Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

The Obesity Crisis, Whos to Blame?

It is no surprise that in the United States one of the fastest growing causes of disease and

death is obesity. In this country, 32.7 percent of adults are overweight, 34.3 percent are

obese, and 5.9 percent are extremely obese. In total, 72.9 percent of all adults in this country

are in one way or another classified as overweight/obese. Weight gain is shown to be caused

by increased calorie intake high in sugar and fat, with a decrease in nutrition and vitamins along

with a decreased amount of physical activity. There is much research that links fast food to this

increasing obesity epidemic. The high calorie, low nutrition, and increasing portion sizes found

in fast food chain restaurants have been documented to play a significant role in the obesity

epidemic. Not only will daily consumption of fast food increase your waist line, but it will also

increase the risk for health problems throughout ones life. While fast food is not the only one to

blame, more information should be provided to inform people about what is in the fast food they

are consuming.

Obesity is a condition that is described by an excess of adipose tissue. Adipose tissue,

otherwise known as fat is deposited in the body and is an important energy source for the

human body. Males and females require different amounts of adipose tissue for the body to

provide certain functions. Obesity is defined by Body Mass Index (BMI), which is the measure

of body fat to an individuals height and weight. For a person to be considered obese one must
Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

have a BMI of 30 or higher. Obesity is often caused by a sedentary lifestyle along with poor diet

choices.

Increasingly we are seeing more children with a high BMI. There are many health

problems that can occur for a child that is diagnosed as obese. Some of the more common

problems seen with obesity are diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, bone and

joint problems, and risk for stroke. Obesity has also been linked to psychological issues such as

depression and low self-esteem. Since these health problems are vast and very serious, this takes

a great toll on the nations health care system. The estimated cost of treating obesity related

health problems in the United States will cost approximately $303 billion dollars, and many

health professionals see this number increasing over the years.

Fast food chains know that childhood obesity is increasing, and they promised to do

better at offering children better meal options for a healthier diet. The truth is that this has not

been the case. A study found that at 23 different fast food chains that claimed to offer healthy

meal options for children, only 12 meal combinations meet the nutritional guidelines set for

preschoolers out of a possible 3,000 different options. All of the hype associated with new

healthy meal choices and lifestyle activities for children has created more advertising for

McDonalds, in fact in 2009 children saw 26% more marketing for McDonalds then they did in

2007. This translates into children seeing more of McDonalds and the happy meal toys and

making them more aware of the fast food chain than ever before. This has created more business

for McDonalds, and even worse, an unhealthier outcome for children.

Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

One indicator of obesity in children is if their parents are obese. If one or both parents

have bad eating habits, it is likely that the child will also develop those same bad eating habits

over their lifetime. As parents, we need to make sure that our children are getting the proper

nutrients for their growing bodies. If they are deprived of important nutrients and vitamins they

will have delayed mental and physical growth. Often times parents order fast food for a meal

because we dont have enough time to cook for our children. While we might not have time

every day to cook meals from scratch, we should really try and make an effort to cook at least

four times a week for our children. This ensures that they are getting quality nutrients and

teaches them the importance of cooking for themselves through their adult life.

An increased amount of fast food restaurants is a very significant contributing factor in

the obesity epidemic in the United States. One reason why we see the obesity rate climbing is

that in lower socioeconomic communities there is not a great amount of nutritious food available.

The lack of healthy food choices that are affordable for people tends for them to lean on a greater

reliance of fast food rather than healthy food. This is found in both children and adults and often

times the price of fast food is cheaper than buying healthy food, and therefore many family

meals are provided by fast food restaurants.

Although many Americans are considered obese studies show that minorities and

persons with a lower income are more likely to be obese. African Americans are 1.4 times and

Hispanics are 1.1 times more likely to be obese as compare to non-Hispanic Whites. In terms of

income, obesity is more prevalent in lower income women and adolescents than higher income
Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

women and adolescents. These findings can be linked to unequal access to healthy food and a

higher prevalence to fast food. A study in Los Angeles showed that higher income zip codes had

more healthy produce food markets and lower income zip codes had little healthy produce

markets but a higher amount of fast food restaurants available to the community. Based off of

this information, it seems as though people with low income are offered fast food as meal

options and healthy food choices are available to people that are able to buy them without

hurting their wallet.

With all of this information at hand, shouldnt we know what the added fat and sugar we

consume with fast food is doing to our bodies? How is this affecting our health and what is this

doing to us? One of the main health issues many people are familiar with is diabetes. Type II

diabetes has greatly increased in this country and has a major impact on our health. Insulin

resistance is the first step in developing Type II diabetes. Insulin is important in our body for

reducing our blood-glucose level by inducing glucose uptake into our muscles and fat to provide

energy production and to suppress the livers production of additional glucose. When we consume

excess sugar and fat our body is unable to keep up with this metabolic process and this is when

we develop Type II diabetes. Our body needs insulin and if we are unable to produce insulin

naturally, we must inject insulin in our body. Children with this condition often times can forget

to take their insulin and further major health problems can occur.

Knowing that excess sugar and fat can cause Type II diabetes; shouldnt we demand to

know more information about the fast food we are consuming? While some fast food chains do
Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

provide calorie information, I do not feel as though this is enough information to provide to

customers. Most people do not know how many grams of sugar are in the food they are

consuming. Maybe if this number was provided as well as total grams of fat, people might make

alternate food choices or at least they would be correctly informed of what they were consuming.

Also the calorie information is often printed in very small text making it really hard to read, to be

fair; the print should be the same size as the other information provided on the menu.

While many people know that fast food isnt the best meal choice, often times it is out of

convenience that we choose fast food options. Many people lead busy lives and crazy work

schedules, and sometimes fast food may be the only food a person eats in a day. If we know we

are going to be eating fast food, we should make sure that we make other healthy lifestyle

choices. It is well known that exercise is important for our bodies no matter what we eat, but

knowing that fast food generally isnt the best for us we need to make sure that we are

exercising. Things such as playing with our kids or going for a walk around the block are shown

to be healthy things we can do to lose weight and regulate our bodys calorie levels. Although

these might not be the most effective ways of losing weight and burning significant calories, this

is better than watching TV or sitting around at home browsing the internet.

Although I believe the fast food companies should do more to inform their customers of

the products they are consuming, I dont feel as though the fast food companies are fully to

blame for the obesity crisis in this country. People need to think of portion control. Do we really

need to get the extra-large value meal? Do we need to drink a 64 ounce soda with our extra-large
Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

fries? Just because we can order ten cheeseburgers doesnt mean that we should. The fast food

company is still a business wanting to make money and therefore will sell us ten cheeseburgers

at a time. It is up to the customer to decide how much they will eat and drink, and it is not the

fast food chains responsibility to limit a persons daily intake.

Our evolutionary history has always been able to handle the calories we consumed

because we exercised through working on the farm, hunting, or exercising through sports or just

simply playing in the backyard. Now we are less active and consume more; we are damaging our

bodies and causing diseases and illnesses that are easily preventable. People need to take charge

of their diet and lifestyle to ensure they are healthy and do not become overweight. I explained

that I do believe fast food chains need to do more to inform people about the food they are

consuming, but I do not place full blame on the fast food industry for the obesity crisis in this

country. I do believe that we make a choice each day of what we will eat and how active we will

be. If we do consume fast food, then we know we should exercise more to burn off those extra

calories, and if we dont we will gain weight. Gaining too much weight is hard on our body and

our bodys organs and can really cause harmful health problems if not taken seriously. Making

sure we make healthy choices each day will ensure that we dont experience the complications

associated with obesity. And there is good news after all that I have discussed, obesity is

reversible. We can change our lifestyle choices and decide to eat right. Obesity doesnt have to

be a part of our life forever; we can reverse it and become healthy again. Obesity doesnt have to
Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

define this country, but we need to make the everyday effort to love ourselves and our body and

put our health first.

Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

Work Cited

Herron, Johanna R. Feasibility of Farm-to-School in Alaska: A State-Wide Investigation of

Perspectives from School Food Service Professionals. University of Alaska Fairbanks

(2013): n. pag. Web. 30 July 2014.

Kotas, Maya Evelyn. Investigations Into the Role of the Immune System

in Metabolic Homeostasis and Disease. Yale University (2012): n. pag. Web. 2 August

2014.

Lichtenfeld, Marc Jeremy. "Health Transitions in School Children: Overweight and Obesity in

Broome County, New York. State University of New York at Binghamton (2009): n.

pag. Web. 27 July 2014

Minderman, Margaret Denice. The Obese Society University of Buffalo (2011): n. pag. Web. 3

August 2014.

Roditis, Maria L. An Anthropological Exploration of Childhood Obesity in Greece. Indiana

University (2012): n. pag. Web. 6 August 2014.

Jessica Smith

Professor Kozar

ENGL 1160

8/6/14

Stein, Dana Oppenheim. "'Food Deserts' and 'Food Swamps' in Hillsborough County, Florida:

Unequal Access to Supermarkets and Fast-Food Restaurants." University of South

Florida (2011): n. pag. Web. 27 July 2014.