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Food and Obesity

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Food And Obesity L. Dominique
DeVry University

Food and Obesity
Obesity has become a serious issue in The United States. According to two surveys conducted by the Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS, for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and cited by the Weight –Control Information Network (WIN), obesity affects one-third (35.7 percent) of adults and 18.2 percent of youth between the ages of 6 and 19. About 18.6 percent of boys and 15 percent of girls are considered to be obese. About 49.5 percent of African-Americans, 39 percent Hispanics and 34.3 percent of Caucasians are considered to be obese.
Obesity is defined as an excess amount of body fat and is the consequence of an energy imbalance. The human body needs food to create energy necessary for basic life functions. However, when the amount of calories ingested is greater than the amount of calories burned, that leads to weight gain and subsequently to obesity. Obesity is generally linked to overconsumption of food and more specifically, fast food. Michael Pollan, in his book “the omnivore’s dilemma”, states: “when food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more and get fat”. He blames the obesity epidemic in the United States on the excess eating of food as a result of it being accessible and inexpensive. His statement is accurate; people tend to buy more of an item when it is cheap and the same goes for food and drink. And, because most cheap foods especially processed foods contain high level of fat, sugar, sodium and calories, their overconsumption lead to health issues and obesity. However, while the consumption of cheap food plays a big role in the incidence of obesity, especially in children. However, there are a numerous other influences that should be considered when analyzing the prevalence of obesity in America; two of

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