Summary: The Epidemic Of Obesity

Not only are Americans increasing their clothing sizes, they are also eating their way to critical health problems, as well as death. Obesity is a serious factor in the United States that continues to grow more and more each year. But who is truly to blame for this ongoing epidemic? Are the growing obesity rates a result of individual actions or the government regulations of food?

The United States has the highest number of obese or overweight individuals of any country in the world with an astounding value of 160 million individuals! That is nearly two-thirds of the U.S.’s total population. Specifically in adults of age twenty and older, the occurrence of obesity has nearly doubled to thirty-eight percent since the early 1960s. An estimated

Even though obesity can result from multiple influences, such as, genetics and psychological factors, the main contributors are individual factors including: behaviors, dietary choices, and physical activity participation. Yes, there are a few genes within some human’s DNA composition that cause a person to carry more weight than other individuals, but this does not vouch for the rapid spread of obesity across the United States population (Sei-Hill & Willis, 2007). Psychological aspects, such as, stress and depression, not only foreshadow the development of obesity, but can also create ongoing struggles to control weight (Must & Evans, 2011). Those who are often stressed and/or depressed will typically use food as a way to cope. This exertion to coping with psychological distress ties to the main contribution of American obesity: individual behavior. Overeating, for example, whether it be simply out of enjoyment or emotional desolation, is all dependent on the individual’s decision to do so. Same goes with the amount of physical activity one chooses to partake in or not to partake in. An individual needs the self-control and motivation to take care of oneself and realize that they are only increasing their health issues and chance of

government. The United States government controls what products farmers produce and how much of them, the prices of foods, and regulate fast food restaurants. Over the past five years, the government has payed forty-two billion dollars to farmers in exchange for their production of mass crops, which mainly includes corn and soybeans. These are two of the most common ingredients that are used in the production of cheap, unhealthy and process foods. One might ask where are the incentives to produce healthy foods that our bodies thrive off of. The answer is, there is hardly any, therefore; due to the lack of monetary enticements very few farmers are going to choose to grow fruits and vegetables. As a result of supply and demand, the price of the mass produced crops will decrease and the price of lesser produced items will increase. "People perceive fruits and vegetables as being very expensive, and in fact they are relatively because since 1980 the index cost of fruits and vegetables has gone up by 40 percent. Whereas the index price of sodas and snack foods have gone down by 20 to 30 percent,” states Marion Nestle in her book Why Calories Count. If the government introduced more regulations into fast food restaurants they could slow or even reverse the growing epidemic of obesity. For example, it should be required in every restaurant to clearly post signs with nutritional information that