{photo courtesy of Peace Hut}
Is it because Americans have become lazy and have quit visiting the gym as often? Has food become less healthy? Have more unhealthy foods hit the store shelves and left the fresh fruits and veggies out to rot? Has fast food become so easy and cheap to just grab on the go that we are indulging in it too much, too many times a week?
First off, I believe fast food restaurant's portions are oversized, which is just one reason for Americans being so obese. Not only is the food unhealthy, but also the amount of food that we are taking in is extremely unhealthy. If we could consume things from fast food restaurants in moderation, obesity probably wouldn't be as big of a problem as it is.
{photo courtesy of Italian Ok}
Another thing, fast food chains don't alert their customers of the high amount of calories and fat content in their products, according to What's Cooking America. This also creates a problem, because we just go in there and order what sounds and looks good, not being aware of how bad some of the things are for us that we will be putting in our bodies! Maybe if we knew the amount of calories or grams of fat that were in some of these products, they wouldn't be so appealing to us any more, therefore making us not wanting to purchase them any more!
{photo courtesy of Impact Lab}
As you can see from the image above, the south is considered to be the "fattest" among the United States. It has been this way for many, many years & continues to be this way. We are known to eat fatty foods more so than the other parts of the country including everything fried! We love us some good'ole fried food...from okra, pickles, chicken, potatoes, to oreos and twinkies! You name it, someone in the south has tried it! This isn't an excuse for the south being the fattest part of the country, but I do believe our fried food habit contributes to it greatly.
We all these factors added up from corporations not doing & doing certain things, to Americans being lazy...they have all contributed to America being the fat country we are known for today.
Dear Kati,
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that corporations could be more helpful and doing their part for our society and at least make the health options more well known. I mean we don't know if what we're eating is unhealthy if they don't tell us. Also. with all of the corporations pushing all of this food and surrounding us with these ads it's impossible to not be influenced by it.
"Maybe if we knew the amount of calories or grams of fat that were in some of these products, they wouldn't be so appealing to us any more, therefore making us not wanting to purchase them any more!" This is really good because it pretty much does put the responsibility on the companies. It is their job to educate the public if they are providing goods to the public. This statement really is eye-opening because it does explain that maybe America wouldn't be the way it is if companies took the time and actually published the info and make it well-known info for everyone.
You say, "I believe that fast food restaurants have played a major role in American becoming the obese country that it is today. " and this makes a very good point because I do believe it is partially corporate America's fault. However though I think that corporations can't totally be blamed because while they produce the food we are the ones that choose to eat it. They do not make us, so ultimately no one but ourselves are to blame for our weight. There are bridges all over the world and we hear stories of people jumping off of them, but this doesn't mean we have to too, just like we don't have to eat the food.
I really appreciate your blog and your honesty with it all. It is your pure opinion and that's what makes it interesting. Keep doing that, and I'll definitely keep reading because I can count on the truth from reading your blog.
Grackle
Dear Kati,
ReplyDeleteObesity is a big problem in America and the problem is getting worse. Many other countries also think that most Americans are fat. Like you said in your blog many Americans are becoming increasingly lazy. This is causing more and more people to eat unhealthy foods because they are cheap and convenient. It is also causing people to sit and do nothing instead of being active. Another thing that you mentioned is that if fast food restaurants posted the nutrition facts for their foods where everybody could see them then those foods would be less appealing. That would not make much of a difference on what most Americans eat. Most Americans are too lazy to care what is in their foods and only eat what tastes good. Thank you for writing Kati. Most American people need to get a different mindset and realize that whatever they do has consequences. Most American people also have to realize that they have to work for whatever they get and if they do nothing then they will never accomplish anything.
Junco
Dear Kati,
ReplyDeleteThis post couldn't be anymore true. I actually have family out of the country who are always dogging on us Americans for being over weight. It is actually pretty sad to me.
"As you can see from the image above, the south is considered to be the "fattest" among the United States." This really caught my eye because it is no surprise to me. With all the fried food and potato's that us southners eat what more can we expect?!
"It's no secret that Americans are known to be fat." We should all be able to relate this sentence. We are all guilty of being in a hurry and grabbing a $1 hamburger from McDonalds on the way to work.
Thank you for your post. I will be back to read about more topics that I can relate to.
Chimpanzee