Argumentative Essay: The Role Of Obesity In America

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Over the past 30 years, Americans have developed the idea that bigger is better. This notion is allowed to be applied to technology, cars, or buildings. However, it should not apply to the food we eat nor the American people. Overweight and obesity issues have become a concern within the past 30 years with the rise of the fast food and restaurant industries, larger portion sizes, and the demand for convenience in this fast paced world. As a result, medical costs have skyrocketed with the onslaught of diseases such as hypertension heart disease and high cholesterol. With these diseases, the American people should know the consequences and long term risks. The American people need to be educated on the consequences and risk of their unhealthy …show more content…
As a person 's BMI increases, so does the number of sick days, medical claims, and health care costs. In 2000, the medical cost of obesity in the United States was more than $117 billion; and then in 2002, costs attributed to being overweight and obesity reached an incredible $92.6 billion. Numerous insurance companies do not cover clinical or non-clinical weight-loss programs. Treatment of an obese individual costs $1,244 more in 2002 than in comparison to a person who calculates in the healthy-weight range. In total in 2003, Americans spent about $75 billion in weight-related medical bills (Obesity Action Coalition para. 4). The rise in medical bills results with Americans putting the blame on their medical care company or their “crooked” doctor. However, the lesson they need to learn is the spike in medical cost can easily be prevented by taking care of themselves in the first place. There is a saying that “you are what you eat.” When you order the next size up you pay extra, thus you literally are what you eat because you have to pay extra for more support for your

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