South Korea's Obesity Problem In The United States

The United States of America was not always a country of fast food eating Americans. It was only sixty-five years ago, that we were eating food portions that were four times smaller than what we eat today. Yet over the same time span South Korea has not spawned the health problems that plague the U.S. In the 1950s, obesity and diabetes were not the huge dilemma that they are today. The American diet has drastically changed over the years and while a variety of arguments can be made about the causes. This does not fix the issue that America has an obesity problem, one that South Korea does not have. According to a 2013 study conducted by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD). The United States had an obesity rate of 66.3% compared to South Koreas 32.3%. This is more than double the obesity rate of South Korea, even though both developed countries …show more content…
Why is the rate of obesity more than double that of the United States when you can find fast food in every street corner in Seoul? The answer is that South Korean food is healthier than what we eat here in the U.S. The South Korean diet is high in carbohydrates (Koreans eat white rice with every meal) but this offsets with the rest of the Korean diet. Combined with the fact that Koreans walk everywhere they go and the health benefits accompanied by walking. It is not surprising that Koreans do not gain weight. Koreans eat vegetables with every meal, and they are the most common ingredients used in their cuisine. This leads to a diet that is full of macronutrients and micronutrients essential for maintaining good health. Vegetables like cabbage, spinach, bean sprouts and soy beans are cooked with ginger, garlic