How to handle America’s Obesity Epidemic

Imagine being restricted from many activities all due to your weight. Everyday activities like fitting in an airplane seat and simply going downstairs are now an unthinkable struggle. Sadly, this is the insight of what almost half of the United States population deals with. The United States, sometimes called the fattest country in the world, is dealing with an extreme obesity problem. From 1999 to 2018, obesity has roughly grown about 11.9 percent (“Obesity Is a Common, Serious, and Costly Disease.” 1). This increase now means that approximately 42.4 percent of all US adults, and about a fourth of children under eighteen are considered overweight and even obese (1). Many minor changes within the American food industry, exercise, and diet culture, along with decreasing portion sizes will help lower the obesity rate in upcoming generations.

Obesity in the United States first started to become a problem in the 1990s, and since then it has only grown (“Obesity Is a Common, Serious, and Costly Disease.” 1). Notably, this is when many fast-food chains also became more popular. The typical American diet consists of one potential contributor to obesity……Fast food. Eating fast food every day is extremely normalized in American diet culture; even with the knowledge of what it can do to your health, people still choose to frequently eat fast food. The first solution would be to reduce the amount of fast food consumed. Eliminating fast food, or even reducing the amount we consume could possibly lower the obesity rate. The average American eats fast food one to three times a week, while some admit to eating out every day (“37 Percent of American Adults Eat Fast Food Daily”). Limiting fast food is extremely good for someone’s health because the foods sold are highly processed, contain high calorie and fat intake, are extremely greasy, and usually have low protein and other beneficial vitamins.

Another solution is to lessen the standard portion size of American meals. In an experiment done on YouTube by INSIDER, two men compared fast-food sizes, one from the United States and the other from the UK (US vs UK Portion Size Differences 1). When they did side-to-side comparisons, the US sizes were exponentially larger than the UK’s. The small drinks and fries were larger than the British’s large size, revealing that the average American eats more he or she needs. To Americans, the small fries do not seem like enough, but in comparison to everyone else in the world, it is plenty. Portion control is taught as a child, so if a child learns to eat large amounts of food, they become accustomed, and this carries all through their lives. Overall, reducing the portion size of American meals will help reduce the obesity problem.

Another solution to solving the obesity problem is the schooling system taking P.E. more seriously. Teaching children healthy habits at a young age could potentially help them carry these habits into adulthood. According to researchers at the University of California Los Angeles, one of the best ways to prevent obesity is to help children develop the habit of staying active (Childhood Obesity: Solutions That Fit the Problem 1). The best way for this to work is to create a physical education program starting in elementary school that teaches students the joy of staying active and eating right. The researchers state that “the average P.E. budget is only $1.50 per student per year” (1). Raising this budget would help supply teachers, coaches, and trainers with quality equipment so that they can learn how to take care of their bodies and prevent obesity.

Another solution is healthier food, fruits and vegetables should be more accessible and affordable. While grocery shopping, it may have been obvious that the better the quality of a product is, the more expensive it is in comparison to its highly processed, cheap counterpart. Sadly, many low-income families struggle the most with health, and this is because maintaining a clean diet costs significantly more than an unhealthy diet (Can Low-Income Americans Afford a Healthy Diet? 1). Making cleaner food less expensive would most likely be the best solution for solving the obesity problem because it keeps people from resorting to food like the four-for-four from Wendy’s. If healthier items were cheaper, it would keep people away from all the junk food. When people are asked why they don’t eat healthier, it is not usually because they don’t want to, but how expensive or time-consuming it is. This simple change could easily affect millions of lives because they are now not restricted due to a budget.

The last solution is to fix the quality of American food and stop companies from advertising misleading labels and information. Sixty percent of American diets consist of highly processed foods (Sgobba 1). Health Advisor Signe Svanfeldt states that “Ultra-processed foods are often rich in saturated fats, sodium, and sugar, which all are things we should aim to eat lower amounts of to maintain a healthy diet and to decrease the risk of various diseases,” (“Americans Are Eating More Ultra-Processed Foods.” 1). Aside from the low-quality food is companies advertising misleading labels. This tricks people into believing that they are eating healthier than they actually are. For example, Welch’s fruit snacks have in large font in the front saying, “REAL FRUIT”, and “GREAT SOURCE OF VITAMIN A, C &E”. However, there are so many additives and sugars that they basically overpower the fruits and vitamins.

Obesity is a growing problem in the United States that needs to be solved. Solving this epidemic will require both effort from the government and the people to create a society that prioritizes health to decrease the obesity rate. Some of the solutions involve cheaper fruits and vegetables, decreasing portion sizes, fixing the quality, and getting people to depend less on fast food. These simple changes can potentially decrease the rate.

Cite

“37 Percent of American Adults Eat Fast Food Daily: CDC Report.” EverydayHealth.Com, https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/diet/percent-american-adults-eat-fast-food-daily-cdc-report/. Accessed 9 Mar. 2022.

“Americans Are Eating More Ultra-Processed Foods.” Healthline, 14 Oct. 2021, https://www.healthline.com/health-news/americans-are-eating-more-ultra-processed-foods-how-to-cut-down-on-them.

Childhood Obesity: Solutions That Fit the Problem | UCLA 100. https://100.ucla.edu/impact/childhood-obesity-solutions-that-fit-the-problem. Accessed 11 Mar. 2022.

“Obesity Is a Common, Serious, and Costly Disease.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Nov. 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html.6

Sgobba, Christa. “Unbelievable But True: These Foods Account for More Than 60% of Calories in Americans’ Diets.” Men’s Health, 22 May 2015, https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19541132/processed-foods-american-diets/

US vs UK Portion Size Differences (KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King) | Food Wars. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg3Y3tCmBWo. Accessed 12 Mar. 2022.

USDA ERS - Can Low-Income Americans Afford a Healthy Diet? https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2008/november/can-low-income-americans-afford-a-healthy-diet/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2022.