America's Weight Problem

Obesityand the reverse, being underweight, are on the rise in the United States, and it is absolutely awful. Recently Australia has passed the United States for the fattest nation in the world; and we are HAPPY. It is absolutely preposterous that we are content with being the second most obese nation in the world. It seems that the American pastime is no longer baseball; it's eating.

Not only are Americans eating too much, they are eating the wrong foods to begin with. Ten years ago the craze seemed to be low fat; while eating healthy fats is necessary to fight obesity! The new trend of people trying to become healthy is the Atkins diet; or cutting carbs. This is quite ironic because less carbs means less energy; which is necessary for exercise. Cutting carbs is not only bad for energy, but carbohydrates are necessary for proper health in other areas as well. Is it ironic that Mr. Atkins died due to his own diet, or is it evidence that his diet is faulty? It's quite funny how the diet is still maintained as "healthy". It's a serious problem when your nation's diet continually is poor and nothing is changing for the better.

It is estimated that over thirty percent of Americans are obese, with another twenty-five percent underweight. These numbers are absolutely not fine for "the biggest powerful nation in the world". This means that well over half of the people in the United States have unhealthy eating habits. It seems that our title "the biggest nation in the world" is totally applicable; just in a different manner.

Ideally, obesity would not exist when applied to the economy. Sadly, obesity affects the economy are a large scale. Labor is poor when workers are poor; and obesity creates problems with the workers. Even with job that is not physical at all, obesity is a strong factor in labor. Being overweight can create a negative mindset, and this mindset can carry with you throughout the entire day. Being unhealthy also aids low self confidence, which is a huge role in labor. Obesity also detracts from our ability to hire people for physical jobs as well. In jobs such as construction where physical labor is necessary, obese people just can possibly do the work as well. Having more obese people means not only aids a negative mindset, but it takes away from potential workers in physical jobs such as construction as well.

We as a nation need to help reverse this trend of unhealthiness. Not only will this help our society by creating more secure and confident people, but it will help the economy as well. Ideally, every single person in a single society would be healthy. This is unobtainable, but we can definitely get closer to the goal. Stop eating that 8^th meal of Twinkies and doughnuts, and stop avoiding eating that 3^rd meal because you are afraid of getting fat. Educate yourself and everyone you know on proper nutrition and help reverse this trend of unhealthiness in the United States.