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Anders Capener
Mr. Rogers
Government 3
1 November 2015
Obesity
Most Americans growing up may have eaten whatever they pleased with a metabolism
that processed the so-called food within hours not having an effect on their weight. It is not
until the ages of 22-30 that, once thin, adolescents realize poor food choices cause many
problems later on in life. These people then become parents who will most likely have their
children develop the same unhealthy eating habits. The main difference now is how much more
processed and accessible food is, having more immediate effects on the body which lead children
to develop obesity. Through this evolution of the human body and what is consumed in it, nearly
one third of children in the U.S. are overweight or obese (Dakto). To put this unhealthy
epidemic to an end along with childhood obesity a program throughout schools should be
implemented to teach kids about prevention of obesity and how to relieve it from their lives if it
is already prominent. For prevention of obesity in youth for the years to come it is best to address
some of the main reasons obesity has been developed: schools do not supply and enforce enough
physical activity for students, communities in poverty tend to make unhealthy food decisions,
and school lunches are too unhealthy and attribute to childhood obesity.
Schools do not supply and enforce enough physical activity for students. In most
education systems in the U.S. students are required to enroll in Physical Education all years K-8
and then 2 years minimum in High School. When students reach high school P.E. it requires
more physically demanding activities when these youth are going through puberty and a
moldable mind set to implement healthy habits. The fact of the of the matter is that not getting
enough physical activity coupled with leisure hours spent sitting, has a cumulative negative

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affect (Self Chec). The bad habits mentioned prior can also be combated by promoting
breastfeeding, limiting television viewing, encouraging physical activity, increasing fruit and
vegetable intake, controlling portion size, and limiting soft drink consumption (Sharma). Healthy
habits need to be taught early and enforced in times of no parental supervision. When children
are faced with the opportunity 25% of children dont participate in a free-time physical
activity (Unitypoint). If the activities were handed to growing children whether in school or in
their communities they would be more likely to join in and participate. Obesity is a growing
problem in many communities, but especially low income communities.
With healthy foods being expensive low income families resort to cheap, unhealthy
foods. Obesity prevalence was the highest among children in families with an income-to-poverty
ratio of 100% or less (household income that is at or below the poverty threshold), followed by
those in families with an income-to-poverty ratio of 101%130%, and then found to be lower in
children in families with an income-to-poverty ratio of 131% or larger (greater household
income) (DHHS 18). This section of the country is grossly dependent on cheap and unhealthy
food. Wages were inversely related to BMI and obesity in a nationally representative sample of
more than 6,000 adults meaning, those with low wages had increased BMI as well as increased
chance of being obese. (Kim D, Leigh JP.) The only way to reverse these effects is to make
healthy food available to everyone. Obesity is an epidemic in low income areas of America,
more education and support is needed.
Many families cannot feed their children lunch during the school year, but the kids are
being nutritionally betrayed by the nutritionally poor school lunches they receive. Those who
regularly had the school lunch were 29 percent more likely to be obese than those who brought
lunch from home. (Rabin) This statistic is a shows how much apathy the public school system

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gives nutrition. French fries account for 46 percent of vegetable servings eaten by children ages
2 to 19 across the nation. (Readers Digest) This statistic proves how apathetic the public school
system while maintaining a low standard.
With all the evidence proving a problem with obesity in America, many people still
believe that obesity in America is not a crisis and people can recover their lives from obesity.
Obesity in adults can lead to three years' loss of life. Extreme obesity can shorten a person's
lifespan by 10 years. (Prospective Studies Collaboration) Another point of opposition is some
groups feel that obesity is not a disease. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American
Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Obesity Society, the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the American College of Gastroenterology
(ACG) have identified obesity as a disease. (FDA) Some authors of novels also agree with
obesity seen a disease, or even misnamed as one. The disease formerly known as adult-onset
diabetes has had to be renamed Type II diabetes since it now occurs so frequently in children.
(Pollan) With so many different ways to describe this over weight problem it is inevitable that no
matter how it is described it is unhealthy for a human body nonetheless. With the amount of
damage obesity causes it is easy to see why it is a disease to multiple established groups. Even
when people are faced with the fact that only 2% of children in the U.S. eat a healthy diet
(UnityPoint) they still defend viewpoints of seeing obesity as a choice of life and not a attribute
you are eventually stuck with.
School lunches are too unhealthy and attribute to childhood obesity, communities in
poverty tend to make unhealthy food decisions, and Schools do not supply and enforce enough
physical activity for students. Obesity is a formidable problem for Americans, but this problem
has answers. The answers will not show results right away but with time and effort. The

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opposition might be stiff and the time might not be right but something must be done to help
Americans who cannot help themselves. Step forth in this fight against obesity and save the ever
growing group of Americans from this awful disease that is plaguing America.

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Comments. Self Chec, 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
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