Obesity in America Essay

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Week 5 Assignment- Obesity in America
GEN499: General Education Capstone
Instructor: Mark Bowles

Final Paper: Obesity in America Obesity in America is real and profoundly alarming when you look at the major impact it has on our communities. Major health concerns like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure cases are at an all time high. Specifically, the disparity between low-income urban inner cities in regards to obesity as compared to more upper class wealthier communities makes you take pause. This relates to my professional goals of going back into my community as an activist and organizer of issues related to my environment, like health and education. …show more content…
The author talks about how fast food has become a major source of nutrition in low income, urban neighborhoods. Ms. Freeman goes even further into this point describing how the popularity is mainly due to the fast food industry targeting this specific market, infiltrating schools, government subsidies and the federal food policy, which are all key factors in denying inner cities access to healthy food choices. The author describes this as food oppression. Food oppression is structured and targeted from institutionalized practices and policies of government and the fast food industry. “Government policies engendering food oppression range from providing public assistance insufficient to cover the cost of fresh food to collaboration with the fast food giants to ensure that their products dominate lunch-room counters and dinner tables. This state-sponsored racial inequality is obscured by the distinction between public and private spheres of action and is perpetuated by the myth of personal choice, even where a lack of options and resources severely limits the ability to exercise choice” (Freeman, 2007, p.222). Ms. Freeman offers solutions to this issue starting with reforms at the federal level of government. She also calls on local community organizations to get involved and create awareness. Her main goal is to emphasize that food oppression is a form of institutionalized inequality that

Obesity In America

68.5 percent of adults in the United States of America are overweight or obese (Food Research Action Center 2015). Many of those Americans are living below the poverty line. “Obesity is especially rampant among Americans with the lowest levels of education and the highest poverty rates” (Lee 2012). Whether it be because of the lack of resources or the high levels of stress, the link between obesity and poverty in America is clear. Obesity, by definition, is “a condition characterized by the…

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Obesity In America

Obesity crisis in America Obesity has plagued America for many years now and it has been inflating into an enormous public health epidemic. The issue had started in small groups and then skyrocketed into a macroscopic level. The NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination survey) 2007-2008 data suggests an increase in obesity starting in the late 1980’s through today (Ogden, 2010, pg. 1). The National Institute of Health report showed that from 1962-2006 obesity rates in adults have doubled…

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Obesity In America

with diseases, instead your mouth waters. Studies have shown that due to the increase in consumption of fast food, the percentage of the population considered overweight in America is 66% while obesity is at a staggering high of 32%. This statistic shows that almost 1 in 3 people in America are to be considered obese. America being the home of fast food, as stated in the video is debilitating its residents and increasing diseases. Fast food has been expressed by the general public as addictive. This…

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Obesity In America

Imagine a world where no junk food or fast food chains exist. Everyone would be healthy and fit, and there would be no worries about obesity, saturated or trans fats, or proper nutrition. This is the world that some nutritionists believe we should live in. However, in a society so saturated with fast food, quick meals, and other types of junk food, the idea of not eating a single bite of “bad food” is simply unrealistic. Instead of avoiding junk food and fast food completely, a better idea would…

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Obesity In America

America, one of the largest nations in the world, has been swept away by the obesity epidemic that has consumed the modern generation due to the development of fast food restaurants spreading worldwide. As time passes by, the obesity rate rapidly increases and as a result, everyone’s “ideal” dinner consists of Mcdonald’s medium size french fries, a McDouble, a McChicken, and a large size soda. This has become a major issue because nowadays, people have become lazy and heavily rely on fast food since…

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Obesity In America

Oscar Noguera Mrs. Higley English Composition Obesity in America Thesis: Obesity in America is a major issue, people will have a reduced life expectancy, physical limitations, and possible social isolation when suffering obesity. I. Reduced life expectancy A. Cardiovascular disease B. Higher risk of type two diabetes C. Prone to strokes II. Physical limitations A. Lifting objects B. Walking C. Doing activities with your children III. Social Isolation A. Loneliness from friends and average people…

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Obesity In America

illnesses such as the flu all the way to cancer. The reality is that in the middle of that spectrum lies an infectious cause of death that has unfortunately become overlooked. This disease being obesity. Obesity is not just the beginning; resulting in depression, insecurities, and eventually death. The obesity epidemic is not a joking matter in the United States considering that sixty one percent of the American diet is processed food. Unarguably, being that every street corner includes a McDonald’s…

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Obesity In America

The obesity rates in America are rising, no doubt about it. Today, 30.5 percent of Americans are obese, with an additional 4.5 percent severely obese, a great increase from the 33 percent overweight and 9.7 percent obese in the 1950’s. (Bird, 2013) While some people believe government regulation is the answer to the problem, this would mean forfeiting certain rights and giving up part of the freedom that we Americans value so much. As responsible adults, American citizens should be able to make their…

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Obesity In America

and continue to eat the garbage. People don’t change these habits because they do not know how to change these habits. If they are given different precautionary measures to go through when buying or ordering foods, then their might be a less obese America. First, one…

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Essay On Obesity In America

Obesity in America is a serious problem affecting many Americans currently and is a problem that continues to grow each year. Two out of every three Americans are overweight and that number has been predicted to rise to three out of four by 2020 (1). Josh Rushing, in the documentary Fast Food, Fat Profits: Obesity in America, examines why obesity in the United States is becoming a bigger issue. Rushing investigates how the government tries to force changes. Public health in AMerica directly relates…

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