America's Eating Habits

America’s Eating Habits

            America is full of fast food restaurants, unhealthy food choices, and increasing amount of obese citizens.  Something needs to be done soon.  Obesity increases your risk of heart disease by sixty-five percent. If you have heart disease then it increases your children’s chances of heart disease by almost twenty percent. Obeses American’s not only have an increase risk of heart disease but also diabetes, strokes, and certain forms of cancer.  America needs to become a healthier nation for our own sake. We are basically slowing killing ourselves making our nation weaker.  In a recent medical journal it showed that America is fatter than any other nation. In 1980 the average males body mass index was 4.8 percent, today it is nearly 8 percent! I am aware the convience of fast food and how cheap and good it tastes but we got to start looking out for our own bodies. Many people believe that McDonalds should be forced to be healthier or should only be able to have so many stores, but the fact of the matter is that we live in America and if McDonalds wants 1,000 stores on Rangeline they can, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat there.  The state of Missouri is considered the third fattest state in American. This to me does not make me proud to be born and raised in Missouri. Missouri per capita spends 623 dollars on fast food, buys over 61 gallons of soft drinks, and over 121 pounds of sweets. That to me is ridiculous. But wait Missouri also has the 11^th lowest rate of adults that eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.  30 percent of residents in Missouri have a body mass index of over 30 percents.  The only two states that are “fatter” than us are Alabama and Mississippi. Alabama spends 649 dollars per capita on fast food, they buy 77 gallons of soft drinks and 117 pounds of sweets once again ridiculous.  Leading the pack is Mississippi they spends over 588 dollars on fast food, and they buy over 82 gallons of soft drinks and over 113 pounds if sweets.   I understand that not all obesity is caused from unhealthy eating, but the majority is.  American has got to change and the change needs to come soon.

·        http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112083/10-states-with-the-deadliest-eating-habits

·        http://articles.cnn.com/2006-03-24/health/hb.eating.habits_1_barbara-rolls-meals-portion-size?_s=PM:HEALTH

·        http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/369416/study_reflects_on_americans_poor_eating.html