United States of Fat

Each day, Americans are told how unhealthy our country is, and how the obesity rates are "sky high". What we don't understand, however, is why we are being so criticized for our weight issues and eating habits. According to the Get America Fit Foundation, 58 million Americans are overweight and 40 million Americans are obese. These numbers are massive! In just the past 2 decades, our country has almost doubled our obesity rates. The big question, however, is why? Why are we suddenly one of the most unhealthy countries in the world? Most of the other "unhealthy" countries in the world are unhealthy due to malnutrition, food deserts and a lack of food available to feed it's population. Sadly, our country is unhealthy because there is too much food, our unhealthy food is too cheap, and we have more then enough food to feed our ever-growing population. We are one of the only countries that have a problem with overeating, and there are countless factors that contribute to this. We will not only discuss these factors in more detail, but also discuss why a tax on junk food would benefit our country. For us, junk food is in every isle of every grocery store. Junk food is the cheapest food we can get, and people buy it because it's cheap. But what would happen if it wasn't so cheap after all?

Resources:
(2009). Obesity related statistics in america. The Get America Fit Foundation, Retrieved from     http://www.getamericafit.org/statistics-obesity-in-america.html