Obesity in The United States and Ways to Avoid It

Obesity has become a worldwide issue over the years and it still continues to grow. Obesity is found to be in the United States of America, and it affects everyone despite what race, gender, or age they are. Obesity is commonly known as a disease in which extra fat is accumulated on the body, and it increases the risk of developing other chronic conditions if not taken care of appropriately. Obesity is commonly found in low-income areas, fast food franchises portray it to be healthy, and there are numerous ways to reduce the risk of encountering obesity.

Obesity takes place in low-income areas due to many factors. Work ethic is a factor that contributes to obesity because most people who live in small towns work blue collar jobs. For example, most people work as plumbers and construction workers. These jobs require lots of long hours and physical labor, but they pay very less compared to administrative jobs and working for big companies. Since they spend most of their days working and earning money, they do not have the time and energy to take care of their health, so they tend to look for options like ordering takeout, eating outside, or heating up frozen meals. People who eat fast food are more prone to develop obesity because they are eating meals that contain saturated fats, trans fats, sodium, and added sugars. People living in poor rural areas usually do not have access to grocery stores and farmer's markets to buy fresh produce, dairy, and lean meats. Another factor is the addiction to drugs. Drug use is a huge problem in American inner cities and low-income areas. In order to feed the addiction to drugs, many individuals sacrifice food to save money to fulfill their drug needs. Thus, this leads to forming unhealthy diet habits and starts to take a toll on the overall health of the individual and as they look. Another factor that influences obesity is lack of health education. Rural communities do not know how to eat healthily, a lot of times they see advertisements and marketing campaigns used by fast food chains and are more likely to choose drinks and foods that are less nutritious to their body. Actually, these menu items are simply not what they are marketed as.

Fast food franchises invest so much money in advertising and marketing campaigns. For example, popular fast food places like McDonald's and Taco Bell have menus that attract your attention by using big bold colors like red and blue. They display large pictures of the menu items and keep the price of the item in small font, so customers do not notice it. Another technique used is often menus will say the price of the burger is $8.69 and so people are bound to think that they are only paying $8.00 but really after taxes you are paying close to $9.00. Much of these places also have value meals and dollar menus and customers tend to buy multiple items from these menus because they think ' It's just a $1.00, or a couple bucks ' but in fact these items have a tremendous amount of salt and sugar and eating these meals frequently leads to a higher risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, and gaining weight. This affects the younger generation as well, kids' meals at McDonald's include toys this is a way of increasing sales and fulfilling a child's wish. Even, I eat at plenty of fast food places sometimes and I have noticed that there is really only a difference of a few cents between buying items individually or just buying the combo meal. By buying a combo meal, you are purposely forcing yourself to eat more things than you really should be because combo meals add in the extra cookie or bag of chips with the sandwich or slice of pizza you are purchasing.

There are multiple unique ways individuals can avoid obesity, but you as an individual must take action against this problem. Things people can do to avoid the risk of developing obesity is eating a well-balanced diet filled with lots of fruits and vegetables, exercising regularly, getting approximately eight hours of sleep, limiting sugar and sodium intake, avoiding unnecessary stress, and keeping daily food logs to keep track of what you eat. These strategies may seem like it is a lot to keep in mind and do but by forming it into a routine it can be easier. Following these guidelines and slowly adding one thing at a time into your lifestyle is a better way to do it instead of doing everything at once. Also, if you are not able to exercise a straight thirty minutes, maybe breaking down the thirty minutes into two fifteen-minute workout sessions could help. Also, battling obesity can be easier if a nutritionist is seen because he or she can guide the individual on what kind of meals to prepare for themselves and learn how to eat smaller portions.

Noncommunicable diseases such as Diabetes, Bipolar disorder, Crohn's disease, Cancer, and Obesity are taking over our world and negatively impacting individuals' lives. Obesity is a health issue that is primarily seen here in the United States of America, but over time it is affecting other countries as well. Majority of the population that is affected is young, and they have the opportunity to change their lifestyle to improve their health and overall wellbeing. Obesity is a serious issue that is seen in poor rural areas, fast food marketing campaigns and commercials influence making unhealthy choices, and multiple actions can be taken to prevent obesity. Appropriate and beneficial public health programs should be implemented for the public to participate in. This would overall lower the rate of mortality due to obesity and everyone would be able to live a less stressful life.