Qbt1 Final Revision

Today’s Foods are Making Us Fat and Killing Us

Lonnie Whitlock

Western Governors University

In today’s world there are a vast array of food choices and a major lack of nutrient density in pre-processed and prepared food. The foods that the average person consumes today are considerably less healthy than the foods consumed just a few decades ago. Studies done on foods consumed today have provided a tremendous amount of feedback on how these foods are affecting the health of those that consume them. The design, manufacture and preparation of most of our foods have one set of common goals in mind; they are cheap, fast and easy to make. This is causing a tremendous decline in the overall health of the average American. Consuming these types of foods has also caused a sharp increase in the obesity rate in the United States. Studies have shown that the lack of nutrients in today’s foods have caused a decline in overall health and wellness as shown by an increase in diabetes cases, an increase in adult obesity and an increase in child obesity.

As research suggests one of the primary of causes of obesity in the U.S. is the consumption of high calorie, low-nutrient-dense food (Bandini, Vu, Must, Cyr, Goldberg, Dietz, 1999). To give a better understanding of what types of foods are thought to be the cause of these issues, here are some examples; any food made with refined sugars such as soda, doughnuts and toaster pastry. Some other examples of foods that are partially responsible for the increasing rates of obesity are; potato chips, French fries and anything that is deep fried or has a high concentration of saturated fat. These are the kinds of foods that are referred to as “junk” food. These foods are made from low quality ingredients designed to give the consumer great flavor and fill them up but has little, if any, nutrient value. These are a few examples of the hundreds and/or thousands of products consumers eat every day and don’t think twice about it. As...