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Childhood Obesity In America Essay

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One of the fastest growing epidemics in the United States is childhood obesity. The amount of children that fall in the obese category has more than tripled since 1970. It is now estimated that one in every five children in the United States would fall under this obese category. This rapid growth has resulted from many changes in our society including: How we measure obesity, increased technology, increased availability of fast food, and an increased intake of sugar. To understand what it is that causes childhood obesity its necessary to have a solid comprehension of what obesity is and how its measured. The dictionary definition of obesity is “a condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body”; however, …show more content…
Over half of all restaurant revenue comes from fast food. The increased popularity is a result of many factors, such as it because cheap, quick, and convenient. Modern day society has caused for a packed lifestyle with little time to waste, leading people to find other ways of saving time. Fast food was a solution for many busy families. Allowing them to quickly get food on the go without breaking the budget. Harvard School of Public Health found that it was 2,000 dollars cheaper a year per person to eat an unhealthy diet including fast food. Another reason for this is women have taken an increase role in the workplace, fighting to break the traditional gender role. Although this is a great leap for gender equality it had an unforeseen problem that has gone unsolved. That problem being the lack of healthy home cooked meals. These healthy home cooked meals have been replaced with convenient fast food. Over one third of children eat fast food a day in the United States. This is a huge problem as it was found that children who regularly consume fast food consume more calories, fat, sugar, and carbohydrates; while, also consuming less valuable nutrients found in things like fruits and vegetables. Overall they just have a less healthy diet. There is a common ingredient in healthy diets that has contributed to childhood obesity and that is the prevalence of sugar in

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