Obesity in America interests me because I am shocked at the amount of people that allow themselves to become so overweight.  It is fascinating to me the prevalence of it in our society today and the fact that there is little effort to stop it.  With all the access we have to information about how bad it is for our bodies to be so heavy, I do not understand why it is not considered a larger issue.  This research question does not personally affect me and my values but it has affected some of my family members.  My grandfather's doctor told him he had to lose at least 30 pounds if he wanted to live another year, which is when it set in for my family that being overweight is a significant issue.  After this first semester in college I realized how easy it was to gain weight and became much more aware of my own body now, which makes me question how others and society as a whole do not see what they are doing to their health.  I am qualified to write on this topic because of the research I have done before this project because of my grandfather's issue and the research I will continue to do for this project. 

The first form of evidence I have found was a picture graph displaying the rates of obesity in of the states from 2000 and then the rates in 2010.  By looking at the picture it is very apparent that the rates of obesity have sky rocketed in just a decade.  This picture chart shows the higher rates of obesity in red, pointing to the severity of this issue.  Nearly all 50 states are red.  The source for this photograph is the UXL Encyclopedia of Science which provides facts about the world of science in nontechnical terms.  The author of the Encyclopedia, Amy Hackney Blackwell, has a Ph.D. in Plant and Environmental Science and is a published scholarly author for Gale Cengage.  Gale Cengage is an online database that publishes for academic libraries and businesses, so their facts are reliable. As for the authors biases, none seem to be apparent in the picture graph or based on her personal history.  However, I think that she agrees that this should be a serious concern based on the fact that she published this alarming graph.

The second source of evidence I have found was an article published in The Washington Post, Fat Kids Don't Know They're Fat Anymore. The article states that research conducted by Georgia Southern University has found that there is an increasing lack of self awareness among children and their parents about their weight today compared to twenty years ago. The author also discusses the social comparison theory which states that we compare ourselves to the people around us, who are also getting heavier, instead of looking at it from a medical and scientific standpoint.  As we compare ourselves to others, it creates a cycle in which we continue to get fatter without seeing the consequences. The author, Roberto Ferdman is a journalist for the Washington Post who was raised in Puerto Rico.  His biases could stem from the fact that America is one of the fattest developed countries, so he could have preconceived ideas on the fact that America is continuously getting heavier without acknowledging it. It is evident that he agrees this is a large problem and that it needs to be dealt with starting with children.

Lastly, the third piece of evidence I have found was Why are Americans Obese? from publichealth.org.  This article listed reasons for why Americans have gained so much weight in the last decade or so, more meat and calories, poorer food options, less activity, and the list goes on.  It mentions that American's are burn nearly 150 less calories a day now compared to 50 years ago.  Publichealth.org is an organization run by Anju Abraham, a graduate student in the Master of Public Health at Fresno State University and she received her degree in public health and health administration from Northwestern University.  Her biases may include being overly concerned with the topic at hand because of her education being solely centered around public health, she may have too much invested in this issue to discuss other factors not related to our poor choices when it comes to health. 

This research question is arguable because it is now not abnormal for people to be obese in our society. Even just 20 years ago it would have been odd to see someone morbidly obese walking around, but today to is uncommon to not see someone.  I want to know why that is and what makes it okay for our society to allow our health to be on such a steep decline.  Many researchers and doctors from sources I have found are in agreement that this issue is getting out of hand.  I have yet to find a source that thinks obesity is not a problem in our Country.  My perspective is still very much inline with my sources, being that something needs to change.  I do not think we should "fat-shame" but that we should promote healthy lifestyle ideas beginning with kids.  I do not think I will revise my research question so far because I have found so much information on this topic. 

