and we have to struggle against obesity to create a healthier society.
In the U.S. there are so many opportunities to get unhealthy food. Almost at every corner you can find at least one fast food store or more and it’s cheaper for many to buy some fast food instead of going to a store and buy some healthy food plus it takes less time to buy some fast food instead of cooking your own meal. So I understand why the obesity has been such a huge problem for the Americans and something has to be done.
In the U.S. 1 out of 3 adult is overweight and 1 out of 6 children is overweight which is very scary to hear but that’s a fact and these facts has been increased the past 20 years. It’s our own fault that the obesity has come so far. The way we eat has changed in the past 20 years. The processed food is more popular than ever and the number for restaurant visits has been increased since the 1980. Many hours a day are using in front of a screen at work or for entertainment and the American infrastructure are not helping either.
In America you have to drive when you are going to work or school because there often are so far you can’t bicycle, run or walk. The way that the communities are build are not for the person with interest in sports. The ways or streets are only kind to drivers. It’s nearly dangerous to bicycle in the American streets today because there isn’t are a road to those who want to bicycle and the streets aren’t kind to the pedestrians either and it’s almost unsafe to cross a road because of missing pedestrian crossings. It’s just much easier to drive in a car than something else here. It’s difficult for children to get to playgrounds because of the way the communities are build and therefor among others are the children spending so much time in front of screens. What I just have been telling you are only some of the problems obesity are causing.
There is no single or simple solution to the obesity epidemic. It demands hard work to struggle against the obese, but a lot of the struggling is only few alterations in our everyday life. What we can do as single individuals is to replace all the unhealthy candy with fruits and replace all the sugar drinks with water to our meals. Only that is a huge step to the battle against obesity. But as single individuals we can’t do all the work by ourselves companies, communities, schools and the government must act to solve this problem.
The big ones have responsibility for the small ones and many companies are beginning to take responsibility. Reebok is one of the companies with an investment of 30 million dollars the next three years which supports innovative programs to get kids active in the school. Disney is now offering healthier menus and Darden restaurants has replaced their old child menu with a new healthier menu. Walmart has made a new “Great for You” seal which they’re putting on healthy food items in their stores. This is some of the things which have been changed and the results are beginning to show e.g. in Mississippi the obesity rate among elementary school children have dropped 13 percent and the rates are also falling in cities like Philadelphia and New York.
Companies could also do more for their employees. They could offer work side health programmes like that the Capital Metro Bus Company in Austin Texas where the employees can make their work out, get support for their weight loss and get healthier food in the canteen. If every company considered this work side health programme the American obese society could change.
The communities have an important role to stop the obesity in the U.S. They could make healthy nutrition programmes in schools so the students could get more vegetables and fruits and introduce physical educations. Then the communities could make it easier and not so dangerous for people to move around without a car by making easier access to schools, parks and grocery stores.
Obesity is a huge problem in the U.S and every single individual have to take responsibility. It’s a huge death causing and costs the government billions of dollars. Companies, communities and schools must act as well and take sure that this will come to an end.
I’m almost done with my speech and it’s now time for you to ask questions if you have anyone. Thanks for listening to me and I hope you have a nice day!