Catina Carter
Lilian Gamble
English 101-W05
July 10, 2017
Causes of obesity in America 1
Indeed obesity is an epidemic in America because if you look into most population’s majority of the people look obese.  The world views the United States to have a higher standard of living but funnily, it is blessed that even the poor are obese. The high rate of obesity in America shows that the quality of life is getting worse for the population. Our culture bombards people with weight loss programs and fad diets and on the other hand, they engage in activities that promote obesity making it ironical. This is not to say that people should take a fatalistic attitude because it is impossible to stay slender in the U.S or those battling weight losses should give up .I think that obesity is generally stimulated by one’s environment and the modern American lifestyle is another major contributing factor to people gaining weight.
Compared to other countries, Americans are said to be have an average income do lead a sedentary lifestyle. This is because they can access conveniences such as, cell phones, cars, remote controls and food drive-troughs hence the average adult will only engage in some fitness exercises if they plan for it within the day. It is a reality that as we feel like life is becoming more stressful and the economy is declining, we tend to push exercising time to backburner so that we can get longer  working hours and concurrently the time to rest. Achieving a balanced diet may prove more difficult than we expect as much as we might be aware of what it look like.
 From what I learnt in my biology class, the highly processed convenience foods do contain saturated fats, sodium, and high-fructose corn syrup. Most families nowadays are very busy so they choose  tom take fast foods such as grilled chicken  and salads and they are definitely contains high amounts of fat and sodium. Deciding to cook fresh and organic food to most people is time-consuming, requires planning, it is expensive and it is a skill that most adults grew up not knowing how to do it. Another thing is that American restaurants and fast-food outlets are big that people cannot even tell what healthy food does look like. You enter into a restaurant and serving of pasta that is meant to be one- half cup, the restaurant serves at least three times bigger. 
Another observable factor that causes obesity is genetics. If you keenly observe some families, you find that most of them are obese all the way to the extended family. Scientifically, genetics play a role in how your body stores fat and where it accumulates it. Behavioral factors such as eating habits and activity levels contribute to weight gain and that is why family lifestyles and eating patterns do significantly influence obesity. Surprisingly most immediate or extended families have traditions of celebrating with food whenever they have an event to celebrate about. They end up consuming traditional foods that have high simple carbohydrates, fat and high calories.
 I tend to think that age is another determining factor of obesity. Most of the older Americans look obese and it may be because they become less active and they lose muscle mass as they grow older. It is difficult to maintain a healthy weight when the body starts to process slowly hence less efficient as much as it can be done through exercise and proper diet. Children are not left out in this epidemic because some of them are obese due to inactivity and the poor choices of food parents make for them. This really endangers their health. The unsafe environments and poverty levels in some regions in America can also be the cause of obesity. These places do lack fresh food due to lack of access to shops that provide the quality food. They also lack access to clean and spaces for recreation activities that can improve their health.