As we have all heard many times before, obesity is a big problem in America. Not only can it lead to numerous amounts of diseases, but it also makes life harder. Childhood and adult obesity rates are both on the rise. StateOfObesity.org shows that in the year 2000, obesity rates in children under 19 were at 13.9 percent. In 2016, the Center for Disease Control said that the figure hit 18.5 percent and is still on the rise. It seems like everyone is talking about obesity but no one is trying to solve it.

The root cause of the problem is the sheer amount of processed goods that are being sold. Soda, Twinkies, chocolates, cookies, potato chips, all of these foods are causing childhood obesity. But, who is at fault? The companies making these addictive sweets are partly to blame but the parents of those children are also at fault. As for teenagers, they could also be blamed. Rather than getting some exercise, many teenagers nowadays would rather sit on their couch and watch tv or play video games. 

There are certain guidelines that we should all follow when it comes to food. Every day we should be eating a source of protein, fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy. For example, a dish that could supplement most of these requirements is pasta. Pasta with vegetables and a source of protein, such as chicken, knocks out the protein, grains, and vegetable portions. As for vegetarians, there are many options out there that could replace meat. Food such as tofu has huge amounts of protein in it. Then, all that’s left is a glass of milk for the dairy and some fruit.

According to politifact.com, 13 adults die every hour from obesity-related problems. That was back in 2011. Now, with the huge amounts of processed foods and distractions such as Netflix, that number has surely increased. In order to keep healthy, stay away from chocolate and sweet things that are known to be bad for the health, and stick to eating nutritious foods.