American Child Obesity
By
Shirlynn Stewart

Professor Quinn
English QB
11/12/12

Parents are to blame for the childhood obesity epidemic. As a child growing up my family considered food as being a key source for keeping the family together. Both of parents never really cooked healthy meals and we would go out to eat every Friday and Saturday night. Going out every weekend in my family was considered as a ritual. We didn’t just get our dinners and leave, but we had to have a full three course meal, the appetizers, dinner, and dessert. When my parents cooked during the week they would sometimes have healthy side dishes such as salad, but not necessarily healthy meals. You can imagine my weight as child. I weighed close to 200 pounds from ages 10-14. My
Aunt Martha would complain to me about my weight every time she could and how I should exercise or join a sport to lose weight, but I would never listen. Then suddenly one day said to me that I had enough of the breathing problems, bullying, depression, and fear. I decided to join the gym and to go with my Aunt Martha five days a week. At first I didn’t see the weight beginning to drop but after sometime I began to notice and it brought great joy to my heart and mind. My parents continued to make the greasy foods that they loved and I just began to proportion my foods and exercise and I was just fine. Author Gregory Green points out that one of the reasons American culture and adolescents gain weight over the generations is that children expend significantly less energy on a daily bases than their parents and grandparents did at their age ( 1 of 1). Gregory Green also points out that Today’s youth spend more hours participating in sedentary activities. Additionally we eat more fast food and vending machine food than we have in the past (1 of 1). Parents should play a vital role in reducing the rate of obesity in children and adolescents but
Intentionally they are one of the key causes of this epidemic. According to Gregory
Green the US. Food industry aggressively markets high-fat, high—sugar, super-sized foods Modern communities encourage driving rather than walking. Physical education is being dropped by schools even as fattening snacks and foods are welcomed into schools. We now see a shift in society from individuals taking their time when preparing home cooked meals to a society which is steady on the go. According to Alan Greenblatt obesity is the fastest-growing cases of illness and the death In the unites states, it is associated with at least 300,000 deaths a year, causing more than 30 obesity related diseases, ranging from heart disease and stroke to arthritis and breathing problems ( 1 of 40). He also stated that the human body was genetically designed to store fat so it could weather famine and other once-common depravations (5 of 40). There was a time in history where there was no such thing as eating out or eating fast food, there was only home-cooked meals served. Then we see a shift in time where there was fast food restaurants became very popular and they were considered a place for social gathering on weekends. Now in modern times we see a shift of individuals steadily on the go. Being that individuals are steady on the go there isn’t any time to prepare home cooked meals so we see a steady reliance on the fast food industries to give the people there foods and to give it to them rapidly. Parents can decrease their fast food eating and spending by better time management of their day. Instead of just throwing the food away at dinner time how about saving it and prepare lunch bags for yourself as well your children for the next day. Another solution to this problem is to get up in enough time in the mornings to prepare breakfast for you and your family. Before leaving your home take out what you would like to prepare for dinner. This makes it easier upon yourself so when you come in you can just prepare the meal rather than wait