Food & Death: An American Conundrum

We’ve all seen the commercials showing the starving children in other countries.

The announcer asks us to send money so that families, particularly the children can eat regular meals.

In some countries, there are people who simply can not get enough to eat.

One of those countries is the United States of America.

There are people dying in this nation because they can not get enough to eat. And people who are dying because they get too much to eat.

In the past decade, the population of obese people in America has almost doubled. It’s the nation’s number one cause of preventable death and it’s now a health crisis.

Where are the commercials showing the overweight Americans who are dying?

There are commercials, but they are hardly showing obesity for the death sentence that it truly is.

You see, in America, while throngs of people are dying and becoming ill--most specifically from diabetes and hypertension--the outlook on being overweight is skewed, as some portray the condition as "sexy" and still some portray being overweight as "healthy." 

Ostensibly, the goal is to counter the taunting and name calling slung at overweight people, while creating ways for them to feel good about themselves. 

But some of the propaganda and pageantry promoting the "beauty" of the overweight lifestyle has gone too far, providing for many an escape from reality and an excuse for not addressing serious health issues.

Americans are growing larger and dying earlier and unnecessarily. And redefining our feelings about being fat and/or being overweight won't stop that. An understanding of what is at stake may help.
 

Discuss American Food Issues with Host Darryl James and Co-Hosts, Tracy Powell, Marcus Legall III, Dr. John Hamilton & DJ Gates.