Obesity: Super-Sizing Our Society

Obesity: Supersizing Our Society

McDonalds, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut. These restaurants are prevalent all around the world. But, have you ever heard this put to music before? Well in all actuality, it is a popular song usually taught to preschoolers. What is our society thinking exposing our youngsters to such bad for you fast food restaurants? This is where the problem starts. Our society is not thinking. We are too busy. In the United States, more than one third of the U.S. adults-more than 72 million people-and 16% of U.S. children are obese. Since 1980, obesity rates for adults have doubled and rates for children have tripled. Obesity rates among all groups in society-irrespective of age, sex, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education level, or geographic region-have increased markedly. In the chart below found on the Center for Disease Control’s website, it illustrates the alarming numbers of obese adults in the United States. It even goes further and gives detailed information about the percentage of obese adults in each state. There is the proof American’s need to realize that there is a problem.(USObeTren) In America, obesity is becoming an ever-increasing problem among the young and the old, escalating to the point where it is being defined as an epidemic. Although obesity is considered a disease by the Center for Disease Control and there is some evidence that a person could be born with predisposed genes to obesity, there are clear and concise causes that directly contribute to the drastic rise in the widespread diagnosis of obesity.

When someone is born, they get genes from both their mother and their father. These genes contribute to the way a person looks on the outside and functions on the inside. This process of passing on genes is called hereditary. Hereditary plays an important role in determining how one functions. If a parent has a disease, that disease could be passed down to the...