This preventable cause of death in our nation has a mortality rate that exceeds drunk driving and even smoking, estimated to take 300 thousand lives per year makes obesity a growing epidemic within these boarders. As American's waistline becomes larger the national debt does the same, this direct correlation between health and national funds will continue to create a detrimental dent in the economy; one that as a nation we can not afford to get out of. Television, specifically advertising, encourages individuals towards unhealthy lifestyles by using catchy jingles, unforgettable slogans, and guarantees of pleasure. These empty promises create new addictions in consumers resulting in conflation with the words want and need. This nation not only has dying citizens but also a dying economy, both of which can be avoided with the correct action. Advertising and lack of correct action continues to create higher obesity rates and as a result leads to an increasing national debt. 

This increasing rate is a product of young children inheriting the parent's poor diet and health decisions along with advertising on television. Today's youth from the ages 8 to 18 consume multiple types of media, often at the same time. This youth also takes in large amounts of media by spending approximately 44 hours in front of computer, television, and gaming screens every week, this activity is done more than any other in their lives, with the exception of sleeping (Miller 23). With the increase of advertising for non-nutritious foods and climbing childhood obesity rates, research has discovered strong associations between the two. Children under the age of 8 cannot distinguish between programming and advertising and do not understand the persuasive intent that advertising uses. These two facts makes advertising that is directed towards children exploitative. 

The obesity epidemic, especially in children, is a serious public health problem that increases mortality rates among these overweight youth, creating substantial long term economic costs. The rates of obesity in America's youth have almost tripled in the last quarter century and continue to expand at an alarming pace. "Obesity now contributes to the death of more than 360,000 Americans a year. The incidence of childhood obesity is now at epidemic levels. Alarm bells are going off all over the place. But our government has done virtually nothing" (Smith). This epidemic is so commonly widespread that today's children are projected to be the first generation to live a shorter and less healthy life than their parents. Obese youth are at risk for staying obese into adulthood, causing poor health and leads to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some forms of cancer later in life. Prevention efforts should begin with a focused effort reducing excess weight gain as young children grow up. This can begin through the exploitative advertisements that continue to influence this venerable age group.  

The effects of commercials targeting this young generation are obvious as children throw temper tantrums when they do not receive a product that they desired, creating commotion that the parents are obligated to contain. After being exposed to advertising, children were proven to have an uncanny ability to recall information from the advertisements. This recollection of information creates product preference in the children which affects the requests these children give to parents, influencing the parents' purchasing decisions. 

Parents purchase more than what is necessary as a result of being influenced through their children to buy items that are not beneficial for their nourishment. This nation has been taught to not just live large, but to live supersized with more than the necessities. Drive thrus at fast food establishments minimalize the amount of work American's have to put towards consuming copious amounts of grease in order to entice consumers to expand business. Convenience is a form of advertising along with employees being taught to sell-up, a method used to persuade costumers to purchase more than necessary. Toys for children's meals are showcased, mesmerizing children resulting in the purchase of a kid's meal. These struggling dietary habits within families are encouraged by the convenience and luster fast food corporations place in their advertising. This creativity and successful advertising creates a chain effect as the habitual need for this food is passed from parents to children.  

Due to advertising, Americans struggle with conflating want and need. Commercials convince American citizens that each individual is entitled to whatever the product has to offer. This instilled mentality of working less and deserving more is a poisonous addiction that creates a downward spiral leading towards the downfall of this economy. This idea of deserving everything offered by commercials is on a repetitive loop that every citizen hears daily until it becomes a belief that these luxuries become a necessity.  This form of advertising creates a vicious cycle of unhappy lifestyles that failed efforts of resolution result with more products that ensure comfort and pleasure, adding to the statistics that will bring down this economy. 

With obesity taking over 300 thousand lives a year the similarities to tobacco are easy to find. Obesity is the root cause for a large number of health conditions. A few of these conditions include heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and eleven types of cancer. The social and emotional effects are equally as prevalent with discrimination, lower wages, and improved chance of depression. Rather than publically teaching cures, our nation continues to adapt to a larger lifestyle. This adaptation is done through offering carts to drive around in while shopping for food, handicap parking for large individuals, and wider seating in public places. This form of society conforming to these obese individual's needs only encourages this epidemic, essentially feeding the fire. This is not saying that assistance should not be publicly offered and is not necessary for people who struggle with this unfortunate situation; although this form of adaptations should be counteracted with encouragement to improve that lifestyle. 

Public education and encouragement towards healthy lifestyles is necessary in a nation where 127 million adults are overweight and 60 million of them considered clinically obese (Freedman). These numbers most likely are not new to anyone because obesity continues to grab the spotlight of news stories, although the long-term costs of this epidemic on our country as a whole may not sound as familiar to many. This aspect about obesity is not as frequent in popular news stories due to the unappealing statistics that affect every citizen. The costs of obesity go beyond the direct cost to the individual and extending to the nation as a whole. This is because the majority of health care procedures performed within these boarders are paid for by the taxpayer dollar making this seemingly viral epidemic a burden to the general public, not just towards individuals who incur these costs. 

Obesity is problematic in both short-term and long-term, neither one worse than the other. Looking at the short-term effects, obesity has created an extra $190 billion annually to the Nation's health costs. The long-term problems created by obesity are alarming, both state and federal government stand to be bankrupted by health care costs branching from obesity and chronic illnesses that travel with this growing disease. This becomes very realistic as Medicare announced that treatment for obesity will be paid with taxpayer dollars. This aspect of our health care will drain public funds in this ongoing battle to treat obese citizens. Total cost continues to grow as indirect ways this affects the economy are factored in. Being obese hinders productivity by a higher rate of absenteeism with obese individuals, resulting in the greatest cause of lost profit for companies. Even at the workplace obese employees struggle to be as productive when compared to those who are healthy. There is also a dramatic impact on transportation for these individuals because of simple physics, it takes more energy to move more mass. This extra weight on Americans has gas prices skyrocketing for all citizens. Between the cost of inefficiency in the work place and additional transportation costs, these two indirect economic impacts add up to about $17 billion of additional costs ("Obesity and Mortality"). This intimidating amount makes it clear that obesity is a crisis that has had an impact on every citizen in some fashion. This realization should be a call to action, not an issue our nation should run away from. There is good news amidst the bad though, Obesity is preventable. The trends that led up to this epidemic can be reversed through changes in public policies, making healthy food and activity easy choices for everyone. 

The previous attempts towards a solution to this seemingly undefeatable issue have been misguided and unsuccessful. The solution is not to negotiate cheaper surgical procedures with health care providers, or creating a better formula for more beneficial weight loss drugs. The solution is to take money that is already being lost as a result of obesity and invest it into forms of prevention. Prevention is the most financially wise decision on this fight towards a cure to obesity. It is much less expensive than health care and avoids the costs of surgical procedures, pharmaceuticals, and loss of productivity in the workplace. This prevention education would equip patients with not only knowledge and skills needed to make healthy choices, but also support. Armed with this knowledge and support the patient can take control of their life again, a life with a consistent level of good health and a proper lifestyle that can one day used as a good influence for their children. 

If this solution is so simple, it is necessary to ask why it hasn't become a solution already within our boarders. This is because prevention is unprofitable and therefore not popular within the modern system of medicine. This fix to obesity would result in a financial loss for medical companies in fields such as pharmaceutical, hospitals, and surgeons. This is because they have begun to expand their businesses with the expectation of the new generation of obesity and many more to follow. So any form of prevention that would decrease the amount of people who suffer from this disease and create a healthier population will harm the profit margin of these corporations. This is the reason prevention is not taught publically in schools or to obese people during doctor visits. Unfortunately, modern medicine that appears to assist prevention is fully engaged with the prevention of prevention for obesity. Yet, teaching prevention publically is the only health care route that will last successfully without bankrupting our economy.  

If big name medical companies shy away from the idea of prevention because the threat of revenue loss is inevitable, why do advertising companies not promote healthy foods? This would still bring in money for the economy while also solving this widespread issue that is consuming a nation. Advertising has ways of enticing certain individuals. Television will show how manly feasting on a burger stuffed with bacon is, grocery stores use product placement to draw in the attention of shoppers, and junk foods have games on the back for kids with free toys inside the box. Creating a better system to encourage healthier lifestyles would not be a new process of advertising, it would just use a system that has been around to better the economy and nation as a whole. 

As a nation facing the potential threat of becoming bankrupt from a preventable epidemic, we must work together to cure this widespread trend. An issue that takes more lives than drunk driving and smoking ever have we must begin by educating the public in ways that can improve their lives and encourage healthy activities. This would be done thorough advertising that already exists by creating commercials that encouraged a beneficial lifestyle for the whole family. Medical corporations cannot continue to teach prevention of prevention as they fight for their best investment interests. Rather, these big name corporations need to assist in educating the public on prevention although it will create a slight decrease in the total revenue. Taking responsibility and the correct action to prevent this obesity outbreak for future generations begins now through educating the public, advertising that encourages health, and propelling the youth of today towards a lifestyle that will benefit them personally and the economy of this nation as a whole.
