Obesity In America Essay

618 Words3 Pages

In an article NBC news (4/22/14), it tackles the obesity epidemic in the United States. “The main reason we're getting fatter — all of us — is because we are surrounded by tasty temptations that cost very little, from fast food menus to processed snack foods.” According to the article by Linda Carroll and Madelyn Fernstrom nothing contributes to this epidemic as much as this one factor alone. Inaccessibility of healthier alternatives is a minimal problem in today's age. “Data show that fruits and vegetables, for example, have become increasingly available and affordable over the past decade.” Some have stated that race or socioeconomic status plays a big role in obesity. However, while some groups do have higher rates of obesity, every group has been gaining weight at the nearly the same rate. This suggest that race doesn’t play a role, and something else is behind the cause. With food being cheap compared to income and with it being more convenient than ever, Americans can’t help but get their fill of these unhealthy foods. “We have a survival instinct that drives us to eat constantly, because in human history starvation was the problem," Sturm said. This biological factor mixed with the fact that cheap …show more content…

He has background in the issue making him a reliable source. However, the article itself oversimplifies the issue of obesity and contradicts itself along the way. Jobs have moved from more physical to more office dominated careers as America has seen a shift to a white collar society. In the article they claim this is a big contributing factor, yet they state that lack of exercise is not a major factor. These physical labor intensive jobs burn a lot more calories than white collar jobs do. People aren’t buring these extra calories now and need to find a way too. Meaning they need to exercise on their own time, especially with the type of foods the average American eats