Persuasive Essay On Obesity

As years go by American weight struggle has been getting worse. People with diabetes today has more than double since 1994. While there are ways to help bring down obesity, most companies have not taken action. There are many factors to why obesity has only been increasing all these years.

Soda companies “dramatically announced that they would aim to cut the number of sugary drinks calories by twenty percent over the next ten years by reducing the portion size and trying to sell more zero-calorie and low calorie options.” By reducing the portion size, Americans could be drinking more cans, and possibly drinking more ounces than they were originally. As for the zero-calorie and low calorie options, the drinks are considered by doctors to be worst than the original because they contain artificial sweeteners that are not ‘natural sugars’, but chemically made sugars that puts an individual at greater risk of being morbidly obese by slowing their metabolisms, and is also known to elevate their blood pressure. Mexico’s soda consumption and obesity rate was once worst than the United States a few years ago, Mexico then established “a significant tax on soda and junk food.. Soda consumption in Mexico fell by a couple of percent points almost immediately.. there was almost as large increase in the sale of bottled water (not taxed).” Mexico had went ahead with its initiative to stop their nation’s problem, as for the United States, soda has become a major part of our diets. I believe that is restricting us from progressing from this aggravated problem.

.A study conducted by Harvard Medical School found that overweight and obese high school students who drank diet beverages and water were over four pounds lighter on average than the students who drank sugary beverages. They also had a slightly healthier BMI overall. A similar study was conducted using 641 children who were a healthy weight. The children were split into two groups. One group was given eight ounces of a sugar-sweetened beverage, and the other group wasn't. After eighteen months, it was found that the group that drank sugar- sweetened beverages gained over two pounds of excess weight on average. Obesity and being overweight can lead to many complications including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Barry M. Popkin, an obesity expert, believes that limiting sugary drink consumption is the "low hanging fruit" of the movement to end obesity. President Obama himself has said soda taxes would be an effective way to combat the obesity

If you can prolong your life, and make yourself feel better about who you are then why not overcome this overweight issue. In today’s world we are facing an epidemic that seems to be affecting even are young at an early age. We all know that obesity can have adverse effects on health, well-being, and relationship, and can be solved by eating organic food, exercising, and discipline. We are here to find out the different causes of obesity, and find out what we can do to overcome this fast growing epidemic. “Although people in the Unites States might not be eating more, they are gaining weight. According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, fat consumption by people in the United States has declined during past decades, but calorie expenditure has gone down as well. Adults are not burning the calories they are consuming, and as a result, obesity rates increased by 214 percent between 1950 and 2000. Two out of every three people in the U.S. were obese or overweight in 2010”. (Bird, 2011, March 26, p.1). They are several solutions that can be implemented to these causes, and some are individual, community, and government solutions. I feel it is everyone’s own responsibility to make they maintain their own health.

Eating healthy and exercising often, the two things seen as key against fighting obesity. While these are very important, they are not the only tools in the fight against obesity. Before we can rely solely on eating healthy and daily exercise, we need to reform how the issue of obesity is being attacked. Childhood obesity has become an exponentially growing epidemic that has no evidence of stopping anytime soon. The government needs to step in and help with the fight because of food deserts, faulty advertising, and nutrition guidelines, which are all factors out of the public's control. Once we figure out these issues, the real fight can begin.

Obesity is a growing epidemic in the American people, but what is the root of this seemingly unavoidable problem? According to David Zinczenko, it is the failings of the American society, but in the opinion of Radley Balko, it’s the facilitation of the government's support and the failure to take self-responsibility from the people themselves. They both have an opinion as to what the cause of obesity in America, but Zinczenko has the better argument. Through the use of real-life examples, refutation, and sound logic/reasoning Zinczenko writes a more persuasive piece than Balko.

Many american adult civilians are obese, the cdc states that about 34.9% or 78.6 million adults in america are obese and over 17% or 12.7 million kids from ages 2-19 are obese. Many of the causes is the overconsumption of soda. The issue at hand is that there are many obese people buying large amounts of soda in the United States. Although i don’t think soda should not be banned for consumption and it’s a freedom of choice of what people want to eat; however, the amount of soda an individual buys should buy should be regulated because, lowers the risk diabetes, lowers the risks of obesity, lowers the risks of health problems later on in life.

Over one third of the US population suffers from obesity and overweight. According to a study reported by the NIH (National Institute of Health), more than 1 in 3 adults were considered to be overweight, and 1 in 3 adults were considered to be obese. Children are also victims to this growing epidemic, with 1 in 6 children/adolescents anywhere from 2 to 19 were considered to be obese. This is a growing problem, and it has been for the last 20 years in America.

Adults on average need to consume about 2000 calories a day to maintain good health; however, many people of all ages are ingesting far more calories than they need. The most threatening aspect of America’s excessive calorie intake is the effect it is having on children. According to source B a third of children aged two to fifteen are already overweight. This is dangerous because obesity leads to more health conditions and all this sugary intake is quickly weakening America. One can of soda has between thirty-three and thirty-five grams of sugar per serving which is more than a child's recommended total daily intake (Source A). Taking soda out of American’s diets or at least dramatically reducing it can help begin to reduce the obesity problem in America. In source C, Thomas Isaac says, “ the fight against fat has just begun” which applies to this proposed tax on soda. Soda contributes large amounts to unhealthy habits and now is the time to act.

Sugar-sweetened beverages are one of the single largest added sugars in the American diet. The beverages like soft drinks, sodas, fruit drinks, sweetened coffees and teas, energy drinks, sports drinks, and sweetened waters are increasing as a whole. “In general, males consume more beverages than females, African Americans consume more fruit drinks and Caucasians drink more carbonated soft drinks. Children and adolescents derive 10% to 15% of their total calories from sugar-sweetened beverages (1).” According to the American Heart Association a 20-ounce bottle of soda contains 17 teaspoons of sugar but AHA recommends no more than five to nine teaspoons of added sugar per day to all the ages. These beverages increase appetite because of their

Childhood obesity has become a major challenge for public health in the 21st century. Since the 1970s, obesity in teens have triple and today, the country lead the nation with one out of six children being obese. Obesity is a major contributor to chronic diseases such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes (Frieden, Dietz, and Collins, 2015). According to one study, 70 percent of obese youth have at least one additional cardiovascular risk factor and 40 percent have two or more (Frieden, Dietz, and Collins, 2015).

Obesity is a very serious subject that a lot of people take lightly, especially us as Americans. America is the most obese country in the world. Statistics show that 300,000 people die a day in the United States of America due to obesity. This clearly shows that we have a serious problem that is massively underestimated. Obesity is also something that countries all across the world suffer from. For example, Australia is also one of the most obese countries in the world, and 50,000 people die a year from obesity in Australia. That’s 140 people who die per day in Australia. To solve the problem of obesity the prices of junk food should be raised and the prices of healthy food should be lowered and more convenient.

The turning point of my life was when I moved to Vietnam with my father when I was eleven years old. Since my father was unable to take care of me due to his work, I had to be independent and responsible from a young age. I went through difficult times dealing with language barrier, loneliness and unexpected changes all by myself. Now that I have grown up, I realized that those times helped me become resilient and self-determined. I have decided to continue my education in Vietnam because not only I enjoy living here but Vietnam also has a great potential for job growth.

Obesity all around the world is one of the most important issues facing us today, how could we possibly make young people stop eating junk and start eating healthy? It seems almost impossible but it in fact is not, all we need is for people to want to help make the change.  Parents raise their kids and show them what’s right from wrong so they should also teach them the harm that comes from bad food and lead them towards fruits and vegetables. Aside from parents helping their kids make the right food choices, schools have to stop providing kids with meals that are not made fresh at the school and with drinks that contain sugar that students drink on a regular basis. The principles should acknowledge this and take action against the sugary foods given at their schools and do something to make the change from bad to healthy.

Obesity effects 37.9 percent of American adults over 20 today. The annual medical costs for obesity in the United States is $147 million annually. (CNN Library) Not only are adults affected and uneducated by this problem, so are children. Because obesity raises many compelling health risks and concerns across America, and is continuing to rise, government policies should enforce regulations and monitor the nutrition of our nation before the problem becomes worse.