Attending my first birthday party in America, my 6 year old self was appalled by the abundance of calories present on the food table. Greasy pizza, cheesy fires, oily chips, chocolatey desserts, cavity-inflicting drinks, and mountains of candy. Although that table was my childhood dream, I’m now realizing how detrimental it is to a person’s clean, healthy diet. I’ve learned that the unhealthy lifestyle of this country is the one-way ticket to obesity and the pivotal factor in many overweight Americans.
In contrast to the destructive diet of American birthdays, in Korean tradition, one’s birthday is celebrated with organically cooked food — made by the guardians — that provide a healthy yet flavorful and fulfilling meal and sometimes consist of dishes that take up to 5 days to prepare: a period of time where an American could order about 10 different fatty meals, 15 different sugary drinks, and consume about twice as many calories.
Statistically, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that 37.9% of men and 41.1% of women are considered to be obese in the United States. Americans consume too many simple carbohydrates, convenient fast food, and processed pre-packaged foods that lack the nutritional values that an average body needs and instead, is filled with unnecessary calories that are found to be less filling and nutrient-dense, thus causing people to consume more calories than needed and spiraling into a caloric surplus that affects excessive weight gain. More statistics show that obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death behind tobacco use.
As hard as it may seem, even as little as 30 minutes of normal physical activity everyday can prevent someone from dying and joining the 2.8 million people who lose their lives to obesity each year. Adapting to a healthier lifestyle will be beneficial to everyone and improve physical, mental, and emotional states.
Hi Victoria! I really like how you started your post with an American childhood birthday party. It's something most of us can relate to, especially how the food served used to be a dream to us, but for most not anymore. The statistics you provided were really shocking since obesity is usually glossed over pretty easily in America. Really interesting blog post!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Victoria! I really loved how you backed up your argument with statistics and facts from various trusted sources. I totally agree that all the extremely processed and not filling but fattening food is the source of the obesity issue in America and I liked how you used your different perspective as a child to show what it was like looking in on the issue. Also great reference to consider the lobster in your title!
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