Tag Archives: diet

Does a “Happy Meal” Really Make Kids Happy?

Childhood obesity – the statistics don’t lie

 

Did you know that 1 out of every three kids are obese or overweight?  Are you aware that in the past 30 years the occurrence of childhood obesity has tripled?  Childhood obesity is a huge issue in America.  Childhood obesity is when your extra amount of body fat affects your health.  Obese children are more likely to have low self esteem and to be depressed.  Sadly, excess weight at a young age can lead to higher and earlier death rate in adulthood.  Therefore, it is extremely important to eat healthy and gets lots of exercise to avoid obesity.

Unfortunately, as I said before 1 in 3 children are obese.   It’s pretty obvious who we have to thank for this, McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Wendy’s, and any other fast food restaurants. They may sell food that tastes good, but is their food good for you?  The answer is no.  All of these restaurants pack lots of sugar and sodium in their food and are loaded with food additives.  Eating too much fast food can lead to a large amount of weight gain and even diabetes and heart disease.  Overall, obesity is a major issue in our country and you can avoid it by eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise.  So next time you’re thinking of buying a Big Mac think about what you’re putting in your body and how it can affect you.

~Chloe

Why Does America Hate Obese People?

We all make fun of fat people.  It’s the harsh and brutal truth.  Obesity is one of America’s largest problems in this day in age.  Major issue.  Some of us just can’t put down the chips and ice cream, and who can blame them?  That stuff is amazing.  Humans love sugar and sweets and everything that is possibly not good for us.  There’s nothing wrong with having some meat on your bones (that’s not to say that obesity isn’t a bad thing because it is and should be avoided when possible).  But now people are being prejudiced against fat people, which isn’t nice at all.  All of a sudden the overweight folks are deemed unimportant, and the thin and pretty ones are the best thing that ever happened to the world.  The obese are put at the bottom of the waiting lists, the end of the line, and constantly abused.  I’ve met some overweight people once or twice in my life, and they are some of the kindest and funniest people I’ve ever met.  Why doesn’t anyone give them a chance?

The answer to that is simple: they’re just not considered pretty.  Humans tend to judge others by appearance, and stereotypes have a major impact.  I’ve heard that fat people are lazy, stupid, or nonathletic.  But what if that same fat person could sing like an angel in heaven?  What if he/she was an ambitious lawyer or successful business owner?  What if they were a professor, or a well-respected educator?  There’s more to life than sports.  And if you’re looking for beauty, look at the face, not the waistline.  Not only that, making fun of the obese promotes eating disorders.  I know from experience that being called fat hurts, and hurts bad.  In order to end it, some turn to anorexia (starving yourself) and others turn to bulimia (making yourself throw up).  People die, mind you.  Starving yourself or puking out your intestines aren’t exactly healthy ways to lose weight.  Salads and exercise just aren’t the most exhilarating things in the world, either.  Commercials make it look so easy to shed the pounds, and it’s absolutely not.  So maybe some people think that exiling the fat people will force them into healthy living.  Obviously that’s not the case, it just has the opposite effect.  What’s plan B?  Maybe we should be a bit nicer to the chubby and overweight people.  As far as I can tell, this prejudice isn’t stopping anytime soon.  We shouldn’t be proud of this unnecessary hatred, and if you are, shame on you!  It’s outrageous!  What have fat people ever done to you?  They’re not hurting anyone!  Stop harassing them and just leave them alone, for goodness’ sakes! What if you were obese?  YOU wouldn’t like it at all.  The abuse is endless and entirely unfair.  And nobody cares.  At least, that’s how it seems.  Isn’t anybody doing anything?  It’s just as bad as racial profiling!  Everyone seems to be ignoring it, or are too ashamed to face it.  We just let it happen, and what are we still not doing?  Stopping it.

~Julia Torok