Eating Healthy in America: Are There Too Many Obstacles?

Abstract

This paper identifies several obstacles that individuals face in America while trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Some of these barriers include marketing, cost of food, and quality of food in public schools. As a result of these obstacles, our nation is facing high obesity rates that will continue to rise if we do nothing to stop it. We need to continue educating ourselves on proper nutrition and eating habits. Parents especially need to be able to set the example for their children. Additionally, we must change the way we market food, as well as focus on the quality of food that we provide in our schools. We must work together as a nation, if we want to see change.

Eating Healthy in America: Are There too Many Obstacles?

Over the past 20 years, the overweight and obesity rates in America have risen dramatically. As of 2010, 69 percent of adults and 32 percent of 2- to 19-year-olds are overweight or obese (Hoffman & Salerno, 2012, p11), as compared to the 15 percent average obesity rate for adults that was documented in 1990 by the Centers for Disease Control (2010). To make matters worse, obesity has overcome smoking as the leading cause of preventable death (Lacey, 2010). How did we get to this point? While it is easy to argue that eating healthy is simply the responsibility the individual or parent, we must also look at our society and the environment that we live in. Our nation's obesity rates are climbing because there are too many obstacles to healthy eating. More often than not, we find ourselves in the situation of navigating our way through unhealthy food options in order to get to healthier foods. Moreover, healthy or not, proportion sizes continue to grow, and we continue to eat all of the food that we put in front of us. Not only that, but food advertising and marketing, cost and widespread availability of unhealthy foods, and the quality of food are all issues that many of us face on a daily basis....