Obesity

Obesity Each year more children become obese because of the availability of so many unhealthy, processed foods. Obesity is the presence of too much body fat, which has become a huge problem in the united states. Obesity has ultimately become inevitable. A large part of obesity has to do with laziness. Now a days the faster and easier people can obtain things, the better. Take McDonald's for example, some have a timer outside their window that show you that you can get your food in a minute or less. So why bother going through the trouble of going into a grocery store to pick up an apple, when you can simply go into the drive through and pick up a 440 calorie double cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles. processed foods, parents, and marketing, all take fault in why we are growing as the worlds most obese nation. Processed foods are made cheap with only profit in mind. One can make almost anything out of sugar, water, flour, starch, fat, artificial colorings, and flavors.( Peter, How to Get Fat Without Really Trying) The processing of these foods keep getting cheaper as newer methods and ways are introduced, benefiting the companies first, and consumers second. Most processed foods claim to be “healthy” or have “great source of vitamins”. With all the additives in them allowing for such foods to be conserved longer, Their level of healthiness falls. In todays world, we are all about cheap and fast. For example, eating at Taco Bell I can buy three, eighty nine cent tacos that will fill me up, but little did I know that kind of food is just a grade above dog food. This is were organic foods come in. Buying foods that are actually healthy and will fill you up is worth an extra buck. You would not have to buy as much because you won’t consume as much as you would processed foods. In the long run, buying less of the more expensive foods instead of buying tons of the cheap kind will result and a good change and maybe even saving you a couple dollars. Parents have adapted to the bad habit of pleasing their children to snacks and junk foods. Parents influence children’s eating habits through their implicit and explicit modeling of food consumption behavior (Fisher and Birch 1995). When children see characters from their favorite television shows on snack boxes at the grocery store, immediately they crave it. It is mainly a parents fault whether a child is obese or not. Learning about right ways to feed your children is only the beginning. Not to mention the fact that parents lack encouragement. A parent must engage their children in physical activities such as sports from a very young age. The older we get the less and less we want to get physical, and the more and more weight we gain. Parents are supporting video games and junk food now a days more than ever before. Yes, obesity can be present due to heredity, but parents knowing this can act as soon as the child is able to walk and run. What a child is fed, will affect the way the child grows. The popular phrase “you are what you eat” is true. If you eat healthy, you will look, be, and feel healthy. If you eat junk food, you will have more junk in the trunk, feel low on energy, feel like junk. “Fast-food marketing to children is considered a contributor to childhood obesity,”(Grier, Mensinger, Huang, Kumanyika, and Stettler 221-235). Food wise, not much marketing is done for organic healthy foods. Most of the food marketing done is for processed snack foods, targeted towards young children. Commercials, billboards, magazines, movies, etc. are all marketing points that reach children easily. Marketing can take blame for instigating children’s desire of junk food. Popular characters and celebrities are often used on advertisement to catch the attention of those young fans, gaining them as consumers. When I was a younger, I was one of those little girls trapped by advertisers. Anything that had disney’s princesses on them I would by, from gummy fruit snacks to my school book bag and bedsheets. The average preschooler is seeing about three ads a day (allison aubrey). Change must take place not only from home, but from the outside world in order to make obesity rates lower. Being overweight and obese not only affect ones risks of developing diseases and health conditions but ones agility, appearance, and self confidence. Making smart nutritional choices should become a stronger habit in most homes. After all, ones home is where one can be most influenced. More children are becoming obese yearly, for the better sake of newer generations to come what we out into out bodies must change. Works Cited Grier, Sonya A., Janell Mensinger, Shirley H. Huang, Shiriki K. Kumanyika, and Nicolas Stettler. “Fast-Food Marketing and Children’s Fast-Food Consumption: Exploring Parents’ Influences in an Ethnically Diverse Sample.” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 26.2 (2007): 221-235. African American Collaborative Obesity Research Network. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. Aubrey, Allison. “Fast Food Ads for Kids Up Despite Industry Vow.” NPR. National Public Radio, 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Nov 2010.. “Childhood Obesity.” Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE.hss.gov). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 1020. .4 Jennings, Peter and Keith Summa. “How to Get Fat Without Really Trying.” Peter Jennings Reporting. Host Peter Jennings. ABC, 2003. Television. Snag Films. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. .