Obesity Problem
RLibby White
Dr. Carl Miller
English 102
7 April 2011
EnormoU.S. Problem
“The bigger the better” is not always necessarily true. In America, the amount of citizens overweight is rapidly increasing as the age of overweight people is decreasing. Although there is no specific cure, this disease can be lowered by attacking a diverse amount of contributing factors. The adolescent obesity epidemic can be controlled by lowering the price of healthy foods, enforce stricter health education in schools, and address the problems at home.
One solution to America’s obesity epedimic is to lower the price of fruits and vegetables. The amount of fast food consumed is at an all time high and is constantly growing. America has a heavy dependency on fast food, which is “estimated to be 187kcal per day” (Flodmark 5). The production of fast food, also known as conventional food, places a burden on the environment. The fertilizer and chemicals used to develop the maximum amount of crop from a field pollutes the environment all over. When it rains, run offs from the Midwest fields lead into the Gulf of Mexico, which contribute to a giant dead zone of almost no sea life. This effects the fishing industry majorly and causes a loss of 212,000 tons of seafood every year (Walsh 34). Another flaw of the fast food industry is the conditions in which the livestock are raised. In the conventional food system, thousands of cattle and pigs “are kept in close concentrated conditions and fattened up for slaughter as fast as possible, contributing to efficiencies of scale and thus low prices” (Walsh 34). Although it has many negative outcomes, the popularity of fast food is mainly due to its extremely low prices. Fruits and vegetables are more expensive than grains; therefore the cost of cheap conventional food compared to the cost of organic food “is a principal cause of America’s obesity epidemic” (Walsh 32). As a result of cheap, calorie-heavy conventional foods, “Americans spend less
Dr. Carl Miller
English 102
7 April 2011
EnormoU.S. Problem
“The bigger the better” is not always necessarily true. In America, the amount of citizens overweight is rapidly increasing as the age of overweight people is decreasing. Although there is no specific cure, this disease can be lowered by attacking a diverse amount of contributing factors. The adolescent obesity epidemic can be controlled by lowering the price of healthy foods, enforce stricter health education in schools, and address the problems at home.
One solution to America’s obesity epedimic is to lower the price of fruits and vegetables. The amount of fast food consumed is at an all time high and is constantly growing. America has a heavy dependency on fast food, which is “estimated to be 187kcal per day” (Flodmark 5). The production of fast food, also known as conventional food, places a burden on the environment. The fertilizer and chemicals used to develop the maximum amount of crop from a field pollutes the environment all over. When it rains, run offs from the Midwest fields lead into the Gulf of Mexico, which contribute to a giant dead zone of almost no sea life. This effects the fishing industry majorly and causes a loss of 212,000 tons of seafood every year (Walsh 34). Another flaw of the fast food industry is the conditions in which the livestock are raised. In the conventional food system, thousands of cattle and pigs “are kept in close concentrated conditions and fattened up for slaughter as fast as possible, contributing to efficiencies of scale and thus low prices” (Walsh 34). Although it has many negative outcomes, the popularity of fast food is mainly due to its extremely low prices. Fruits and vegetables are more expensive than grains; therefore the cost of cheap conventional food compared to the cost of organic food “is a principal cause of America’s obesity epidemic” (Walsh 32). As a result of cheap, calorie-heavy conventional foods, “Americans spend less
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