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 obesity is a growing epidemic within our nation's borders. 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 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 for consumers creating a need to have certain products to feel happy. 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 of children becoming obese is a product of children inheriting the parent's poor diet and health decisions. Parents who have a diet that consists of food filled with fats and sugars will most likely feed the same food to their youth. These parents will also set an example of living an inactive lifestyle through entertainment through television and other technology. This form of entertainment shows the children advertising that is persuading children to consume foods that will not benefit them. 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 high amount of stimulation from electronic screens is an activity done more than any other in their lives, with the exception of sleeping (Miller). With the increase of advertising for non-nutritious foods and rising childhood obesity rates, research has discovered strong associations between the two. Children under the age of 8 cannot distinguish between programming and advertising, therefore do not understand the persuasive intent that advertising uses. These two facts makes advertising that is directed towards children exploitative. 

Between parent's lack of concern for their child's health and exploitative advertising, the progress made for the fight against childhood obesity is slow. This epidemic, especially in children, is a serious public health problem that increases mortality rates among these overweight youth and creates 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. With the obesity issue impacting the national funds, our government should begin to assist with a solution. Alarm bells are going off all over the place but our government has done virtually nothing. 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 heightening the chances of poor health which 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 by the parent's setting a healthy example and providing proper nutrition for their kids. Beyond just a healthy diet an example must be set for creating a lifestyle of proper health from an early age. 

Prevention methods can also be made beyond the family life of these overweight youth through diminishing the amount of exploitative advertisements that continue to influence this venerable age group.  Children were tested by watching certain commercials for food and asked questions directly after. The results from this testing were astounding, showing that after being exposed to the advertisements children were proven to have an uncanny ability to recall specific information and have a preference on certain items. This recollection of information creates product preference in the children which affects the requests these children give to parents. These request children give to parents influencing the decisions made on the food they purchase. This advertising that is specifically targeted towards an age group not mature enough to understand the intent of commercials effects the entire family, placing food without nutritious value within the household. 

This nation has been taught to not just live large, but to live supersized with more than the necessities. This mentality along with purchasing more than what is needed as a result of being influenced through their children continues to hinder the prevention efforts made. Drive throughs at fast food establishments minimalize the amount of work American's have to put towards consuming copious amounts of grease while candy and comfort foods are placed thorough out the check-out line in grocery stores. This is done with the goal of enticing consumers to spend money at the last minute and expand the companies' business. Convenience is a form of advertising along used to draw in audiences of all ages. Toys for children's meals are showcased, mesmerizing children to purchase a meal that comes with a toy to entertain them. These struggling dietary habits within families are encouraged by the convenience and luster 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 creating a snowball effect through the following generations.  

Due to these creative advertisements and the luxury of on demand comfort, Americans struggle with conflating what they desire and what is a 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 an addictive idea that is greatly contributing towards the downfall of this economy. This idea of deserving everything offered by commercials is on a loop as individuals are constantly being entertained by technology. Surrounded by this advertising every citizen hears daily creates the slogans and promises as an instilled mentality. This mentality allows individuals to believe that these privileges become a necessity.  This form of advertising creates a vicious cycle of unhappy individuals who seek out comfort and pleasure through more products that promise resolution to these desires. This cycle continues to add detrimental statistics to an economy that is slowly declining. 

There are many aspects about obesity that are a large part of the falling economy, although the biggest one is the impact this disease has with the health care. 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. Along with the poor health aspects, the social and emotional effects are equally as prevalent with discrimination. These social effects include lower wages and improved chance of depression which creates a lack of motivation. Rather than publically teaching cures to avoid this issue everyone suffers from directly or indirectly, 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 to say 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 balanced with encouragement to improve that lifestyle. 

Balancing out the assistance given for obese citizens can be balanced out with public education and encouragement towards healthy lifestyles, a necessary step 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 in our country as a whole may not sound 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 costs, 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 to create 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 be 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 prepared to expand their businesses with the expectation of the new generation of obesity patients 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 of advertising to encourage healthier lifestyles would not be a new process, 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 it is mandatory that a start towards prevention is made through 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 healthy and beneficial lifestyle for the whole family. Medical corporations cannot continue to be taught about the prevention of prevention as they fight for the companies' 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. In a nation where no citizen will die from lack of nutrition but rather too much food, progress must be made towards a solution that will save citizens and the economy. Taking responsibility and encouraging 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.
