Obesity: An American Epidemic

America is known as one of the greatest nations in the world, the land of the free, and the place where any person can make their dreams a reality. It is a prosperous country where people have the option to do whatever they want, in what ever way they choose to. However, there is an alarming new trend on the rise in our country, and it is negatively affecting the lives of many people everyday. The problem is obesity and America is slowly becoming known not only as the richest or most powerful nation in the world, but also the fattest. Increasing trends in improper eating habits, the availability of healthy meal options and lack of exercise have led a growing number of adults and children in this country to become overweight and obese, which is a very serious and even deadly problem that must be resolved immediately.

In order to solve this problem, different people and organizations must come together and work towards a solution that will help everyone overcome this epidemic. Many scientific studies have been done on this problem and everyone is aware of the danger. "Data from two NHANES surveys show that among adults aged 20-74 years the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.0% (in the 1976-1980 survey) to 32.9% (in the 2003-2004 survey)"(Overweight). Our government needs to take the first step in eradicating this problem by making people aware of their lifestyle. One of the first actions that needs to be taken is to help people learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. There are many programs out there that encourage people to get up and get fit, but because they are not well known and widely used, they are not as effective as they could be. I believe that the government should team up with organizations and corporations to get together and teach people how to effectively lose weight and keep it off. In the media, there is an overabundance of weight loss pills, foods and programs, but no matter how many different fads emerge, nothing has been proven to work long term to help people lose weight and keep it off. "During 2001, the FTC conducted a non-scientific survey of weight-loss ads. After collecting a nonrandom sample of 300 advertisements from television, infomercials, radio, magazines, newspapers, supermarket tabloids, direct mail, commercial email and the internet, they concluded that fraudulent and misleading advertising was widespread and on the rise" (Szwarc). For this reason, there should be a national program that teaches people effective ways to lose weight such as eating a balanced diet, and exercising regularly. This program would be available to both children and adults.

In schools, it would be similar to the D.A.R.E. program in which children are taught not only how to eat healthy, but why to eat healthy. If the children are aware of the reasons why not to eat junk food, then it will help them understand why having a healthy diet is important. There should also be more of a focus on physical education with more of an emphasis on effective exercise and less on sports. I can remember being in elementary school gym class and not doing a single thing because I did not like sports. These changes would be implemented by government funded organizations that would function solely to teach children how to eat right and exercise.

Outside of school, children should be encouraged to play outdoors more, and stay inside less. The government should implement interactive programs at local parks and YMCA's where children are supervised and allowed to safely play and stay active. If children are not able to play outside they usually stay inside and watch TV. On any given day, when the TV is turned on and tuned to a children's program, the commercials for these programs consist of advertisements for sugary candy, cereal and drinks, all which are high in fat and very unhealthy. "Food advertisements accounted for 47.8% of all commercials. Of the advertised foods, 69.6%, 39.7%, and 20.4% were high in sugar, fat, or salt, respectively; only 8.9% were low in all three components. Only 0.2% of all nonprogram time was devoted to public service announcements on healthful nutrition topics" (Food advertising). The government should be able to regulate the amount of commercials of that nature that can be played per show. Organic healthy foods are on the rise right now and food companies that make child friendly products should be given more spots to advertise so that children will be exposed to healthier food options. Or, the corporations that make these sugary cereals and candy should be regulated so that they are only allowed to have a certain amount of calories, fat and sugar in their products. There should also be more commercials that encourage children to go outside and play than there are now and advertisements for toys that promote physical activity.

Adults are also influenced by advertisements for fad diet pills and programs. To combat this, the government should come up with a lifestyle plan that really teaches people how to eat healthy and what is good for you and bad for you. Everyday, new studies emerge that find certain foods that were once good for you are now bad and foods that were once bad are now good. This confuses people and leads them to become discouraged with eating healthy. Corporations should help consumers out by labeling what are good foods to eat and what are not. The Pepsi soft drink company and Kraft foods both have programs out that label which foods are healthy choices and makes it very easy to decide on what to eat. All foods should contain these labels to make it easy to see what is good for your diet and what is not.

Adults spend a majority of their time at work and during this time period may not have the opportunity to make healthy choices. People with jobs work about 7.5 hours a day which works out to about 1950 hours of work per year (American). Job sites should be required to offer some kind of exercise program for their employees to better educate them on the importance of staying fit and how to implement such changes in their lives. This is important because if the program is part of work, people will take it seriously and it will have a better chance of being successfully used. Employers should help their employees by providing exercise areas or granting their employees free or discounted gym memberships. Having more fit employees not only benefits the individuals themselves, but also leads to improved work performance, which will in turn benefit the company. "Fit employees generally 'feel good'. They tend to have a physical and mental 'balance' that results in a more positive attitude in the workplace" (Doyle).

Though the government, organizations, and corporations should do more to prevent obesity, individuals need to take steps as well to ensure their own good health. Families should gather together and prepare healthy meals that are both nutritious and tasteful, instead of just eating frozen dinners or eating out. During holiday seasons, activities are often centered on eating. Families should try to avoid those activities and instead focus on other things such as doing crafts or volunteer work. They should also engage in family activities that include more physical work such as going swimming at the beach or bike riding together. If people come together, they have the support of others to encourage them to continue to stay healthy and fit.

If people can come together and recognize that there is a huge problem in our country we can easily solve the problem. Having support from various networks and organizations will encourage people to be persistent in staying healthy. Obesity is a problem that can be solved and is easily avoidable. By just educating people on the subject matter, we will be fighting half the battle. There is no need to be obese and by helping out those who do not know better or who can not commit themselves to a program we will take a big step towards eliminating this epidemic.

Works Cited

"American Time Use Survey Summary." Bureau of Labor Statistics. 27 July 2006. 5 April 2007. .

Doyle, Bob. "10 Reason to Encourage Fitness in the Workplace." Self Growth.com. 5 April 2007. .

"Food Advertising on Children's Television Programs." Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. June 1995. 5 April 2007. .

"Overweight and Obesity: Home." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1 March 2007. 5 April 2007. < http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/index.htm>.

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Szwarc, Sandy. "FTC's Diet Pill Crackdown- A Marketing Scheme in Disguise." Junkfood Science. 8 January 2007. 5 April 2007. .