Recently there has been an ongoing battle between the US government and large soda companies. money is the sole purpose behind this battle. Soda companies want to sell their product by whatever means are necessary while the government wants to decrease the obesity rate in the country. Because the government intervined with this, the soda companies continued sales by advertising the sodas being good for you. Soda companies such as Pepsi released advertisements that used tactics to make Americans believe their product is healthy, good to buy and beneficial to the consumer. The modern-day epidemic of obesity in America is destroying lives and bankrupting the government. Reuters reports, “Obesity in America is now adding an astounding $190 billion to the annual national healthcare price tag” (Ungar 2012). This number is so high due to hospital costs and prescription drugs. The number even exceeds the medical costs due to smoking. Fortunately for the government, smokers die earlier and save the government money on things such as Social Security, private pensions and Medicare. (Ungar 2012) However, obese people tend to live almost as long as those who have a healthy weight and require more medical care throughout their lives, which costs the government substantial amounts of money. …show more content…
In the early 2000‘s the Federal government, along with local governments, teamed up with schools to raise the quality of the food provided in schools and educate their students on nutritional knowledge and benefits of a healthier lifestyle. States began to ban soda sales in elementary schools and limit the sales in high
Obesity is defined as a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduce life expectancy and/or increased health problems. “The problem of obesity is increasing in the United States. Understanding the impact of social inequalities on health has become a public health priority in the new millennium. Social, political, and economic factors now are acknowledged to be "fundamental" causes of disease that affect behavior, beliefs, and biology.” (Goodman, 2003) In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous problem. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. Obesity has not always been seen as a medical
Obesity is an expensive and extremely common public health issue that affects more than one-third of the United States population including 17 percent
About 40 to 50% of adults in America are at risk for diseases such as stroke, kidney failure, heart attack, heart failure and obesity. Most of these diseases are brought on by hypertension which is brought on by unhealthy eating choices, poor diet and little to no exercise which has devastating effects on the body. Approximately 7 out of 10 Americans is prescribed or takes a prescription pill daily, half of those are diet related illnesses such a diabetes and one third of those individuals is obese. Two trillion medical-care costs are because of chronic diseases most of which are lifestyle habits/choices. Obesity in America costs about taxpayers about $123 billion via Medicare and Medicaid. Now that obesity has risen at an alarming rate, in some cases obesity is considered a disability for those that are physically or mentally impaired by it. Debatably a preventable disease with proper education on food, diet and exercise
Obese- is becoming an “epidemic!” We have 44.3 million people that are either obese or over weight. In 1986, the numbers were at 1 in 2000, and they became 1 in 400 by the year 2000. Even our high school age students are at an all time high of 16% overweight and 10% obese. As that number keeps increasing, future projections for covering healthcare expenditures must figure in the obese-related
An Obesity epidemic is disturbing the financial and social stability of the United States. As stated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “our modern environment has allowed these conditions to increase at alarming rates and become highly pressing health problems for our nation“(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Efforts made by authority figures have been enforced to solve this severe crisis. Obesity has become a concerning problem in the United States. This epidemic is interfering with the success of American citizens and it is also impacting the American economy negatively. The obesity epidemic endures negative impacts to the United States’ economy; even though others argue it is contributing to the economy through the growing weight loss industry.
In 2010 alone sugary- drink consumption killed almost 200,000 people. Despite it being so detrimental to health, Soda is the most popular beverage in the US and makes up almost thirty percent of all beverages consumed annually. The average person drinks over six thousand ounces of soda each year Soda consumption has been directly linked to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and obesity. It is time for us to take action and place a “junk food” tax on soft drinks to discourage people from purchasing them. . Some people believe that a soda ban would limit personal freedom, which they believe is essential in a democracy, and past proposals was rejected because of this. However, soda is taking many lives, and it is time for us to take action; we need to make our world a happier, healthier place.
Obesity in the United States has really become an economic problem as well. People are spending the little money that they have and spending it on food that they shouldn’t be eating in the first place, which they should be spending their money on healthier and nutritious food, for themselves and their family. New England Medical Center, Michael Dansinger of the Tufts says:
Drinking sugary drinks is like a seed and grows overtime in your body until the tree tries to burst from your body. Mayor Bloomberg of New York tried to enforce the soda ban to lower obesity rates but there were many loopholes in his plan. The citizens of New York are able to pick whatever unhealthy food or “sugary drinks,” they want, regardless of the ban. The citizens can refill their drinks or order more than one. Additionally, bigger drinks with a certain amount of sugar or milk are exempt from the ban. With these loopholes, citizens will still be drinking unhealthy drinks; the ban is unnecessary. Many people
Soda banning is one of the uttermost debatable and controversial topics in the country. One of the questions that people are asking is should soda be banned? The soda ban is the best way to go to eradicate obesity in the country. It will lower the risks for diabetes, cancer, and death. If we banned it, we will save people from the ramifications of their health. More importantly, the economy could increase and create numerous jobs for out of work people. However, if the ban does happen diet soda won’t be a part of the ban even though it consists of a dangerous chemical, aspartame. Furthermore, if we banned it, we might be taking away a citizen's right to drink whatever they crave whenever they please. That being the case, the biggest
Consumers pay for ingredients and the nutrients inside them. Therefore, an apple, which helps you stay full longer, and contains vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibers, would costs more, because it contains more. Even though this pricing is logical, only banning soda is not going to make a difference, because people will just replace the sugary content with something more unhealthy. Honestly, if obesity is such an important issue, and is risking the lives of many, causing people to be unhealthy, the government should be finding new ways to lessen the price of healthy foods and products in order to increase a healthy lifestyle. Instead of supporting the idea of lessening the amount of soda able to be consumed, more pressing matters should be focused upon. Such as, lowering the cost of healthy foods and services. People will be more willing change to a healthier lifestyle, if this lifestyle is an obtainable goal. Unemployment is high, and people barely make enough to provide a roof over their heads. It makes sense that individuals would purchase products that are less in price, which happens to be products that are unhealthy for
Now, some people argue that obesity is a growing problem that needs to be solved through force and restriction. And it’s true that obesity is a problem. More than a third of Americans are obese (CDC). Soda greatly increases a person’s risk of type 2
The trend of health care costs is still primarily based on treatment and less on prevention. Adult obesity is a significant cause of preventable chronic diseases and one cause of increased health care costs in the United States. The cost of obesity impacts each state and community. Adult obesity can be associated with chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, and some cancers, just to name a few, and account for more than 75 percent of U.S. health care cost. Currently, costs range from $147 billion to nearly $210 billion per year. If this trend continues, obesity-related medical costs alone could reach 66 billion a year by 2030.
After reviewing the problem it is clear that our organization cannot sit back idly and hope for the best. Soda companies have continued to struggle with the political interference in the market. In the past few years, nations all over the world have passed taxes on soda beverages. France passed a tax on soda and sales dropped by 3%. In Mexico, sales dropped by 2% after a similar tax was passed. And though the drops in sales are alarming, it is not event the biggest threat. Ultimately, the goal of the politicians is to drastically decrease the consumption of soda drinks. Their attempt to pass these taxes is a power play to make soda beverages viewed as similar to cigarette companies. It is imperative that we do everything in our power to stop these taxes from occurring.
Do you know what’s the number one cause of death in America? Well the number one cause of death is heart related diseases. Many of these heart related diseases are caused by obesity. Obesity is “the condition of being grossly fat or overweight.” It is not just being thick boned, or even hereditary. Obesity has become a growing epidemic around the world! A very colossal problem here in the untied states of America; What is sad is that it is a disease one has caused due to their own choice of life style.
Obesity has become a serious problem with more than one third of adults being obese in the United States. Obesity is seen as a self-destructive behavior accompanied with smoking and use of other drugs thus, government officials and other business bureaucrats expressed the need to impose higher health insurance premiums on the obese. Obesity is not always due to the personal behavior of people and can be linked with the environment and genetics; I personally feel that obese people should not pay a higher health insurance premium compared to those that aren’t. Government officials and other business bureaucrats