The United States is one of the countries in the world with the highest rate of obesity. Indeed, it is second only to Mexico, the country with the highest rate of obesity in the world. Obesity is higher among adults than children. Gavin and Mcbrearty outline that in 2010 35.7% of adults and 17% of children in the US were obese (4). In this essay, the author attempts to explain why the rate of obesity is high in the United States than in other countries. Some of the factors that cause a high rate of obesity in this country include increased consumption of processed food, lack of exercise and the American way of socialization in which the consumption of food is considered one during social events is almost mandatory. These factors are discussed in the subsequent paragraphs.
In today’s world, Americans live in an instant gratitude state of mind. On any ordinary day, why would one spend several hours slaving in the kitchen when they can simply pop a frozen pizza in the oven or go through an established fast food drive through? This is why Americans are significantly more obese than other countries. French and Italians actually care about the taste of their food; they enjoy and appreciate the time spent preparing the dish. Americans prefer quantity over quality. Rather than buying a few fresh organic fruits and vegetables that would go bad in just a few days, the typical American would prefer buying a plethora of canned produce. This way they could stock food that would last for weeks in order to only make a trip or two to the grocery a month, with no concern at all about the listed amount of added sugars and preservatives (Smith).
Another reason why obesity is more prevalent in the US than other countries is because of lack of exercise. Americans thrive on automobile transportation. In France and Italy, they walk everywhere they need to go (Smith). In contrast, here in the U.S., it would be impossible for most of us to casually walk to the nearest grocery store. We lack a significant amount of exercise due to our dependency on automobile transportation; but why would we care? In America, it is socially acceptable to be overweight. It doesn’t faze others when an obese person walks in the room because it is the norm. In other countries, people actually care about their appearance. They care about how they dress, and look in public; where in America it is completely acceptable to throw on a t-shirt and sweatpants to go to the store.
One would think since the U.S. is one of the wealthier countries, money would be spent on taking care of our bodies. In the end, our body is the most important aspect of a human, without good health a life could be cut short (David, Glaeser and Shapiro 97). America has the highest paying healthcare system with the lowest health rates. Contrary to popular belief, saving a couple of dollars and an hour of the day to buy quick, easy, and unhealthy food statistically doesn’t save any time or money. In the end, typically the money is spent in attempts to cure one’s poor health and the person’s life span is significantly reduced.
Lack of exercise among people in the United States is indeed one of the major causes of obesity in the country. The level of obesity in this country is higher than in other countries like the Italy and France. People in France and Italy have greater opportunities to walk than their American counterparts. A majority of cities in America were built in the automobile era. According to (Boone and Modarres 151) the design of such cities did not provide for larger walking distances for people because the emphasis was on creating space for automobiles. This contrasts with cities in France and Italy whose construction did not occur in the automobile era thus providing adequate space for those interested in walking. Consequently, people in France and Italy engage in more physical exercise through walking than people in the US. The type of food consumed by people is a very important determinant of obesity.
High consumption of artificial and processed food is one of the main causes of obesity among Americans. The manufacture of Snack-size cream-filled cake for in stance would take a lot of time and consume huge amounts of resources. However, with advanced technology this food can only be produced using one US Dollar and within a very short period of time (Cutler, Glaeser and Shapiro 105). The consumption of this food would therefore be high only in countries which are endowed with this technology. This is the reason why people in developed nations like the US would consume a large amount of such foods. Increased consumption of such processed foods leads to an increase in the rate of obesity.
There is a very close connection between the consumption of processed food and the high level of obesity in the United States. According to Cutler, Glaeser, and Shapiro there is a great demand for fast foods among the Americans (104). This type of food is highly demanded by the people because it is tasty and very affordable. In response to this high demand, manufacturers in the US employ technology to manufacturer food composed of many chemicals that may not be of any use to one’s health. When this food is consumed, only small portions of the food which contain nutrients are broken down and used in the body. Unfortunately, chemicals and synthetic ingredients found in this food are foreign to the body and therefore most of them can not be digested. Since digestive organs can not process these chemicals, they are stored in the body in the fat tissue. This results into obesity.
Besides causing obesity, processed food also causes other health problems (Campos 7). These include high levels of blood sugar. There different types of calories in food: calories which have nutritional value and those which do not have nutritional value. The calories which do not have nutritional value are also referred to as empty calories. Such calories are usually broken down resulting into an increase in the blood sugar levels. This in turn stimulates the body to secrete more insulin which causes hunger signals. The person affected would end up consuming more food in subsequent meals. This serves to escalate the person’s obesity problem (Harcombe 34). It is therefore important for the people to avoid consuming processed food to keep healthy. The consumption of this type of food has remained high in the US as compared to other countries. The consumption of these processed is also caused by the people’s busy schedules as discussed below.
Americans have with time got so engaged in their busy schedules that they no longer have formal meal time (Maggie54). This is the time set apart for the members of a family to prepare food and enjoy it together. Adults are busy juggling between one job and another while teenagers are either in school or engaged in different social activities. Families therefore do not have time prepare for a meal and enjoy it together. The only option they have is to consume processed food from different fast food outlets across the country.
The manner in which Americans engage in social events is also responsible for an increase level of obesity within this country. It is important to note in most social gatherings in America food is always served. This could be a party or even a sports gathering. Interacting over food is one of the most important elements of American socializing. Moreover, when people meet to discuss business issues, food is always served and as a result business deals are transacted over food. This kind of socialization leads to an increased intake of food which in turn leads to an increase in the rate of obesity among Americans (Caitlin 34).
Advancement technology is also one of the factors behind the high rate of obesity in the country. There are very many labor-saving devices in this country which significantly prevent people from engaging in physical activities. According to (Paxon 174) watching TV and playing video games increases the amount of time people spend indoors thus preventing them from engaging in outdoor activities which would enable them to exercise. When people spend time watching TV and playing video games; they would have little time to exercise thus becoming obese. This is particularly high in the US as compared to less developing nations. America’s culture and way of socialization is different from other developed nations and that is why Americans consume more processed than people in other countries. A high frequency of meals in a day, high consumption of processed foods and lack of exercise among Americans are the main causes of obesity in the country, making it one of the countries with the highest rate of obesity in the world.
Bibliography
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