Our culture encourages overeating but ridicules the overweight

To The Daily Sun,

I live in Gilford and throughout every level in all the schools I have attended, fellow students have been ridiculed or complemented based solely on the shape of their body. The American culture places an emphasis on physical appearance to support the idea that “thin” is “beautiful.” However, this creates a disconnect between the emphasis put on junk food and the image of an ideal body. In a society where finding natural foods is becoming more difficult everyday, consumer products encourage people of all ages to eat foods that can lead to obesity. Obesity, in turn, often leads them to become social outcasts based on their size. In an effort to combat this pattern that has emerged, I have undertaken the project to discover how America’s food culture influences the intake of food and possible development of binge eating and obesity.

The nutrition facts stand as an indicator on the food culture of our society. Studies have shown that problematic eating attitudes among children especially have often led obesity and high systolic blood pressure to develop in adolescence. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight and childhood obesity has tripled. Our food industry may blame inactivity as a major cause of this spike, but over the past few decades levels of activity in America have increased. A better explanation of this nationwide epidemic is the increase of calories per person consumed. Children in America eat about 350 extra calories each day while adults eat roughly 500 extra calories per day. If the food industries claims are true that we must simply be more active to cure obesity, the average person would have to walk two hours, seven days a week just to burn off these extra calories.

The culture we live in encourages overeating but ridicules anyone who is overweight. I encourage people to not only eat healthier, but also be accepting of all body types. No one should feel guilty based on the shape of their body because body types are all different and should not be viewed as either good, bad, right, or wrong. I would encourage all readers to eat a balanced diet that includes aspects from each food group whenever they are able, and let the junk food be a treat not a pillar in a diet. Instead of placing the blame of this nationwide problem on the consumers or the food companies, our energy would be better used in helping to find a healthy solution.

Claudia Cantin

Gilford