It 's A Food Thing Essay

It’s a Food-Thing According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive, “In America today, more than one-third (35.7 percent) of adults are considered to be obese” (NIDDK 1). This statistic is rising and is expected to reach 50 percent by the end of this century due to the unhealthy food epidemic in our country. The primary thing that causes obesity is, well you guessed it: food. It’s the one thing that we humans, especially in the U.S today, can’t seem to get enough of, and it’s starting to show— literally. This “Golden Age” of our

time also happens to be associated with a lower life expectancy due to heart disease related illnesses caused by high cholesterol and diabetes. I believe that this obesity epidemic needs to be addressed. There needs to be a variety of different reforms that target the monopolistic food companies, the consumers’ awareness/knowledge of nutrition, and consumer’s overall diet. Peel back the flap that often hides the nutrition facts of any candy bar and you 'll often be reassured of the “0 grams trans-fat” and “only 250 calories” that your snickers bar displays in big, bold letters to distract you from the less tasteful information it really holds. Looking past the big bold irrelevant nutrition overviews, you will find the small printed daily nutrition facts that disclose the truth of your seemingly harmless candy bar (Figure 1). Right away a few noticeable numbers stick out: the sugar and carbohydrates. What’s wrong with them you ask?…