Obesity is a problem!

Obesity is a growing issue in America and the amount of obese Americans has increased a lot over the last 50 years, the main issue is that the oversized meals that are served at fast food restaurants contain way too much fat and calories. Instead of having insane amounts of meat in burgers the fast food restaurants should stick to the recommended meal sizes and cut down on drink sizes to try help lower the obesity numbers. Obesity isn't just being overweight because there are many side effects that many children and adults have to deal with. The amount of people that are obese in America is the highest amount in the world with 35% (114 million people) of the population dealing with obesity (Levi, 2004). Predictions for 2020 are that 80% of men in America will be obese by 2020 (The guardian, 2010).

No matter where you eat out the menu will have over-sized meals that contain way too much fat and calories for the average male. The American fast food restaurants are way too oversized and contain way too much calories and fat, too many Americans eat these fatty foods too often with little exercise. Each meal that is ordered from a fast food restaurant is over sized and full of fat. Most fast food restaurants are trying to find new ways to increase the fat in their meals creating a fat nation. In the last few years, Hardee’s, Burger King and Wendy's all have introduced 1,000-calorie-plus sandwiches stuffed with 12 ounces of beef, this is the amount of meat recommended over a period of two days for the average adult. The sugary drink portions are also oversized with quite a few restaurants that have introduced a 42 ounce (1.2 litres) drink and king-eleven introduced a 64 ounce (1.8 litres) drink. This drink contains about 800 calories which is about a third of the recommended calorie intake over a day for an average male and all those calories in one cup. American fast food restaurants create meals containing way to much fat and calories and many Americans are drawn in with the low prices.

Fast food restaurants should stick to the recommended meal sizes and cut down on drink sizes because the meal sizes are a major cause of Obesity in America. Each fast food meal contains more fat and calories than your average meal should have, some burgers contain the amount of meat recommended for two days. The drinks also contain high amounts of sugar and are served in massive portions which contain almost the amount of sugar recommended for two days. The average fast food meal is four times larger than it was in the 1950's and the sugary drinks has increased massively since then as well with a litre cup containing an ounce more sugar than the recommended amount of added sugars per day. In the last few years, Hardee’s, Burger King and Wendy's all have introduced 1,000-calorie-plus sandwiches stuffed with 12 ounces of beef which is the amount of meat recommended to be eaten over a two day period. For an adult to be eating the recommended amount of meat for two days, this is what leads to obesity.

There are many side effects to obesity and nearly 78 million adults and 13 million children in the United States deal with these side effects every day. Obesity can lead to many other diseases ranging from acute to chronic diseases and if worst comes to worst then it can lead to death. Obesity is something that should be dealt with, it shouldn’t just be shrugged off because it is a problem and the whole world is dealing with it. Obesity leads to several different health conditions such as cardio-vascular disease, cancer, depression, reduce in fertility, respiratory disease, cognitive disease and musculoskeletal and a large amount of Americas population suffer from these health conditions. Nearly 78 million adults and 13 million children in the United States deal with the health and emotional effects of obesity every day which is almost a third of Americas adult population and almost a fifth of Americas child population those numbers are still rising. With less fast food and more motivation to lose weight the numbers for obesity would start to drop and less people will be living with the health conditions that obesity can cause.

The rate of obesity in America is constantly growing and it's going to keep growing because each generation is lazier than the last and they keep eating fast food with no exercise to burn off the fat that they are gaining. Nearly 35% of Americans have obesity which is about 113 million people and about 30% of Americans are overweight which is about 97 million people is (Levi, 2004). The amount of overweight and obese people in America is 210 million which is 206 million more than the amount of people in New Zealand. Fast food is a cheap alternative to cooking but it is extremely unhealthy and is the main cause of obesity in America, too many people are drawn in by the cheap prices of the fatty meals. Fast food won’t have a bad effect if you only have it every two weeks but the average American spends about half their yearly food budget on fast food which is why there is so many people living with obesity in America. The rates of obesity now exceed 35 percent in three states which are Arkansas, West Virginia and Mississippi. 22 states have rates above 30 percent, 45 states are above 25 percent, and every state is above 20 percent. Arkansas has the highest adult obesity rate at 35.9 percent, while Colorado has the lowest at 21.3 percent. This is way too many people to be classified as obese and it is an issue that needs to be dealt with. More than a third of adults (34.9 percent) were obese as of 2011 to 2012 and more than two-thirds of adults were overweight or obese (68.6 percent) (Levi, 2004). Approximately 31.8 percent were either overweight or obese, this isn’t the children’s fault because their parents are the ones feeding them large amounts of fast food. The percentages of obesity keep growing and they aren't showing any signs of dropping, it is predicted that by 2020 almost 80 percent of Americans will be obese by 2020 (Theguardian, 2010). Obesity is a worldwide problem but if everyone committed to a healthier diet and regular exercise it wouldn’t be as much of a problem.

Obesity is a massive problem in America and it always will be unless something is done before its too late because obesity is rising and more than three quarters of America will be diagnosed with obesity by 2020 and more people will be obese as time goes by. Obesity has a solution but that won’t matter if people don’t commit to getting rid of obesity by taking an interdisciplinary approach involving the cooperation of the food industry with other stakeholders, such as the government, academia, and health care providers but the consumer will have to make healthy lifestyle choices at the individual level.  Many people suffer from obesity in America and the major reason for it is the oversized meals that are served at fast food restaurants (Obesity in America: A Growing Concern, 2013).