Obesity

It's really no wonder that there is an obesity epidemic in America. Food is everywhere we look; sitting along the roadsides, calling at you in bright colors from grocery store shelves, glowing in vending machines down the hallway. There is no way to escape the never ending advertisements from fast food restaurants. This is where obesity begins; consuming more food portions than your body needs. Americans are also overweight due to the lack of exercise; there is more time spent on the couch sitting in front of the television, than there is in the gym. Just an hour each day could better your health. Obesity ranks as the second-leading cause of preventable deaths in America, following smoking by only one percent. People need to set limits and health plans early in their life to overcome this new threat.

Despite America being one of the most industrialized nations, this country is definitely not one of the healthiest. Even though we are living in a country with great economic power and amazing technology, we are also living in a country with the smallest nutritional knowledge. We are living in a land overwhelmed with obesity. America is home to the most obese people in the world. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity in adults has increased 60% within the past twenty years and obesity in children has tripled in the past thirty years. A staggering 33% of American adults are obese and obesity related deaths have climbed to more than 300,000 a year. Lawmakers have even tried to impose a new tax rule called a "Twinkie tax", which would tax unhealthy foods to try to persuade people out of buying them. This method has been termed as unconstitutional, and will most likely not take effect.

Fast food restaurants are quick to deny the blame that is being thrown at them by angry consumers and health professions. Fast-food restaurants have become typical in the past 30 years and practically all of America takes part of the cheap prices, quick service and tasty meals. Convenient as they are, these meals contain practically no nutrients. They are made up of mostly saturated fats and refined carbohydrates and are packed full of sodium and sugar. The average adult shouldn't have more than 65 grams of fat or 2000 calories a day. One meal from Burger King, a hamburger and French fries, has 50 grams of fat and 2000 calories, which is almost enough to fill someone's fat and calorie intake for the day. Scientists report that study participants who visited fast food restaurants twice a week or more gained 10 pounds and experienced double the increase in insulin resistance compared to subjects who visited these places less than once a week. So if Americans realize the dangers that these foods impose on their health, why don't they stop eating them? The answers are very simple; these foods compliment the lifestyle they have. Most people eat on the go, so the drive thru's and fast service is calling at them as the easiest solution. The fast food industry has recently had to face the accusations of being a big contributor to the obesity epidemic and had been sued by several individuals. These people claimed that they were morbidly obese due to their frequent visits to McDonald's; they also claimed that they had no idea this lifestyle