Health in America Professor Ramos Blog

Health in America Why is America one of the fattest countries? Obesity is an issue in America and everyday someone is dying from the effects of it. Diabetes, fatty liver disease, stroke and high blood pressure are all side effects of obesity. With all this bad food so easily accessible it is no wonder everyone is having health problems and struggling with weight. There are statistics that show the increasing rates of weight gain in America over the years and it could be to do with all the fast food restaurants that are everywhere in sight, educating youth on health and portion control. All these little changes can be inexpensive and easy to fix but very affective. If more people cared about our health and how it is affecting peoples everyday lives there would be a lot more happier, healthier, motivated people around, not to mention a longer life span. While exercising is very important the majority of a healthy life style is what we consume and use to fuel our bodies. With unhealthy habits all aroun d tempting us to make and decisions it can be hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle. America is so unhealthy because of all the fast food everywhere we look. At every corner there is a cheap fast food place with food that is easy to get. In an article in USA Today there are fourteen-thousand Mcdonalds in the country. With everyone being too busy or too lazy to cook, these places are an easy, go to place for a quick cheap meal. Fast food is also very addicting and leaves people wanting more because of the addictive ingredients such as unnecessary refined sugar that is in every item at a fast food place. I think there should be more healthy fast food places with less calorie options as well as the current existing ones offering more healthier options. The â€Å"healthy† options at a place like Mcdonalds such as their salad can have more calories than a cheeseburger if you look at the nutritional guides. So even some of the food being advertised as healthy are deceiving. This can lead to someone thinking they are eating healthy and being told that they are but in reality, they might as well have gotten a cheeseburger. I think there should be more places that offer real food with less added sugars. This would be one small action that would help with health and obesity in America. If more people had a better option for food it would be easier for the ones who do not have time to cook still get a nice, healthy meal. Another thing people do not realize are the ingredients and chemicals added in food. If you cannot read the name of an ingredient why would we consume it? I think this should start with teaching kids when they are young. If kids are aware from a young age about different ingredients and what is good and bad, they will make smarter decisions in the future. There are a lot of different fillers and added chemicals that do not need to be added to food and can be avoided and if people were more aware of what they are putting in their bodies. Kids are like a sponge and soak up all the information they can get, just for school to start informing and making an effort to make health and obesity more aware it can stick with them for life. Just by being aware of what you are eating and putting into your body will help cut down obesity rates and it is better to enforce these habits into young kids before they run into health prpoblme int the future. Another thing is portion control, everyone is overeating and just filling their bodies with too much food. Too much food equals too many calories, and too many calories for a single person equals weight gain which is why counting calorie is so common. But for the people that chose to eat out all the time this can be dangerous. This is an issue with restaurants, the portion sizes are huge and people feel obligated to eat it since it is right in front of them. I think restaurants should start by cutting down on the portion sizes so people are not forced to overeat. â€Å"The consumption of large portions can, however, decrease overall energy intake if the food has a low energy density.† (â€Å"the Supersizing of America†). This quote from an article is stating that the bigger the portion the less energy people tend to have which can lead to a less active lifestyle. Restaurants should serve smaller food portions for the sake of the consumers health and it would also ben efit the restaurants by saving more money. Overall, obesity can be life threating and is a real issue and people can help avoid it by making small changes. If there were a few healthier fast food places or if they stopped lying about their healthy options the everyone would have a fast-healthy meal to choose. There are cheap and alternate routes to getting a greasy burger and fries for every meal and those options should be just as accessible and actually healthy. Another solution to help with the obesity rates and save someone from all the damages of obesity is to teach children while they are young. We teach kids math and English everyday but from unhealthy habits they might not live long enough to use all those skills. All it takes is to plant a seed of information in their brain and they will have that thought in the back of their minds forever which can help with smarter decisions. The last option I have chosen are restaurants cutting down on portions. Food is very tempting and a big pound of it sitting on your plate is a nightmare for over eating. If all the things changed America can become healthier and not one of the fattest countries in the world.