Obesity – Final Draft

Ever since I’ve been in the U.S, I noticed how quickly I’ve gained weight. It made me wonder why and how I dramatically gained weight when I eat nearly the same food I ate in my country. Of course I thought it may be because we’re surrounded by junk food and snacks, there are many more fast food restaurants available here, and there are more processed foods available than my country has. However, it must be more than that. Food in other countries, such as mine, have more fresh ingredients and organic meat. We rely heavily on vegetables because it’s affordable and easy to grow on your own. We don’t have any chemical or processed food on a regular basis. I have noticed how many Americans are obese. So, why is obesity so high in America? It’s understandable it’s a different case for everyone. The reasons can vary from hormonal levels, metabolic activity, and even genetic. However, what is causing the high rate of obesity in America and how can it be decreased? 

Obesity is a medical problem that involves excess amount of fat in an individual’s body. Obesity has become a problem since the 1900s and it continues to increase in the United States. Obesity can lead to many health problems, such as, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and more. According to the article “The Nation’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Health Disparities in the Making,” by Suzanne Bennet  Johnson, only 13% of the U.S adults and 5-7% of the children were obese in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, 73.6% of adults ages 20 and over are overweight with obesity. Children ages 2-5 have a rate of 13.4% with obesity. Children ages 6-11 have a rate of 20.3% with obesity. Adolescents aged 12-19 have a rate of 21.2% with obesity. The percent of obesity keeps increasing due to the decrease in physical activity. Back in the 1900s, people would walk or bike to school for 1-2 miles. They were much more active. Nowadays, we have easy access to transportation, such as cars, trains, and cabs, and we only travel by foot for a few minutes. An average American spends 55% of the waking hours just sitting down and watching TV (“Obesity in America: What’s Driving The Epidemic”, 2012). In addition to sitting for the majority of the waking hours, the eating portion is quite large and calorie intake tends to be high. The percentage of obesity will continue to increase in America if we don’t start having smaller portions, getting more active, and intaking less calories.  

If you travel around different countries, you will notice how many brands of food or snack products taste different than the products America has. For example, I had a chocolate, Kit Kat, when I was in the U.K, and I instantly noticed it tasted different than the Kit Kat we have here. The American made chocolate bar contains more sugar (Entenman, 2018). The British chocolate bar is higher in fat and cocoa (Entenman, 2018). Food processing companies will change the formula for a food product in Europe to meet UK’s rules. One of their rules is that a product must contain no less than 25% cocoa solids to be considered “milk chocolate.” However, milk chocolate must contain no less than 10% chocolate liquor in the U.S (Entenman, 2018). 

Many food additives that cause cancer have been prohibited or restricted by the European Union. Many of these foods are still used in American-made bread, cookies, soft drinks, and other processed foods. Majority of European countries have limited the cultivation and import of genetically modified foods as well (Rabin, 2018). One food additive that has been banned in Europe, but hasn’t been banned in the U.S is called potassium bromate and azodicarbonamide, which is used for mainly baked goods to make dough rise higher and brightens the dough. Europe banned this because they may cause cancer. Another food additive is called brominated vegetable oil, which is used in citrus flavored drinks. It’s banned in Europe due to the risk of potential lead to memory loss and skin and nerve problems (Rabin, 2018). Lastly, food dyes can affect children’s activity and attention. Due to this risk, Europe requires sellers to carry a warning label. Unfortunately, these warning labels are not required in the U.S. It seems like in the U.S, food that can be harmful to our body is not taken seriously enough as the European Union does. The food dyes are used in a number of things from candies and sweets to something as simple as condiments, such as ketchup and mustard. These are just a few examples of what is not banned in America. There are plenty more that isn’t good for our health that take into factor obesity. However, they aren’t banned. America does not take action like Europe does to keep us healthy.  

 Obesity could be prevented in the U.S if certain food were banned. Due to less physical activity, and large portion of food, we already make it easy on ourselves to become obese. With some restriction on food that can potentially cause us to get cancer and/or become obese, obesity may decrease in the U.S. Many people go on strict diets, and some still fail to lose weight. This may be due to ingredients we don’t even know of that are banned in other countries, and not in the U.S. Food that should be banned is one of the reasons why obesity has not decreased in the U.S for many years. In modern times, we have easy access to travel, which means less physical activity. In addition, because of technology, we spend more time on our electronic devices. There needs to be a new way of decreasing obesity with modern problems. Modern problems require modern solutions. If the U.S does not enforce new laws or rules regarding our food and health, no one will ever be able to solve the obesity issue in the U.S. In my case, my diet has not changed much. After reading how much food additives are not banned in the U.S that should have been prohibited, I am starting to be convinced that it is due to the American-made products that have made me gain weight. 

 

Sources:

Entenman, Elizabeth. “This Is Why Kit-Kats Taste A Million Times Better In The U.K.” So Yummy, SoYummy, 26 Jan. 2019, soyummy.com/why-kit-kats-taste-completely-different-uk/#:~:text=American%20Kit%2DKats%20are%20made,in%20a%20richer%2C%20smoother%20flavor.&text=However%2C%20in%20the%20U.S.%2C%20a,merely%20be%2010%25%20chocolate%20liquor 

“FastStats – Overweight Prevalence.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 Mar. 2021, www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm 

Johnson, Suzanne Bennett. “The Nation’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Health Disparities in the Making.” American Psychological Association, July 2012, https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2012/07/childhood-obesity.

Publishing, Harvard Health. “Obesity in America: What’s Driving the Epidemic?-Harvard Health.” Harvard Health, https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/obesity-in-america-whats-driving-the-epidemic, February 2012. 

Rabin, Roni Caryn. “What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?-The New York Times.” The New York Times-Breaking News, World News and Videos, December 28, 2018,https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/well/eat/food-additives-banned-europe-united-states.html. 

Spector, Dina. “Why British And American Chocolate Taste Different.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 27 Jan. 2015, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm