What is the best way to address obesity in the United States - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... If we look at 'obesity' etiologically, we would come to know that it is a multifactor issue caused by poor diet and physical inactivity. Poor diet refers to poor dietary habits include intake of junk food or high calorie fast food and excessive sugar in our diet. Instead of using fresh food, fruits and vegetables in our everyday diet, we prefer preserved or frozen food followed by no exercise or physical activity at all. One of the most common reasons for rapid increase in obesity among U.S population is the increased interaction of people between built in environment followed by technology and social context.

"The built in environment encompasses the entire range of structural and social elements that make up the fabric of a community: housing, roads and walkways, stairways, density, transportation networks, shops, markets, parks, public amenities, and public spaces. The structural features of the urban built environment its enormous size, its large and densely clustered population, its social institutions, its psychosocial stressors, its economy, its rapid pace, its violence, the configuration of its streets, parks, schools, and play spaces all affect health, growth, and development of individuals". (Frieden et al, 2003, p. 684)

The rising trend in obesity is further followed by the convenience, which is driven by modern technology like the concept of walking is becoming vague by the passage of time; people like to use any mode of transportation in order to travel even minute distances. In this kind of technologically savvy society, modes of entertainment have changed. Gone are those days when parties and social gatherings were considered to be entertaining. Today, entertainment comes through watching television, playing video games and sitting for hours in front of computer. Hence our lives are driven by a sedentary lifestyle escorted by technological advancements.

While coming back to 'foods' it is found that often people in United States feel insecure when food is concerned. The diet of food insecure people tends to be less healthy. One reason for the intake of frozen foods is that "canned fruits and vegetables, which tend to have more salt and sugar, are much less expensive than fresh fruits. Leaner cuts of meat tend to cost more. However, according to Dr. Walter C. Willet, "A calorie is a calorie is a calorie." (Willet, 2001, p.44)
Theoretically, no matter how unhealthy a person's diet, that person can only gain weight from fat by using fewer calories than he or she takes in. The quality of diet would only affect susceptibility to disease and health problems". (Obesity1)

In my opinion there are two reasons for very little choices in food, one leads to the economic infrastructure of United States in which healthy and nutritious foods are often more expensive than junk or fast foods, also they are easily available and accessible by all the classes. The second reason for no choice in food other than fast food is the lack of time. More than half of the population of United States believes in "time is money", whether it is middle-middle or middle-upper class, every individual has to work in order to achieve a better living. It seems there is a social race in which every individual wants his car to move faster and faster, due to which they have no time to prepare and enjoy their family life and so ...Download file to see next pagesRead More