Obesity Rate

American Obesity Rises

The obesity rate in America has increased tremendously within the past 20 plus years. People have become more comfortable being heavier than the average. Society tries to enforce the idea of “slim” being “in”, while somehow contradicting itself by saying being comfortable in your own skin. The obesity rate in America has increased because of cultural changes, lifestyle habits, and genetics.
Over the past 20 years, American culture has changed as a whole. Working men and women seemed to have begun to working unheard of hours, consuming more unhealthy food, and started to become more attached to technology and less focused on going out and being active. According to faculty.chicagobooth.edu in 1970, the average weight for an American female over the age of 20 was 143 pounds and the average for a male was 168 pounds. Currently, the average weight for an American female is 166 pounds and for a male, it is 195 pounds (cdc.gov). The trend with weight and incomes seems to show that the higher income a family or person has, the more likely they are to be obese. In the 20th century, kids were more active and technology wasn’t as advanced, so instead of staying in the house playing video games, they would go outside with neighbors to play and get exercise. Since the 1970s, the rate of obesity has doubled among children (Americans Are Obsessed With Fast Food). The cultural change in America has obviously contributed to the increase in obesity.
With the work hours increasing and the time spent at home (besides sleeping) decreasing, there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day for cooking healthy homemade meals for the family. If people have to eat, but they don’t have the time, what is the next best solution? The only option would be fast food. Every day about one quarter of the U.S. population eats fast food (Americans Are Obsessed With Fast Food), which only leaves about 75% of American eating at home or eating nothing at all. Most fast food available is extremely fatty, artificial, and has little to no nutritional value. Although people are aware of the unhealthiness of the food they put into their system, the majority of them still don’t make an effort to balance their food consumption with exercise. Eating unhealthy food on a day to day basis without exercise is going to eventually lead to weight gain, or long term medical complications. The average American spends only about two hours each week participating in sports and fitness activities (Americans fall short of federal exercise recommendations). If Americans are eating unhealthy food more than they are exercising to burn off their intake, then the ultimate result will be weight gain and/or obesity.
Genetics has a huge part to play in obesity in people. Genes determine how fast or slow a person’s metabolism goes and how much fat a person’s body can accumulate (Genetics of Diabetes). Genes can also pass down certain diseases from parent to offspring, such as diabetes. Diabetes is two-type disease caused by high sugar levels in the blood due to defects in insulin production. Type one and type two diabetes are both caused by genetics, but type two is slightly different because it can also be caused by obesity. At first, type two diabetes were more common in adults, but over the years has been increasingly diagnosed among children because of their obesity rates. The rate of diabetes has also increased over the past 50 years. In 1958, the number of Americans that suffered with diabetes was 1.5 million, but over the years has sky rocketed 125% to a total of 18.8 Americans (The Facts about Diabetes). Genetics and obesity go hand in hand with their effects to a person’s health.
America’s obesity rate is the largest in the world and is only going to get worse over time if no effort is put in to make a change. Imagine if the world had the obesity rate of The United States. It is slowly happening. Cultural and lifestyle adjustments could be made to overcome personal genetics and even prevent the risk of certain diseases. It’s time for Americans to find determination within themselves to become healthy. Nobody wants to be just another statistic.