Imagine that you meet 100 American citizens in one day.  They are all of different gender, age, religion, ethnicity, and social class, but besides being American, 68 of them share one thing in common.  Those 68 American citizens are all either overweight or obese, as determined by their Body Mass Index (BMI) (Tozzi).  Out of 100 children, 17 of them will be obese (Soechtig).  A person that is overweight or obese is already more susceptible to some of the most prevalent killers in the United States, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, and various forms of cancer (Khazan).  As a country, the health of Americans is regressing because of the alarming rates at which people become overweight and obese, and more people are dying every year because of conditions linked to obesity.  Obesity has become a major public health concern in the United States due to the due to the regression of the American diet, the rising rates of childhood obesity, and the interference by major food companies in nutritional progress.  Solutions for the obesity epidemic can come from further regulation of major food companies, individual measures to improve the diets of Americans, and a greater effort to protect America’s youth from the harmful effects of obesity.

One of the main causes of cases of obesity in the United States is the dietary patterns of the average American.  As a society, the United states consumes too much food that is high in sodium, sugar, and fat, while not consuming enough nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fish, and fruits.  The American diet has not always followed this pattern, however.  According to data published by the U.S Department of Agriculture, over the past 50 years, the daily caloric intake of the average American has increased by over 500 calories per day, rising from 2,039 calories per day to 2,544 calories per day (Tozzi).  That is almost the equivalent of every American adding a Big Mac to their diet every day.  This massive change in dietary pattern is due to the evolution of the American diet over the past 50 years.  Since the year 1960, the use of added fats in foods has increased 63% from 337 to 550 of added fats alone per day.  Americans are eating more cheese, which is significantly higher in fat than its calcium-based counterpart.  Even though the number is decreasing, Americans consume 352 calories of sugars and corn sweeteners per-day, over twice the recommended value for men (150) and over three times the recommended number for women (100) (Tozzi).  What is most important from this information is that while the number of overweight, obese, and extremely obese individuals has increased from 44.9% in 1960 to 68.8% in 2010.  These statistics clearly show that the diet of the average American has changed over the past 50 years, however this change has negatively impacted the lives of millions of Americans.  These changes in the American diet has deteriorated the overall health of Americans around the country.

One major reason behind the evolution in the American diet is the increase in the portions that Americans eat with each meal.  With the “super-sizing” of restaurant meals and the increase of serving size in prepackaged food, Americans are being psychologically tricked into eating more.  In a study performed by B.J. Rolls and her colleagues, they found that men and women ate more when presented with a larger bag of potato chips than a smaller one, and that the size of the snack did not alter their subsequent dinner plans (Ledikwe).  Not only are Americans eating more food, but when snacking occurs, they do not adjust their next meal to account for the food they had eaten earlier.  Another study performed by Nicole Diliberty performed in a cafeteria setting found that people will choose a larger portion rather than a smaller portion if the prices were the same, regardless of their hunger level, showing that the price of food has a large influence on food consumption (Ledikwe).  This can be seen with bundle deals such as McDonald’s “McPick 2” or Wendy’s “4 for $4” deals where you can save a small amount of money to consume larger portions of food.  Fast-food restaurants are already known for selling very energy-dense foods, which are full of fats, sodium, and sugars to make sub-par quality food have bold flavor.  Combining them into value meals and these combo deals are only wreaking havoc on the bodies of the customers who eat their foods.  However, due to the increase in dual-income households and the well-established restaurant industry, eating away from home has become commonplace in American culture.

Another major contributor to the overall obesity rates in Americans is the rates at which children become overweight or obese.  Childhood obesity is important to the overall obesity rates because the children, in most cases, are raised into unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyles, which can affect how they live their lives as adults.  During the 2013-2014 school year, around 17% of school children in the United States are classified as either overweight or obese (Soechtig).  While this number may not seem as significant as the overall rate of around 86%, these are children who are raised into toxic eating habits, which are less likely to be broken.  Also, hormonal changes in teenagers, in addition to unhealthy eating and exercise habits, plays a large role in the obesity rates in teenagers.  

Some roots of childhood and adolescent obesity can be found in schools and in advertisements.  Because of federal budget cuts proposed under Ronald Reagan, most public schools got rid of their cooking equipment, and began to purchase their breakfast and lunch meals from major food companies such as Tyson, as opposed to making the food in the school cafeteria (Soechtig).  Also, more than half of US public schools sell fast-food (Soechtig).  Because of this, the schools have no control of what their students eat at lunch, the food companies do.  Many schools around the country also have vending machines, which sell snack foods such as candy, sodas, chips, and pastries.  Some may offer healthier options like granola bars, crackers, or water bottles, but more children will choose the unhealthier options.  Also, children are exposed to more advertisements than ever before in today’s society.  Famous advertisement campaigns such as those featuring Tony the Tiger and Ronald McDonald are created for the sole purpose of marketing towards children.  This practice at advertising towards children has been called predatory by critics, who say children are more easily influenced by these campaigns.   

Of all of the causes of obesity, very few have contributed more to this major public health concern more than major food companies themselves.  Besides making the food that is slowly taking American lives, major food industries have been using their economic influence to alter legislation and discourage research to ensure they do not lose money.  While this is a bold accusation, there are multiple accounts of food industries lobbying the United States government to intervene in situations that could potentially hurt their image and their sales.  After these interventions, food companies attempt to reassure their customers by making “reduced fat” and “reduced sugar” versions of food products, which do not offer a significant healthy alternative (Soechtig).  One expert in the documentary Fed Up sums this point up in the claim, “Junk is still junk, even if it appears to be less-junky.”

One more instance of food companies using the government occurred in 2002, when the World Health Organization was writing a document called TRS-916.  This article specifically blamed sugar and other substitutes such as high-fructose corn syrup as one of the major global causes of chronic disease.  The WHO also wrote a set of standards stating that sugar should account for no more than 10% of the calories of the average diet.  Major lobbying from sugar companies pushed senators of both the Republican and Democratic parties to ask the secretary of Health and Human Services to stop the publishing of the report.  Then-secretary Tommy Thompson flew to Geneva and threatened the WHO with the withholding of $406 million in money that was to be paid to the World Health Organization as the United States’ contribution to the organization (Soechtig).  In this instance, in addition to multiple other instances, major food companies, with the assistance of the extorted an international organization, to bury a document that would hurt their sales.

The causes to this threat of obesity are somewhat clear, however, the lack of effective solutions are why over two-thirds of Americans are still obese.  The first steps that need to be taken are efforts that urge Americans to improve our dietary standards as a society.  People need to be made aware of the benefits of eating healthier.  For example, most salads, with carrots, croutons, tomatoes, and cucumbers, are around 150 calories.  A small order of French fries from a fast food restaurant is around 230 calories.  When you eat healthier, you can eat more, which helps to more efficiently satisfy hunger.  At first, considering a diet change may feel insignificant.  Seeing failure stories from the intense, fad-diets such as the low-calorie diet or juice cleansing discourages many people from changing their eating patterns.  Others may feel that only exercising more will have a yield better weight loss or weight management.  However, healthy eating is one of the most important ways to lead a healthy life.  Similar to how fueling a car with gasoline containing ethanol damages the car’s engine, the same can be said with toxic dietary habits.  Take sugar, for example.  Fructose, the sweet part of sugar can only be processed in the liver.  However, when excess amounts of sugar are in the digestive system, the liver excretes insulin, which turns the sugar into body fat (Mercola).  This is one explanation as to why obesity is commonly linked to sugar-sweetened foods.  However, dietary planning that cuts down the amounts of sugary, salty, and fatty foods can prove to be beneficial because it removes the unhealthy solutions that can damage the human body.

As difficult as it may seem, dietary change has been proven to have a positive impact on the well-being on individuals.  In a study performed by Dr. Ramón Estruch and his colleagues, the group of scholars, physicians, and scientists determined in that the introduction of a Mediterranean diet in a random sample of 8,713 elderly men and women who were at risk of multiple chronic diseases such as stroke, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.  That sample was divided into three groups, two of them ate each ate a different Mediterranean-based diet, and the other group ate a control diet.  After a longitudinal study, the researchers found that those who were on the Mediterranean diets had a 30% decline in risk for chronic disease (Estruch).  From this study, people can find confidence in dietary change, because it has proven to increase health benefits in individuals who change their dietary patterns for the better.  The Mediterranean diet is not the only diet that will help reduce the risk of obesity and chronic illness.  Other diets such as low-sugar diets and some vegetarian diets are excellent for reducing sugars, corn-sweeteners, sodium, and fats, while still supplying an individual with the nutrients necessary to live healthy.

The overall obesity rates can be battled by improving the standards set for children in the United States.  While dietary change on a personal scale is beneficial, children must still eat lunch at school, and many children do not bring their own lunch.  Therefore, the quality of food being made at schools needs to be assessed.  As addressed earlier, school lunches are rarely made at the school anymore.  However, if schools returned to making school lunches in the cafeterias, the food would already be healthier.  Former President Bill Clinton stated in the documentary Fed Up, “We could cure literally 80% of the problem for children in school if we went back to school cafeterias where they prepared the food in the school...”  Also, the school systems could utilize locally-grown and harvested fruits, vegetables, and meat products, which can stimulate local economies.  Another way to make schools healthier for children is to eliminate unhealthy snack options in vending machines.  That could either mean the removal of all snack and drink machines, or the use of vending machines to distribute healthy snack options, like water bottles, granola bars, and crackers exclusively.  Also, physical education standards should be enforced not only in P.E. class, but in the classroom, as well.  Physical activity is linked to better health, and more activity can only be beneficial for children (Lee).

Another way that people can help fight obesity is to hold food companies accountable, and to further regulate them in all sectors, from production to advertisement.  At the very beginning of the process, food companies need to be forced to make their foods with less sugars, fats, and sodium.  More research towards this goal can prove to be beneficial because it would reduce the number of unhealthy compounds found in the diets of Americans.  Another way to further regulate food companies is to regulate advertisements of unhealthy foods.  Similar to the tobacco advertisement campaigns, where one anti-tobacco advertisement is made for each advertisement promoting the sale of tobacco products, similar advertisement campaigns can be organized for toxic foods such as soda, candy, and other fatty and sugary foods.  These negative advertisements will decrease the number of advertisement on television and the internet, and decrease sales of unhealthy foods, and will also decrease predatory advertisements towards children.  Another way to raise awareness of unhealthy foods sold by food companies is to include the daily percentage amounts for sugar on food labels.  On food labels, the ingredients are listed along with the government-recommended daily amounts of various nutrients, however, the sugar is not included.  This is because foods today contain so much sugar, that a single serving of some foods contain more than the daily recommended amount of sugar as stated by the World Health Organization in 2002 (Soechtig).  Food companies are hiding valuable information from customers through the improper use of these food labels, and it is contributing to the deterioration of the health of Americans.    

Ever since the American concern for obesity began in the 1970’s food companies have constantly defended their actions by lying to Americans by saying that their foods are healthy enough to live a healthy life.  For example, after the World Health Organization’s report about sugar, sugar lobbyists, including members of the sugar industry promised that a diet in which 25% of the diet is derived from sugar is healthy for humans (Soechtig).  Blatantly ignoring the WHO’s work, conducted by scientists and nutritionists, businessmen and politicians suddenly became nutrition experts and began to influence the diets of Americans around the country.  These food companies, then offer false promises in the shapes of “reduced fat”, “reduced sugar”, and “low in sodium” foods when they acknowledge that they are incorrect to defend themselves.  Food companies are fully aware of the foods they are feeding Americans, and have little concern of the well-being of their customers.  After all, most food companies exist to make money, not to ensure customer well-being.

Another impediment to the fight against American obesity is the body acceptance movement.  This movement revolves around the rejection of fat-shaming, and the ability to feel safe and confident in one’s body to reject social norms.  While this is a noble cause, it is often misunderstood, and it leads to the complete acceptance of unhealthy lifestyles in individuals (Hayden).  When people misunderstand the meanings of this movement, they begin to believe that their body image is acceptable, and they should not have to change their body because of how their body looks.  However, this belief system is unhealthy, especially for obese and overweight individuals.  Nobody should be forced to change their body to comply to social norms of body image, however, overweight and obese individuals should be encouraged to make changes in their lives to protect the health of people affected by overweightness and obesity.  

In the United States, obesity has become one of the most important public health issues in American history, because of the effect it has on it citizens.  Obesity is making the United States unhealthier as a nation, and is contributing to the deaths of more and more Americans every year.  In an era in which chronic illnesses are claiming lives by the thousands in the United States, there is one major condition that links the likes of stroke, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes: obesity (Khazan).  While someone does not necessarily have to be obese or overweight to be affected by any of these conditions, obesity significantly increases one’s chances to be affected by these ailments.  The only way to improve the health of Americans is to provide a better lifestyle, and the best way to do that for Americans is to put food companies in their place, push for healthier diets in individuals, and to better protect our children from being indoctrinated into unhealthy dietary patterns.  Also, Americans need to be aware of the causes of obesity, in order to help prevent obesity from occurring.  In theory, it is easier for an individual to prevent himself or herself from being overweight or obese than to lose weight and to expel unhealthy habits.  If Americans, as a whole, commit to improving individual dietary patterns, and holding the government and large food companies accountable, there is no reason to doubt that Americans and their children can shrink the massive percentages of 68% and 17%, respectively, to percentages close to 0.
