Yes, America is fat. They house the largest population of obese people. Did you know that about 60 million people in America are obese? That is just plain disgusting, if you ask me. Take a look around-there’s a McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts at every corner! Did you know that being overweight is now what obesity is? It’s even more disgusting-obesity is having excess body fat. Most health professionals concur that a man is obese if he has over 25 percent body fat and a woman is if she has over 30 percent. (Women physiologically have more body fat than men.) Every year, it is estimated that 300,000 people die from obesity, second to tobacco-related deaths. Children are included in the estimate. Although America is one of the strongest countries, we’re also one of the most unhealthy. Ready for this one? Obesity in adults have increased by a whopping 60% in the past twenty years. Nowadays, 33% of adults are obese. That’s crazy! Everyone really needs to stop the fast food, and get some real, healthy nutrition.

Now let’s talk about fast food. The average adult should consume no more than 65 grams of fat and 2,000 calories a day. A Burger King meal, a hamburger and french fries, has 50 grams of fat and 2,000 calories. That’s almost enough to fill a person’s fat and calorie quota for the day! When most people go to McDonald’s or Burger King, they get a soda and more than one hamburger. These fatty food may contain many calories and fat, but they are not filling.

Media also contributes to obesity. The average child see more than 10,000 food ads on TV each year, most for high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar meals. (Sugar is also something to stay away from because it can be broken down and stored as fat. Then again, having too much fiber in your diets bad for you. Healthy or not, eating anything out of proportion is unhealthy and a risk to your health.) Everywhere we turn, there are ads, articles, posters, bill boards, commercials, TV shows, magazines, and the actual places themselves related to fast, unhealthy food. I love when they try to make it like it’s not that bad for you. My favorite is-“It’s better than fast food, it’s Wendy’s!” Wake up and smell the coffee, it IS fast food.

You don’t have to cut out bad foods completely to be healthy, but you shouldn’t be eating too much. I think that taking in all foods in proportion is key to good health. Exercise is also a necessity to good health. It’s not one or the other, it’s the combination that leads to success.

It is so exasperating to see the fast food businesses succeed. They smile grimly as they pocket your money and watch you grow as they internally clog your arteries. But you would think people would realize how bad it is and just stop. Maybe if enough people boycotted their fat food long enough, than their businesses would fail. Than we could replace them with healthier ones. Occasionally it’s not life threatening to chow down on a Big Mac, but a little too much is a lot too much. I think we should all work together and try to restore good health in America.