I’m about to give you the most arduous challenge you will ever face in your entire life. Go to the grocery store, and find 5 foods that don’t contain some type of sugar, and remember there’s different names for sugar, so be prepared. Now a days, it’s very difficult to find food that is sugar-free, even though it might say so, companies add chemicals and ingredients that contain sugar, but you don’t know about. All this hidden sugar is leading to a growing belly in many young kids today. Child obesity isn’t only unattractive and unwanted, but can lead to countless health problems. But all this, at least in my opinion, is the fault of America’s big, bad corporations.

Companies these days think about money and only money. How can we save money? How do we get more money? Where can we get more money? That’s all they think about, 24/7. They seek to make the most profit for the lowest cost. According to Michael Moss, author of the book Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, due to this greed and necessity for riches, leads to companies using cheaper, unhealthy ingredients to make their products, and adding detrimental amounts of sugar, salt, and fat. While a product might say “low sodium”,One example of this would be soda. Scientists working for soda companies have discovered a “bliss point”, which is basically putting enough sugar to get the masses of consumers ecstatic at the first sip, and later left craving for more. But again, all this sugar and fat is just causing more problems for people, and less for the companies. They see it as a benefit, and frankly don’t show any woe to people getting huskier.

In the U.S alone,  two-thirds of all adults are overweight or obese. I mean, they make shows about 600-pound people! Insanity, is what I would call it. All this added sugar, extra fat, and salt all leads to obesity. What’s even worse is that now more kids are overweight. Obesity leads to significant health issues, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, bone and joint problems, and even social and psychological issues. All of this is caused by foods that we eat every day, and the problem is kids can’t stop it. Adults might be able to, but with more addictive junk foods being made and altered, this war has begun to turn for the worst. It’s been show by the World Health Organization that children’s choices, diet and physical activity habits are influenced by their surrounding objects. What this means is that the immense billboard you see on the highway advertising the newest Dorito flavor is considered part of a child’s “environment”.

But why have I spent my time and put in effort just to rant on about food? Well, simply because someone needs to do something about it. I’m not talking about Michelle Obama. Many organizations are being created to help fight this obesity problems, but what really needs to be done is for the government to put down harsh laws on these food industries that make what we eat. If not, we are all gonna spend our lives sitting in a chair, not being able to move, just eating chicken wings and chips to our tummy’s content. This problem has a solution, but only if we all work together to stop it.