Obesity in Untied States

Obesity in the US

The first time when I came to the United States I was shocked by widespread obesity among the American people. My mind was full of various questions regarding obesity. I wanted to know if this disease has been a part of the people’s lives for a long time or it is just a recent phenomenon. I really wanted to know what percentage of the population suffers from this disease. The people around me gave answers to some of my questions but I was not quite satisfied with their answers. Later on, I found some statistics about the obesity. Sadly, today there are 25% children and 50% adults who are overweight in the US (French, Story, and Jeffery 309). And, the medical cost of overweight together with obesity is $113.9 billion (Tsai, Williamson, and Glick.50). Learning these facts was one of the shocking moments of my life. I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that obesity became an epidemic rather than a disease in this country. That was what prompted me to learn all the factors behind obesity, its threats for the population of this country, and the best ways to cope with this epidemic.

There is no doubt that every country in the world has at least one major issue to struggles with. Currently, one of the biggest issues in the United States is obesity epidemic. Historically, however, the US was not a representative of a country where most obese people live. Even those people within minority did not have any serious problems with obesity due to the lifestyle, environment, ethics, and other factors. And, it was not until the 1970s that obesity became a perceptible. But after 1970s the circumstances started changing drastically because of the following factors.

First, one of the first dramatic changes that took place in the US was the invention of the contraceptive pills which gave the women an opportunity for birth control. As a result, the women’s life changed profoundly. Majority of them who used to spend most of their time at home doing household chores because of their pregnancy headed to work alongside the men in service as well as industrial fields. On the one hand the women made a substantial contribution to prosperity in all service and industrial areas, but on the other hand they had a hard time to handle their household chores primarily cooking for a family on a daily basis which used to be the case at that time (French, Story, and Jeffery 313). As a result, American families started eating outside food more which in turn led to growth of food industry especially restaurants and fast food outlets. For instance, from 1970 to 2000 the sales of restaurants in the US increased $ 333.2 billion (French, Story, and Jeffery 313). Since then till nowadays the majority of the families have been eating outside. Although it is nice to go McDonald’s, buy a Big Mac and French fries and feed yourself within a matter of time, the quality of the fast food is unsatisfactory. What is