 As a nation, America is viewed as powerful, innovative and successful. America seems to be at the top of everything like sports, military, politics etc. We thrive on the thought of success, which is why we are always on the move working countless hours in order to improve our place in the society. With that being said, America also holds the title of being the fattest country in the world. The American lifestyle may seem as a dream come true but on the contrary is may not be as good as it seems. 

Obesity is described as " abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health."(World Health Org) . Obesity in America is growing a problem that we as a country can't seem to get a handle on. With the obesity rates rising, there seem to be a lot more obese adults and children walking around going about their daily lives. We need to answers the question of why it's so difficult for Americans to live a healthy lifestyle despite them knowing all of the health risks. The two parts of the situation that needs to be addressed are all of the things we do and don't do that could cause obesity in America. The reason why obesity rates are so high in America is because of various factors like our portion sizes, the types of food we eat and  how we keep our bodies active.

 

American's lifestyle plays a huge a role America's obesity rate and is the main reason our rate is higher than many other countries. America is known as the "Country of Opportunity" which causes American strive to be able to live the American Dream. The big differences in America's way of life compared to other countries seem to be the reason why obesity is so prevalent in America.  In the Article, "this is why Americans are overweight," explains that the food we eat and the portion we get plays a role of the people's health in America (Heisler). Yoni Heisler, an apple product enthusiast, addresses the fact that the U.S as a country has the highest rate of obesity compared to another country around the world. He explains , "all in all, 35% of Americans are now considered obese" and "the issue is, even more, concerning with respect to children, where the number of overweight kids checks in at 38%(Heisler)". The lunch menus of the other places in the world like France describe  lunches  like "Artisanal baguette,pork rib in dijon sauce, turkey ham, mashed potatoes, Emmental cheese, apple".(Heisler) Paris's school lunch menu sound a lot more healthy than "Avi Burger-rito, baked french fries." Both of these countries menus has the meat and potatoes theme but the French school lunch takes a healthier approach mashed potatoes instead of french fries.  The article contains photo comparisons of the lunches of various countries compared to Americas school lunch. In the other countries, lunches is a lot healthier because the serve a lot more fresh food and a variety of bright colors versus ours which has a lot  more processed food which is a good thing because it contains ingredients that cause obesity.

When it comes to obesity we tend to focus all of our efforts toward the children like Heisler focused on children's school lunches; however, people like Thomas Farley believes that the fight against obesity should start with the adults. In his  article "Fighting Obesity Is Not Just for Kids, " he claims that the fight with obesity needs to be addressed with the parents rather than the children. The author uses the smoking epidemic as an example and discusses how smoking was only characterized with a certain group of people (ie: adolescents) but on the contrary, smoking is dangerous for everyone who  does it. He writes "when health advocates owned up to that, it led them to cigarette taxes, smoke-free air rules and media campaigns showing cigarettes not as guilty pleasures but as indiscriminate killers. In the late 1990s and 2000s, that package cut smoking rates in adults, and even more in teens.(Farley)"  Teens were not the only people smoking cigarettes but adults were too. He also uses this example to show that the health risk of cigarettes everyone, not just one group of people. With the authors main evidence presented he then follows up with, "focusing our obesity fight on children falls into a similar trap. It assumes that adults are capable of making sound food choices and that if children turn 18 without excess body fat they'll stay that way.(Farley)"  The author gives a solution to what he sees at the problem with obesity in America by giving this advice, "Stopping the obesity epidemic will require fighting the marketing of junk foods everywhere, not just in schools. We need taxes on sugary drinks, counter-advertising, and limitations on where in our everyday world those foods tempt us. (Do we really want candy and soda at every cash register, for example?)Only then will we reach the adults who are on the verge of developing diabetes. And because children spend so 

much of their time with adults and outside of schools, these reforms will help end the obesity epidemic in children, too.(Farley)" Farley believes that just how adults are responsible for teaching  their children about what is right and what wrong, parents should be responsible for guiding their children on what exactly is the right thing to eat.

 Americans are built off of the idea of innovation and getting things done at optimal speed.In the article "Obesity in America: It's Getting Worse"  Jenifer Marks talks American's lifestyle and its correlation with their health. Jenifer Marks, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Section Chief, claims the main reason  obesity is prevalent in America is due to the fact that our lives have become a lot simpler with obtaining larger amounts of food in a short amount of time. We always get a kick out of having things done for us, and if it can get done fast that's even better. The only place that could provide us with this luxury that is convenient to American lifestyle but harmful to our health would be the fast food restaurants. America is the country with the most fast food restaurants in the world and that because the of the convenience of it. Marks writes , "we no longer have to stalk and capture our dinner; we can use the drive-through"(Marks). We turn to fast food restaurant because it a lot cheaper for some people and it takes less time to get a meal together . All you have to pull up to a drive-through and get what you and your family want and drive off and eat. Fast Food restaurants are helpful because it's quick and convenient but the food they serve is usually not the healthiest thing in the world.

Fast food  companies make it seem like their food is  a good choice when it comes the "What should I eat" question, However; these companies only in it for the money. Tamara Thompson's, who work with the Food Empowerment Company, writes "it is clear fast food corporations don't care about anybody -- not the workers, not the animals, not the environment, and of course not people's health. It's all about making a profit.(Thompson)" The fast food industry is only interested in is making money, so they would serve a larger quantity of unhealthy food just to compete with other companies.Fast food restaurants aren't a healthy option when it comes to a good meal, but Americans think of the potential deals that they're getting like the Five Dollar Big Box from Taco Bell is only to compete with companies just giving us a larger amount of food for a cheaper price. This in result causes us to indulge in more unhealthy increasing the amount of obese of people.

Food intake isn't the only reason why obesity in America is so abundant.Americans have become less active due to the lack of requirement of physical activities in people's daily lives. Americans tend to be caught in their daily lives and jobs that tend to usually loose time for their health and well-being. With school, work, family, or whatever consumes Americans' days there is very little wiggle for someone to workout.  Dr.Ladabuam claims the reason why obesity is so abundant now is because of the lack of physical activity due jobs that require less and less movement. Dr.Ladabuam says on the broadcast, "The problem of inactivity is exacerbated by a changing job market that's taken Americans from the physically demanding manufacturing floor to sitting behind a desk." Timothy S. Church also claims that  the rise in obesity rates is due physical inactivity as he compares the jobs and their requirement  in the 1960's compared to times now. He writes  "In the early 1960s almost half of private industry occupations in the U.S. required at least moderate-intensity physical activity and now less than 20% demand this level of activity" (Ladabuam). During this time, Americans tend work jobs that require less movement and more of answering calls and sitting in cubicles. With technology improving on a daily basis and there is always some new technique to make our task easier, and it has caused Americans to live in a place where that don't have to do much more than press start on a button and watch their job be done for them. It could be possible for us to occasionally take stairs instead taking an elevator or walk to lunch rather than calling an Uber.

Some people may believe there is not an obesity epidemic in America and the fight on obesity isn't a problem. In the Article "The Myth of an Obesity Tsunami," the authors discuss that their previous research has shown them that Obesity isn't really as serious we are making it and that it isn't a disease. "Clearly, governments' current course of draconian regulatory treatment seeks to cure an illusory disease. The nanny state's infatuation with an obesity epidemic that does not exist is a searing indictment of this particular public health crusade. (Patrick Basham and Luik John)" They believe there is no obesity epidemic because "there was no significant change in mean BMI overweight/obesity prevalence between 2006 and 2007, and there are indications that the trend in obesity prevalence may have begun to flatten out over the last two to three years. (Patrick Basham and Luik John)" Just because it seem that the obesity prevalence seems to flatten doesn't mean that obesity isn't a problem in American and that we shouldn't still address the problem. The article seems to focus on a survey of an age group of 2 years of age to 15 years of age which seem to make their claim too narrow. If the rate has decreased over the past few years for boys and girls, it still doesn't mean we can't try to make an effort make a change on the obesity for all age groups. The claim they make "clearly, governments' current course of draconian regulatory treatment seeks to cure an illusory disease. (Patrick Basham and Luik John)" Patrick Basham and Luik John do produce a valid claim that obesity isn't a disease; however, it is something that should be addressed on all levels of society and all age group. 

It is not a surprise that Patrick Basham also wrote the article called "The Health Risks of Obesity Have Been Exaggerated" with Jane Feinman. They talk about how obesity and its health risk are overly exaggerated saying, "If we take into account the relatively few lives lost prematurely due to obesity, and compare them to the very significant health costs associated with both dieting and eating disorders, there is surely a compelling case that the damage to health from attempting to lose weight is far greater than the health consequences of overweight and obesity. Indeed, perhaps rather than a campaign against obesity, it is a war on thinness that is required" (Basham). A few lives being lost shouldn't be seen as something that is not important or not a real situation. Any lives lost during any situation is a serious matter, not only if it is only a few or billions. Obesity is a very important problem as it present various health problems like Heart disease, hypertension, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, etc. All of these risk factors can lead to death which makes obesity a problem that needs to be addressed as a nation.

Obesity in America is a growing problem that we as a country can't seem to get a handle on. With the obesity rates rising, you can't help but notice more obese adults and children around. We as a nation is trying to figure out why it's so difficult for Americans to live a healthy lifestyle despite them knowing all of the health risks. Various article I've read have had many similar suggestions on how our lifestyle has an effect on America's obesity rate. Many people believe that the foods we eat are the root cause of obesity. We tend to indulge in high calorie, low nutrition foods such as McDonalds or Chick-fil-la due the convenience and the speediness of service. We also tend to eat large portions, which compared to other countries is classified as oversized portions. We live in a country where fast food companies are always trying out deal other by giving more food for a cheaper price. In reality, these fast food companies are rally trying to make more money for themselves and don't really care about the consumer's health.

Our food intake isn't the only reason for high obesity rates, but also the fact that we live in a time where we are required to participate in less physical activities on a daily basis. We drive around instead of walk , get the people to cut our grass, rarely have time to engage in physical activity or workout. Those jobs that once required human assembly such as manufacturing company now only require people to push a button and watch the machine do the rest of the work. Obesity isn't just a problem in children, but also should be viewed as a broader problem that occurs at all ages.If the parents or adults guide explains what's the right things to eat are, and how to stay active then the children are soon to follow. It may also seem that obesity isn't even an epidemic or obesity is "Over-exaggerated " but if there are casualties from  it and casualties from the risk come from obesity, then it deserves attention and we need to find a solution. We would not want our nation to get to the point where all we see are obese people. 

After  reading and listening to all of this content, I formed the conclusion that in order to live a healthy lifestyle and decrease the obesity rate we try to indulge in foods with more colors and avoid high-calorie foods.We need to control the amount we have. We need to stay away from the fast food and overindulging in foods that cause health risks like high blood pressure and heart attacks. We also need to find a way to get more active like riding  bikes to work, taking stairs instead of elevators, or walking instead of calling an Uber. We could also try to find a more interesting way  to promote physical activity. You can work out in groups and set goals or incentives in order to challenge yourself rather than just saying you're going to diet or workout . With these few steps, we can get a true handle on obesity in America. 

