Summary:
The problem of obesity is one that has plagued Canada. Canadians on an overall have increased there calorie count by almost 921 calories (Marnie pg.1) and with little to no exercise this is putting the average Canadian on the track to obesity. The government a key ally in the fight to keep Canadians on the track to a healthy life is working on promoting the healthy choice, spending $238 million dollars, there message is for the Canadian people to eat better and exercise for at least thirty minutes a day (Marnie pg.1). Although obesity is a problem among adults the issue of children becoming obese before they even hit adulthood is costing them there health in there growing years and some of them there live.
The problem of obesity is one that has plagued Canada. Canadians on an overall have increased there calorie count by almost 921 calories (Marnie pg.1) and with little to no exercise this is putting the average Canadian on the track to obesity. The government a key ally in the fight to keep Canadians on the track to a healthy life is working on promoting the healthy choice, spending $238 million dollars, there message is for the Canadian people to eat better and exercise for at least thirty minutes a day (Marnie pg.1). Although obesity is a problem among adults the issue of children becoming obese before they even hit adulthood is costing them there health in there growing years and some of them there live.
Canadians are eating out 4.7 times a week, spending a total amount of 39 billion annually. Although some annalists may look at this stat and report it as good news because the economy is thriving health officials on the other hand see this as bad news because this means people are eating more fast food which is high in calories. These high calorie foods five times are the cause of people in our society becoming obese which in turn costs the government 3.1 billion dollars a year because people need more medical assistance and develop diseases form becoming so overweight. North Americans are unfit and even the slightest exercise would benefit them. The epidemic that is sweeping the nation is one of type two diabetes. The sole cause of this type of diabetes is the consumption of fatty foods and little to no exercise. Obesity contributes 21,000 people a year to the death toll; this number is on the rise say the analysts who figure if the rate of obesity stays up so will the death toll.
Many children are obese due to a wide range of entertainment available in this century such as television. This is that most do not go out and play with there friends, instead they hang out at the movies or are playing video games. Children whose parents put them into extracurricular activities are generally not over weight and tend to have a healthier choice of food available to them. This idea of parents encouraging the children to play sports brings critics and even the government to blame the parents of the kid in not doing enough to encourage a healthier choice when comes to eating. Families are to busy to make a proper and healthy dinner and usually end up going for the quick way to do things which is fast food, so the idea of a family dinner has remained an idea. Studies have revealed only 19% of high school students are physically active. Obesity rates between children have tripled. In this society children come to school without eating breakfast; the most important meal of the day. It is important for children to have a proper breakfast because it kick starts there metabolism which is important for there bodies to stay healthy. Another factor contributing to the obesity of children is the increase in crime in the city. Parents are afraid to let there kids play outside because of the fear they may be kidnapped or hit by a speeding car. Less and less kids are also walking to school and because parents fear the worst and would rather drop off there kids or have them take the bus then walk.
Fat was once considered a cosmetic problem and thought of as a minor problem toward the health of an individual. Although this was the common belief in the generation before this, fat is now considered a "crippler and killer" (Hales 115). The adults in society today try and blame the fast food chains for being the cause of there disease, obesity. The simple truth is that people are eating high calorie food and not doing enough to burn it off. Some health educators have said that the problem may be rooted in our genes and the problem is that through the millions of years of life on this planet we have been taught to eat as much as we could if we got our hands on a good thing. This is so because food was scarce and the rules of survival of the fittest applied. One factor that can partially be blamed for the causes of obesity is technology. It has almost removed physical exercise from our day to day lives and packed our shelves with mass produced "good tasting food Packed with calories." (Lemonick) Now we no longer have to hunt and gather our food and this type of work took a great deal of physical work which kept people in shape in those time but now all we do is warm up our dinner form a box and sit in front of a television. These types of eating habits will be handed down to our generations to come and if the obesity epidemic continues it will soon take the lives of more people then smoking does.
My final thought on obesity is that the disease is going to continue to grow at a rapid pace throughout the years. Obesity can be a potentially fatal disease which can be curable if we were to exercise. Children are influenced the most through commercials on television. The more high fat, high calorie foods we eat the more the chance we have to develop high cholesterol and metabolic syndrome. Another serious disease is type 2 diabetes that is an ever growing epidemic. Adults are the key role in this disease. They should educate their children on the seriousness on obesity.
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