America's dependency on fast food and the major obesity epidemic through out the U.S - Essay Example

Americas dependency on fast food and the major obesity epidemic through out the U.S Speaking about Americas dependency on fast food and the major obesity epidemic through out the U.S, it is worth mentioning the unhealthy way and it is important to take into consideration the nation’s culture. Culture is an important factor of nation’s development in different directions. It has its instruments of impact and a certain language. Culture is a bearer of traditions and customs which make the base for the every country. American culture is very interesting because it includes the pieces of the cultures of other countries: everything concerning food, traditions and way of life was brought form the countries of Europe and Southern America. Nowadays all this is combined into one special American culture which determines the way of life of Americans. American culture is known throughout the world and everybody knows the main features of this culture. Now American culture is in the process of occupying the world: American food and way of life are very popular now. Though Americans are very concerned about the result of their unhealthy way of life and their unhealthy food. Nowadays the most important problem of the American people is the problem of obesity. It is the most dangerous and progressing problem. People in America gain weight because chief food and immovable way of life. At least two thirds of adult people in America are considered to be stout, or even worse suffer from obesity. The annual sum for treating the diseases which were caused by obesity is more than a hundred million. Now more and more people recognize the problem and the great money is spent for special diet foods, physical exercises, restaurants have the range of dishes with reduced calories. The second problem is the immovable way of life. There level of economical and technological development of the country is very high and the average citizen can have a car to drive. That is why the everyday life does not require walking or some other physical efforts. Along with the problems of obesity and immovable way of life there are some unhealthy problems which exist in every countries of the world. Such problems are drugs, smoking and alcohol drinking. It is a sad fact that mostly it is popular among the young people. So it is a risk that the new generation will have many serious diseases. Especially this problem is obvious among the African American population. Now there is a tendency of increasing the amount of the healthy habits. Sports are very popular in the USA, though sometimes it has dangerous scale: people exhaust themselves with physical exercises and diets to approach to the standards of ‘American beauty’ (Clayman). The Americans are lucky to have such a great variety of food. Many Americans overdo with the attractive and chief food which often has a great amount of calories. As a result of unhealthy eating and reducing the physical activities the number of obesity cases increased. It strongly impacts on health of people. Now more and more Americans recognize that the variety of foods require the proper choice. Man has been living on the Earth approximately for six million years now and the greater part of this time he was a hunter and gatherer: he hunted, fished and gathered some plants for eating. The body of homosapiens used to live with poor eating. Human body keeps the calorie surplus as a fat, and when it is no food this fat is turned into energy. This system is not able to cope with the continual overeating (Clayman). A great unhealthy problem for Americans is a habit of soda drinking what is very harmful for health. There is a mistaken opinion that soda is a good ingredient for the healthy diet. A great amount of sugar in soft drinks is one of the reasons why soda is dangerous for health. It is an interesting fact that the problem of obesity increases parallely with soda drinking. So there are several possible results of soda drinking: obesity (10 per cent of extra calories is from the soft drinks); osteoporosis and bones (often Americans drink soda instead of milk or other milk drinks, they do not get enough calcium); teeth destruction (purified sugar, which is one of the ingredients of soda, is one of the factors assisting the teeth destruction, the regular soda use helps to develop caries and other teeth problems); heart diseases (because of the food full of fats, cholesterol and sugar; smoking and immovable way of life are also the reasons for the heart diseases); kidneys-diseases are connected with the soda drinking also; Some substances are added to the soft drinks. One of the most dangerous of such substances is caffeine (which can assist osteoporosis, insomnia and nervous state). Some substances can cause the allergic reactions (Clayman). The modern achievements of the agriculture stopped the lack of food in America, but only last years thanks to the changes in food and lifestyle the obesity problem grew to such a great size. Firstly, Americans eat more altered food which is probably more comfortable and delicious, usually cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables. But while altering some flavoring substances (sugar, fat and starch) are added. Secondly, the American people eat more in restaurants now, especially in fact food restaurants. Nowadays the restaurants are twice popular than in 1970. The amount of the sold fast food increased to 200 percent during the last 20 years. Every day one of four Americans uses the fast food service. The changes in eating are connected with the lifestyle changes. Often Americans live alone or both of marriage couple work. They do not have enough time for planning and cooking and that is why the altered food is an attractive alternative. The other changes in life style are another part of the obesity problem – the lack of physical activity. The people who are physically active burn the calories they got. Though now more and more Americans are settled at the areas where they have to use car or the public transport to get to the place of their work. The character of American work is changed also: nowadays less Americans work at the heavy industry. Instead most of them have office work. The general reducing of the physical activity assists TV and internet. It is a fact that the obesity problem is not so obvious in New York where many people have to walk to get to the work, to do shopping. As a result of unhealthy eating and lifestyle Americans gained weight. Since the year 1991 the number of Americans, suffering from obesity and overweight, increased to 74 per cent. In Atlanta and Georgia the National Centres for Disease Control and Prevention worked out the formula which is known as ‘index body weight’. This formula helps define the level of overweight (Stearns). The amount of time, energy and money spent by Americans on trying to change (usually, trying to reduce) their body weight makes weight control one of this country’s most popular activities. Of course many people find it difficult to maintain their proper weight. Many others strive for impossible goals; they try to look like a favourite movie star. A surprising number of people - many of them teenage girls – actually make themselves ill in an effort to achieve the perfect figure. According to studies by life insurance companies, obese people have a shorter life expectancy than people of normal weight. They run higher risks of cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, high blood pressure, and other health problems. The body organs, including the heart and lungs, have to work harder than to power an obese body than a lean one. Muscles and bones are also under added strain. A body overinsulated by fat has trouble cooling itself, and perspires more easily. The obese person tires easily and may find healthful exercise difficult to manage. (Simpson, pp20 - 25) Often, there are some medical reasons for obesity. Body type also has influence. An endomorph may never look as slim as an ectomorph but still can maintain a proper and healthful weight for that type of built. Research indicates that the number of fat cells in a person’s body never decreases, although the individual cells can become smaller in size. That means that obesity as a chills or teenager may make it harder to control weight as an adult. The major reason for overweight and obesity, however, is related to kilocaloric balance. It means that the body is taking in more fuel (kilocalories) than it is burning (including growth and exercise). The excess is being stored by the body as a fat (Spurlock). People overeat for psychological and social reasons. Eating patterns are often related to stress, boredom, and habit. Food is often treated as a reward in American society. Children rewarded with a cookie for good behaviour are likely to grow up to be adults who reward themselves with sweets for a job well done. They may also reward others with food, celebrating special occasions with elaborate, fattening meals and putting out snacks to welcome guests. Advertisements constantly remind the public of the availability and desirability of food. Commercials associate their food products, particularly high-calorie snacks and fast food, with popularity and good times. They show slim, healthy models indulging in food habits that tend to make most people overweight. Being too heavy is not the only weight-related problem. Some people weigh too little and are underweight. They need to follow many of the same steps as those who are overweight in changing their diets, but of course they will be adding rather than reducing calories. Other individuals weigh enough but still suffer nutrient deficiencies or are generally malnourished. Still other suffer from the dangerous eating disorders known as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. (Simpson, pp22 - 28) Americans engage in unhealthy behaviours like smoking, inactivity, poor diet choices, and comfort eating to help deal with stress. People experiencing stress are more likely to have hypertension, anxiety or depression and obesity. In particular, women complaint for feeling the effects of stress on their physical health more than men. In general 43 percent of all adults suffer health effects from stress. Given the potential health complications related to stress, it is fair to say stress certainly is a health problem in America. The survey, conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) in partnership with the National Women’s Health Resource Center, observed how people deal with stress and its effect on mind/body health among women and men. (Bossolo) One in four Americans turns to food to help alleviate stress or deal with problematic situations. Comfort eaters report higher levels of stress than average and exhibit higher levels of all the most common symptoms of stress, including fatigue, lack of energy, irritability, trouble sleeping, and nervousness. Comfort eaters are also more likely to experience health problems such as high cholesterol and hypertension. As well, 65 percent of comfort eaters characterize themselves as somewhat or extremely overweight and are twice as likely as the average American to be diagnosed with obesity. Stress levels are higher for frequent fast-food eaters. While only 13 percent of people who did not eat at a fast food restaurant in the last week are very concerned about stress, this number rises to 21 percent among those who ate fast food meals in the past week. Thirty one percent of women say they are comfort eaters versus 19 percent of men. Men are more likely than women to opt for unhealthy snacks such as potato chips. People who are very concerned about their stress are more likely to be smokers. Twenty-seven percent of those very concerned about their stress smoke every day, versus 19 percent of those “not at all” concerned with stress. Interestingly, forty-nine percent of single fathers and 31 percent of single mothers smoke three or more times a week. Americans who report they are “very concerned” about stress also exercise less. Roughly a third (36 percent) said they did not exercise in the last week, versus 27 percent of those “not at all” concerned about stress (Bossolo). Forty-seven percent of Americans say they are concerned about stress. Nearly half of Americans, especially women, parents, and people of working age, are concerned with the amount of stress in their lives. Women say stress affects them more than men do and are more likely than men to report more things that stress them out. Women also express concern about how stress affects their lives more than men. Women dealing with stress report feelings of nervousness, wanting to cry, a lack of energy, while men talk about trouble sleeping or feeling irritable or angry. Women are more likely than men to report health problems related to stress such as hypertension, anxiety or depression and obesity (Spurlock). The American nation has gained the label of having the unhealthy lifestyle because of health problems they have. The lifestyle is the indicator of culture and health care in every country. The main problem of the American nation is overweighting. Now a great attention is paid to the possible solution of this issue. The danger concerns the new generation which is growing on the model of American life: Fast food eating and lack of physical activity. Though physical activities should not be overdone also. It is a sad fact that American way of living is known as an example of what people should not do. Speaking about the propaganda of healthy way of life, people should think about the tobacco advertising. Smoking is the only factor which causes lung, stomach and blood cancer. In conclusion it should be noticed that the only way to correct the situation is to regulate the work of psychologists and medicine workers in order to prevent the situation. The most important concern now is the future generation, which possible can gain all the features of unhealthy life from their parents. Works cited Bossolo Luana, Dobbins Brandi. Americans engage in unhealthy behavious to manage stress. Clayman Charles B (1991) American Medical Association. Diet and Nutrition., Md. New York/ Monteral Random Simpson Harold N. (2001) Unhealthy Food = Unhealthy People. Ancient Rules For Modern Food. The Basic Rules of Eating for Health Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company Stearns, Peter N. (1997) Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the modern West. New York and London: New York University and Press Spurlock, Morgan. Don’t Eat this Book: Fast Food and the surprising of America Read More