Nowadays, it seems as if during every other commercial break, there’s some message expressing the next big problem that America needs to be aware of. During election, for example, you can’t turn on the television without hearing somebody’s plea for what they wish to accomplish after they achieve office. Well if any of these people realized what really needs increased awareness here in the United States, they would be addressing the number of people who are obese or overweight in America, and more importantly, they would be mentioning how many of those people are living below the poverty line.

There is definitely an issue involving the obesity rates here in the United States. Being obese or overweight increases a person's risk of many health problems and diseases such as Type II diabetes, coronary heart disease, sleep apnea, colon cancer, and even breast cancer. In fact, over the past twenty-five years, the prevalence of obesity has more than quadrupled. There a number of alarming facts regarding this subject, for starters, obesity is the number-two cause of preventable death in the United States. Also, 60 million Americans who are over the age of 20 are obese in addition to the 9 million children and teens that are overweight. As this serious problem doesn't seem to be resolving itself, awareness must be raised and even more so, change has to be made before the trends become any worse.

Although some of the deadly outcomes are commonly known, not many Americans realize what the causes are. Most obviously, lifestyles are the number one cause of obesity being a lack of exercise and poor dietary habits, but a close second is a silent killer; poverty. Because of the lack of funds available, which could be used on healthier food options, poverty-stricken families are forced to live off of cheap TV dinners, ramen noodles, and dollar menus.

As some people think that obesity doesn't affect them because they themselves are at a healthy weight, they're simply not looking at the big picture which includes rapidly growing statistics as well as the loss of family members and loved ones to disease and even death. These people are also failing to see that they could be at the very heart of one of the biggest factors associated with the widespread of obesity. According to recent studies, people in America who live in the most poverty-dense areas are the most prone to becoming obese. In addition, poverty-dense areas are commonly referred to as "food deserts" which is a term that is used to imply the lack of access to fresh food.

So before we air more television commercials expressing the severity of obesity in our country, or even before we spread the word and let our citizens know of all the families that have been hit hard by recession and unemployment who are currently living below the poverty line, let us realize that these problems are serious road blocks for our country on their own, but together they create an unmovable wall that we simply don't have the tools to get past at the moment. Or maybe, we already have the tools, and it's about time we start using them.

Sure we have the tools, but why aren't we using them to our advantage? Here in the twenty-first century, information travels at the speed of light every day. But it's usually spreading a pointless tweet or status update that reads something like, "Mmmmm craving a PB & J right now ;)". Now tell me, what is the point of this? We should be using our technology to tell people things that actually matter. Just think; if a celebrity tweets a picture of themselves standing in front of the mirror, about 20,000 people will see that tweet within fifteen seconds. Now what if that same celebrity tweeted a picture of themselves at a charity event to raise money in the hopes of opening an affordable produce store in a poverty-dense community? How many fans do you think would show up to that event simply to take a picture with that celebrity?

It is necessary that we come together now as a society, as a country, and as fellow human beings that refuse to sit back and let this problem escalate any further. I understand that some people see the attempts at TV commercials and the cost to organize a charitable event as a waste of money. But as Wayne Gretzky once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take". So we would be doing ourselves a great disservice if we simply look in on this growing problem instead of stepping in and making a difference.