It has been said that obesity is a challenge for many countries, among them developed ones too. It has been also said, that the US is the first in the ranking of obese people among developed nations.
The questions that I raise in this essay are as follows: why is obesity a recent issue and where it comes from? Why do Americans tend to be heavier in body weight than inhabitants of other countries? In order to approach those questions, firstly, I will analyze the cultural dimension of eating in an American way since the society, cultural traits and the media have an enormous effect on our vision. The next I will take a look at the socioeconomic aspects of the country.
In this essay, I argue that the introduction of fast food restaurants has altered the eating habits of Americans and brought a notion of a self-service. Self-service enables customers to save time and perhaps money too. In addition, I also argue, that the obesity caused by, at least partly by fast food, more negatively affected females in the US than males, due to double-standards imposed and sustained by the society, persisting cultural norms, commercials and by various marketing strategies.
Importantly, fast food restaurants have been frequent subjects of criticism, by people, the media and medical personalities. The reason for such a criticism lies in the fact that the obesity is listed as the cause of various forms of cancer, eating disorders and consequently, the death in the US. No doubt, that food is the commodity and metaphor too (Kniazeva, Venkatesh 2). The Popular documentary "super size me," tells the story of an average American male, who decides to eat only MacDonald’s' food during a month. The experiment cost him his health. The documentary underlines the new eating habits of one in four of Americans who each day visit a fast food restaurant. The contributing reasons of such a choice are the availability of Macdonald’s in almost everywhere, even in the hospitals. The role of commercials is enormously high, since, Macdonald's spends millions of dollars on promotion. Lobbyists seem to be effectively covering the negative aspects of processed food. More worryingly, the size of fast food has significantly increased that could be seen as one of the causes of the recent trend. Interestingly, even MacDonald’s once confirmed that processed food indeed may be more harmful for humans than unprocessed ones. The documentary further tackles the root causes of the obesity that is observed in corporate interests, who supply the schools with the soda drinks and processed food; while relatively few schools serve their school children with a healthy diet (Spurlock).
Eric Schlosser informs about different amount of money spent on fast food by Americans in 1970, that is $6 billion and in 2001 that reached $110 billion. We see that, perhaps, fast food has existed in America for long; yet, the consumption was not as high as it is now. As a result, fast food has become something one identifies with the US. It is a trade-mark that has been successfully franchised overseas and now operates across the globe (9).
Further statistics are given by Sahasporn Paeratakul, Mbbs, Daphne P. Ferdinand, Mn, Rn; Catherine M. Champagne, Rd, Donna H. Ryan, George A. Bray that says that the number of fast-food outlets has boosted from about 30,000 in 1970 to 140,000 in 1980, and fast-food sales rose by about 300% (1332). Also, Shanthy A. Bowman & Bryan T. Vinyard shed light on the rise in consumption of the fast food among adults from the early 1990s ( 1989–1991) to the mid-1990s (1994–1996). They also estimated that this rise would continue (167).
Indeed, it has been acknowledged by different medical persons that fast food is harmful for humans. It was also said that the obesity is caused by different reasons and among those reasons; the fast food has a very significant place at least in the US. However, “female toll” of obesity, according to Caroline Knapp, who herself suffered from anorexia is different in comparison to males. I certainly agree with her arguments since in my understanding too "anorexia is a response to the cultural images of the female body “; and what is more, anorexia -"It is a form of silent protest" (Knapp 188,189). In fact, eating disorders are deemed to be the third most spread chronic illnesses among females in the US (Knapp189). She stresses that, the notion of being thin is so widespread that most of the humans and females particular take them as granted. Sadly, there is a disturbing consequence resulting in the rise of eating disorders’ among females over the last decades (Knapp 194). Knapp similar to the protagonist of "Super size me", stresses on the excess of the quantity of food, that she links with the greediness that is characteristic of the culture and calls it as an "American way" (Knapp 196). Knapp further criticizes the double standard of objectifying female bodies (p 199).
Works cited
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. England: Penguin Books, 2002. Print.
Shanthy A. Bowman & Bryan T. Vinyard Fast. Food Consumption Of U.S. Adults: Impact On Energy And Nutrient Intakes And Overweight Status, Journal Of The American College Of Nutrition, 2013. Print.
Paeratakul, Sahasporn, Ferdinand, Daphne P. Champagne, Catherine M. Ryan, Donna H. Md; Bray, George A. Fast-Food Consumption Among US Adults And Children: Dietary And Nutrient Intake Profile, 2003. print.
Miller, James S. Knapp, Caroline. Acting out Culture: University of Wisconsin
Super Size Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. 2004. youtube.
Kniazeva, Maria, Venkatesh, Alladi. Food for thought: A study of food consumption in postmodern US culture: Journal of Consumer Behaviour. 2007. Print.
