by Cory Davison

Created on: May 03, 2009   Last Updated: May 11, 2009

Obesity has rapidly become the largest health care problem in the modern world, with 1 in 4 Americans being classified as obese. Obesity is defined as having accumulated enough fat to negatively impact your health. You are considered obese if you have a body mass index of over 30, which is equal to a body density of 30kg/m.

Rates in obesity have skyrocketed in the last 30 years despite major advances in nutritional science. This can be largely attributed to the development of fast food franchises such as McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken. These companies have persuaded millions of Americans to eat their fat-laden food each and every day. Just one Big Mac Meal (one regular Big Mac, large Coke, and large fry) contains 1410 calories and 56 grams of fat! In terms of calories, that's equal to eating 22 apples! Would you even think about consuming 22 apples at a single sitting?

Although fast food has contributed largely to the obesity epidemic, it isn't entirely to blame. After all, if people knew what they were putting into their bodies, would they still do it? Although schools are beginning to educate students about the effects of poor diet and sedentary lifestyles, it isn't enough. The information provided to students about healthy living is usually far from complete, and makes up only a portion of their physical education course. Furthermore, physical education is an elective course; the student can choose whether or not to learn how to treat their body correctly. If more was done to raise awareness about the effects of these poor decisions, students may be able to acquire the knowledge that they need to make healthy choices.

There are many influences in a person's life, but very few in a child's. When children are young, nearly everything that they learn comes directly from their parents. However, much of their learning comes from observing their parents, not only listening to them. This can be disastrous if their parents possess poor eating habits or fail to exercise regularly, as these traits can be passed directly to their children. It is important for a parent to model healthy choices for their child. The problem with this situation is that it grows: the average American has 2 children, which means that every unhealthy person in the United States influences 2 more to become unhealthy.

Obesity is a very serious thing. It is a prerequesite for dozens of medical conditions, ranging from back pain and migraines to congestive heart failure and diabetes. It is not unpreventable, nor is it something that happens overnight. People need to realize the effects that obesity has on their health, and the only way to accomplish this is to provide them with more information. Information is readily accessible for those with connections to the internet, but what about those without? More has to be done within schools to educate children about these sometimes fatal decisions. Nutrition information must also become readily accessible. Many restaurants have no nutrition information displayed. This makes it very difficult for the consumer to make good decisions when eating out. If this obesity epidemic is ever going to resolve, there will have to be some very drastic changes in the operation of both educational and culinary facilities.

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