Obesity Epidemic In Liberty High School

Over the course of history, this earth has endured many diseases and plagues such as, the black plague, yellow fever, and influenza. As the students around the country are educated in history class about these disasters, most are unaware that there is an epidemic that is spreading through the world as we speak: Obesity. Obesity is not a contagious disease, it is a disease that is caused by a persons eating and exercise habits. On a smaller scale, this epidemic is quite prevalent in Contra Costa County and even here at Liberty High School. Students are suffering not only physically, but mentally as well, and they really cannot afford to miss out on any developments at such a critical point like high school. This epidemic of obesity and unhealthy …show more content…
The first step needed to reduce the obesity issue in our school is to decrease the availability of sugary drinks sold to the students. The article, "Bad Food? Tax it, and Subsidize it" mentions that "of the 278 additional calories Americans on average consumed per day between 1977 and 2001, 40% came from sugary beverages." Recently there has been a misundertanding of what defines a "sugary drink." When a health official or really any person mentions sugary drinks, he or she is not just referring to soda; sugary drinks include fruit juice, Gatorade, specialty coffee, etc. which are all factors to the obesity epidemic. These unhealthy drink are everywhere including our own school campus. On a daily walk to my classes, I count at least three vending machines which each dispense 5 different flavors of Gatorade. These 12 ounce bottles of Gatorade contain 21 grams of sugar each which is about half the sugar that is included in a can of coke. Because students are under the impression that these juices are not detrimental to their health of maybe even healthy for them, they drink great quantities of the sugar concentrated drinks …show more content…
Thirty years ago, almost of the people in The United states chose healthy choices over junk food and were much more active. Unlike the national problem, there is actually more hope to solve this problem on a smaller scale like Liberty High School. The main problem at this school is the unhealthy options that are so easily accessible. In order to make a dent in the obesity issue, the school must reduce the accessibility of sugary beverages, place higher prices on unhealthy food options in the cafeteria, and educate the students on nutrition and how to make healthy choices. So lets take a stand and start the process of slimming down this