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Keep Hope Alive: Fighting Obesity in America
Jonathan Gilchrist
Advanced Composition SPRA11 Sec AA
Professor Jeffry Berke
April 5, 2011

Keep Hope Alive: Fighting Obesity in America

Introduction America is the one the richest countries in the world. One would think that it would hold a similar title for being the healthiest. That is far from the truth. Obesity has become a vast dilemma in our nation. Adults, children, even animals are suffering from obesity. It has come to be all too normal. The media has latched onto the dangers of this disease, while various diets and weight programs have been released to the public. It is very difficult to understand why America ignores the warnings of countless TV shows, the government, and news. Even the event of a family member’s death doesn’t seem to wake our nation up. The American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery shows that Obesity and overweight issues cost the U. S 117 million dollars in healthcare annually(McCue, 2010). Tobacco is currently the lead cause of preventable death, a statistic that obesity could soon obtain (Lemonick, 2004). Excess weight takes a horrible toll on the body. Various health problems such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and more come from obesity.
Michael Limerick’s (2004) “How We Grew So Big,” places the blame on technology stating “We humans have utterly transformed our environment; over the past century especially, technology has almost completely removed physical exercise from the day-to-day lives of most Americans” (p.1). While some may argue that technology has created weight loss supplements, new machines, and surgeries to help keep off the weight; fast food restaurants, and high calorie foods are growing at an alarming rate. The consensus across the nation seems to be that Americans are not active enough. The soaring amounts of calories

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