Outline

Introduction

In this section we would be discussing how obesity crisis has increased over the years, how has caused this crisis and what could be the most effective ways to alleviate the problem. It is a popular discourse over what has been called “the obesity epidemic” and “the obesity crisis” has coincided with the concern of health officials over the increasing body weight of Americans. According to a U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, concerned that fewer young people were meeting the physical fitness standards required of military recruits, declared obesity a threat to U.S. national security direr than weapons of mass destruction.

Discussion

This segment of the paper discusses the fact and figures, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one-third of American adults were obese in 2006, double the percentage reported in 1980. Among U.S. children and adolescents (ages two to nineteen), obesity tripled between 1980 and 2002.

Conclusion

This part of the paper deals with the preventions methods, how schools, restaurants, grocery store chains, employers, etc. can do to fix the situation since it's clear that the problem is still escalating. Society's response, particularly in individualist cultures like that of the United States, has been to blame obesity on the individual, ascribe negative personal characteristics as the cause, and resist changing conditions which make it so difficult for people to eat better and increase activity.

Obesity Crisis

Introduction

Since the mid-1990s, alarm in scientific circles and popular discourse over what has been called “the obesity epidemic” and “the obesity crisis” have coincided with the concern of health officials over the increasing body weight of Americans. In 2003, U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, concerned that fewer young people were meeting the physical fitness standards required of military recruits, declared obesity a threat to U.S. national security direr than weapons of mass destruction (Critser, pp. 23-76). Although there is general agreement that Americans today are larger than those of previous generations, following a global trend, not everyone accepts “obesity” as a meaningful scientific categorization. Furthermore, regardless of any health risks posed by obesity, unanimity is lacking on what, if any, response is warranted on the part of individuals, the government, or the medical profession. Since a higher percentage of the poor, among them African Americans and Hispanics, tend to be overweight, some critics of anti-obesity campaigns view them as racial or class snobbery, especially since being overweight is often stereotypically linked with lack of discipline. Opinions about obesity often fall into two warring camps: one focuses on public health measures for the common good, and the other emphasizes freedom of choice and individual responsibility.

The economics of food also conspire to create unhealthy eating. Heavy and selective subsidies of the agriculture industry (especially the corn industry) have many effects, including artificial support of a meat-based diet and low costs for sweetening foods with high fructose corn syrup. The low cost of unhealthy foods compared with better alternatives creates an inverse relationship between energy density and cost and a positive and unfortunate relationship ...