A Habit Bigger Than a Big Mac

We are all educated to associate obesity with the consumption of fast food from restaurants such as McDonald’s or Burger King, however, obesity is much more than that. Obesity related illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, are all leading causes of death in the United States. An estimated 300,000 die every year as a result of obesity. Many of these deaths occur in the United States which has the highest obesity percentage of its population in the world. This is not something we should be proud of and is something that needs to be immediately addressed.

We all know someone in our life who is obese, and we cannot help but to blame them for this, perceiving obesity as a matter of choice and self-control, however, obesity is truly a disease. We must eliminate the notion that mere education will prevent obesity from occurring because it can be considered a choice, but more often is not. By 2050, it is estimated that all of the United States will be obese. We, as a nation, cannot just watch as this slowly becomes a reality. We need to take other means of preventing this from occurring.

People who are already obese should be convinced to lead a healthier lifestyle, however, it is not practical to “hold their hand” and help every single obese inhabitant of the United States. What we need to do is start with children who are becoming obese or are slightly obese. We must expect already obese children to take it upon themselves to fight against obesity while we work to prevent the future from following into the same footprints.

First, we must target American children who are becoming obese or who are susceptible to obesity. By doing this, we can ensure that the future of the United States will not become the reality that is estimated of the country in 2050. When we target these children, in order to be effective, we cannot just teach them how to live a healthy lifestyle and expect them to do it. Obesity is a disease, therefore, doctors must be called to help these children and prevent them from becoming obese.

Next, for both the children referenced earlier and American children in general, we must train them to live healthy lifestyles. It takes just 9 weeks for the human brain to recognize a habit. By having parents of children implement a healthy lifestyle of regularly scheduled exercise and eating habits for just 9 weeks, the predicted reality of the United States in 2050 will have no chance of being true. This is because as children grow up with this habit, they will unconsciously teach it to their children, and maybe by 2050 we could expect a country with unbelievably low percentages of obesity.

In order for this plan to be successful, we only need doctors and 9 weeks of developing healthy lifestyles. In retrospect, these needs are nothing compared to the toll the United States pays due to obesity. However, we also need to trust that parents will implement a healthy lifestyle for their children in order for a habit to develop. We can expect that not every single child will develop this habit, therefore, we must rely on programs such as “Let’s Move” to implement healthy lifestyle habits. “Let’s Move” is a public-private partnership that sets national goals to end childhood obesity in a generation. In my school, this organization has enforced healthy eating in the cafeteria. It has prohibited sodas, candy bars, and other unhealthy foods from being sold during lunch hours, developing healthy eating habits at lunch among children.

What is important is not merely educating the American youth about healthy eating, hoping that they will take it upon themselves to be healthy; it is targeting the youth and implementing healthy lifestyles of exercise and eating and making this a habit. This can be carried out by parent teachings or organizations such as “Let’s Move.” Once this becomes a habit among the American youth, it will spread and hopefully end the epidemic of childhood obesity once and for all. This, in turn, will drastically reduce deaths in the United States, creating a healthier and better future America.