by Annette Bromley

Created on: August 17, 2010   Last Updated: August 18, 2010

AMERICA’S OBESE SOCIETY

America is an obese society, we're fat and yet Americans are some of the unhealthiest people in the world.  That is an astounding statement when you think about America, the land of wealth, plenty, the land of opportunity... the Hollywood image of America, the propaganda.  Sadly, it's true, or not far off the mark, if at all.  Americans on the whole are obese but malnourished.  When we think of people who are malnourished, we usually think of people who are really poor, living in the depths of poverty, we think of third world countries where food isn't available, places suffering from years of drought and famine. We imagine people who are gaunt, not much more than skin and bone.  No one thinks about America in this way.  America is a fat society. 

However, being a fat society does not mean it is a healthy society, and having all the right foods available does not mean that the majority has the ability to enjoy the goodness of that availability.  We have one of the highest percentages per capita in the world for heart, respiratory and joint diseases, cancer, mental and emotional illnesses, learning disabilities, all of which are crippling our society. 

We are the most obese country in the world and little is being done to discourage it.  We are a fast-paced society, and fast food has taken the place of the healthier, cooked-from-scratch, home-cooked meal. and we super-size everything.  We are encouraged to do so.  We are brainwashed by advertising and the need to feel good if for only a few minutes in our hurry, scurry, gotta- keep-up lives.

The majority of America no longer has the ability to truly live a healthy lifestyle due to America's economic situation and poor health habits that have developed through the years.  Our lives are out of balance, and our health as a people and a society as a whole is suffering.  We eat too much of the wrong foods and not enough of the right foods.  We don't get enough exercise, rest, don't know how to really relax, and Americans are stressed to the max.  We feast on comfort foods high in carbohydrates and fats to compensate and relieve the stress, and we have become obese, malnourished, and sick in the process.    

Unhealthy diets lead to obesity and other health issues.  Among these issues are heart disease, kidney disease, cancers, respiratory problems, joint and muscle diseases, as well as

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>