http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19439895/site/newsweek/page/0/
Recently, Newsweek has published an article called “A Generation at Risk,” which underlines the possibility that our generation could be the first generation to have a shorter lifespan than our parents. They blame this feat on multiple issues. They say that the media represents food in a way that allows people to just keep eating. They add that parents aren’t doing enough to keep their kids healthy as well as that the availability of food has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. I say they are absolutely correct. It is appalling that one third of our adults are overweight and that almost 20% of our children are overweight (HealthGoods 2007). But since not doing anything hasn’t really helped, I believe we should take an active approach to help the youth of this country.
The one thing everyone doesn’t seem to realize is that this is our American culture, the fast food culture. Our “American-ness” has stemmed from the label that Americans, in general, overeat and are overweight because of it. The only way to get a renewed American identity is to defeat the corporations and systems that are encouraging our children to overeat. You visit almost any other nation in the world, and you will see a vast difference in not only the amount of fast food restaurants but a difference in the average waist size.
After reading this story, I decided it would be fun to drive around and see just how many fast food restaurants there are within 10 min of my house. I was astonished to find 9 different restaurants where this unhealthy food is being served. I say, let’s not only help this epidemic by helping our children make the right decisions about eating and exercising, but let us go one step further and fight the bulge right at its home. We NEED to target these fast food, or fat food, restaurants and have them stop this plague of obesity. They will all respond the same way, “we do understand that these obesity levels need to be lowered, that is why we are introducing our new and improved low fat hamburgers and these healthy choice salads.” Have you ever looked at the nutrition facts that most fast food restaurants have hidden away in the corner where no one will look. I went into a McDonalds and looked at the “healthy choice” salads, which have been introduced by a lot of today’s fast food chains, and they have close to the same or more calories than some of the hamburgers. The CEO’s of the multinational corporations seem to think that just by adding more green food into their meals that it would be perfectly healthy for everyone to eat. Obviously not.
Now I know that this wave of fat is not just the fault of the fast food industry. I admit, that every once and a while, even though I know the consequences of my actions, that I will pull up to the drive through at my local McDonalds or Taco Bell and grab lunch. So I understand that more needs to be done about changing our culture. To create this new identity, we need to recognize that this fast food society we live in is only causing us problems, and that something needs to be done to educate our youth and their parents about the consequences of being overweight and about the options they have to stay healthy. But to start our new and improved culture out right we also need to get rid of the people who encourage us eat unhealthy, who provide us with options to be lazy, and who draw us in with colorful buildings and fuzzy store mascots all which make us grow more and more overweight. Let us make a new identity for ourselves, and let us regain what is rightfully ours. Smaller clothes. (644)
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
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