Dichotomy

It is an unfortunate fact that people in the United States are growing in size. Right now, more than one third of the adults in the U.S. are obese*. However, despite the population becoming overweight, an obsession with being skinny has also consumed our society. Everywhere in the media unrealistically thin models that are scantily clad and airbrushed are placed on the covers of magazines, in commercials, movies, music videos, etc. People, especially women, are constantly searching for the next diet trend, having surgeries, and even starving themselves to achieve this new “normal” look. The United States is obsessed with being perfect and thin, yet the people are still growing. How is it that these two polar opposites can exist in the same place' The main causes of obesity are unhealthy eating and lack of exercise. Fast food has high amounts of excess fat, calories, and carbs that your body doesn’t need, and in a world where everything is becoming easier and more convenient, it takes less time and energy to do things than it use to. With increasingly busy schedules and poverty rates, fast food is a quicker, cheaper alternative to healthy sit down meals and for those with free time, television has become the main source of entertainment. Meanwhile, all of those people who are watching TV, viewing fast food ads, reading magazines, and watching music videos, are being exposed to images of the “ideal” and “average” person known as the model. Every year the models become taller, thinner and more photo shopped and every year, millions of people go under the knife and spend billions of dollars in an attempt to mimic them. It seems to be that a good majority of society has, in a sense, given up. The demand to be perfect is increasing along with the expectations associated with looks, but obesity rates are still sky high. Technology and convenience are resulting in laziness while a struggling economy is giving the less fortunate little to no other options to fattening habits such as fast food. *Obese: being at least 30 percent over the ideal body weight for your height.