Obesity in America Essay

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Week 5 Assignment- Obesity in America
GEN499: General Education Capstone
Instructor: Mark Bowles

Final Paper: Obesity in America Obesity in America is real and profoundly alarming when you look at the major impact it has on our communities. Major health concerns like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure cases are at an all time high. Specifically, the disparity between low-income urban inner cities in regards to obesity as compared to more upper class wealthier communities makes you take pause. This relates to my professional goals of going back into my community as an activist and organizer of issues related to my environment, like health and education. …show more content…
The author talks about how fast food has become a major source of nutrition in low income, urban neighborhoods. Ms. Freeman goes even further into this point describing how the popularity is mainly due to the fast food industry targeting this specific market, infiltrating schools, government subsidies and the federal food policy, which are all key factors in denying inner cities access to healthy food choices. The author describes this as food oppression. Food oppression is structured and targeted from institutionalized practices and policies of government and the fast food industry. “Government policies engendering food oppression range from providing public assistance insufficient to cover the cost of fresh food to collaboration with the fast food giants to ensure that their products dominate lunch-room counters and dinner tables. This state-sponsored racial inequality is obscured by the distinction between public and private spheres of action and is perpetuated by the myth of personal choice, even where a lack of options and resources severely limits the ability to exercise choice” (Freeman, 2007, p.222). Ms. Freeman offers solutions to this issue starting with reforms at the federal level of government. She also calls on local community organizations to get involved and create awareness. Her main goal is to emphasize that food oppression is a form of institutionalized inequality that

Obesity In America

Obesity crisis in America Obesity has plagued America for many years now and it has been inflating into an enormous public health epidemic. The issue had started in small groups and then skyrocketed into a macroscopic level. The NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination survey) 2007-2008 data suggests an increase in obesity starting in the late 1980’s through today (Ogden, 2010, pg. 1). The National Institute of Health report showed that from 1962-2006 obesity rates in adults have doubled…

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Obesity In America

68.5 percent of adults in the United States of America are overweight or obese (Food Research Action Center 2015). Many of those Americans are living below the poverty line. “Obesity is especially rampant among Americans with the lowest levels of education and the highest poverty rates” (Lee 2012). Whether it be because of the lack of resources or the high levels of stress, the link between obesity and poverty in America is clear. Obesity, by definition, is “a condition characterized by the…

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Obesity In America

with diseases, instead your mouth waters. Studies have shown that due to the increase in consumption of fast food, the percentage of the population considered overweight in America is 66% while obesity is at a staggering high of 32%. This statistic shows that almost 1 in 3 people in America are to be considered obese. America being the home of fast food, as stated in the video is debilitating its residents and increasing diseases. Fast food has been expressed by the general public as addictive. This…

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Obesity In America

Imagine a world where no junk food or fast food chains exist. Everyone would be healthy and fit, and there would be no worries about obesity, saturated or trans fats, or proper nutrition. This is the world that some nutritionists believe we should live in. However, in a society so saturated with fast food, quick meals, and other types of junk food, the idea of not eating a single bite of “bad food” is simply unrealistic. Instead of avoiding junk food and fast food completely, a better idea would…

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Obesity In America

America, one of the largest nations in the world, has been swept away by the obesity epidemic that has consumed the modern generation due to the development of fast food restaurants spreading worldwide. As time passes by, the obesity rate rapidly increases and as a result, everyone’s “ideal” dinner consists of Mcdonald’s medium size french fries, a McDouble, a McChicken, and a large size soda. This has become a major issue because nowadays, people have become lazy and heavily rely on fast food since…

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Obesity In America

Obesity Since the 1960s obesity has been on the rise in America and is not slowing down (“Facts on Obesity”). About one-third of the American population or roughly 78.6 million American’s are affected by obesity (“Facts on Obesity”). Likewise, obesity is increasing in other parts of the globe and has become one of the world’s major health issues. Obesity has become more prevalent in recent times due to external factors over internal factors. The words “overweight” and “obesity” are and have been…

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Obesity In America

The obesity rates in America are rising, no doubt about it. Today, 30.5 percent of Americans are obese, with an additional 4.5 percent severely obese, a great increase from the 33 percent overweight and 9.7 percent obese in the 1950’s. (Bird, 2013) While some people believe government regulation is the answer to the problem, this would mean forfeiting certain rights and giving up part of the freedom that we Americans value so much. As responsible adults, American citizens should be able to make their…

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Obesity In America

Obesity has become a fast-growing epidemic among young adults in America due to the lack of physical activity, poor dieting, and genetics. Obesity has already been linked to different health conditions such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Every day is a food war with the busy lifestyle of an american eating healthy seems to always be a last resort which is why we are losing the strive to be healthy here in the states. We are so set on the different food industry to satisfy our appetites and…

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Obesity In America

illnesses such as the flu all the way to cancer. The reality is that in the middle of that spectrum lies an infectious cause of death that has unfortunately become overlooked. This disease being obesity. Obesity is not just the beginning; resulting in depression, insecurities, and eventually death. The obesity epidemic is not a joking matter in the United States considering that sixty one percent of the American diet is processed food. Unarguably, being that every street corner includes a McDonald’s…

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Obesity In America

bury their young child, all due to poor food and health that has dispersed throughout America. Although America is one of the most prosperous countries in the world, it is also the unhealthiest country. The world’s view of American society consists of people having a Big Mac in one hand and holding a remote control in the other. In reality, this stereotype is not far from being precise. The definition of obesity is the condition in which an individual has an abundant amount of grossly fat and being…

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