Fat America

Americans are fat, and that's a fact. More than half of adult Americans are overweight, and about 54 million of them are obese, says a recent study. Is it the genes? The inactive American lifestyle? The hamburgers and soda?

by Laura Warrell (US English spelling)

Let's Be Politically Correct

Obesity is a big prob­lem in the US. It ran cause premature death, heart disease and diabetes. Hundreds of thousands of Americans die every year because of dis­eases related to obesity. Medical experts make a distinction be­tween being over­weight and obese Overweight people, they say, have a body weight that's too big in proportion to their height. Obese people have an excessive amount of body fat in relation to their body mass.

“Fat” people in general prefer to be called “persons of size”, which is the politically correct term. These days, no one uses the term “fat”, except adolescent boys on the playground who throw dirt at fat girls.

Haagen Dazs Ice Cream

Doctors are seriously worried about obesity. After all, they see what happens to obese people.

Medical officials want obesity to be considered a public health crisis. If it isn't, they say, the country will have a variety of problems, includ­ing a decrease in labor productivity, high medical insurance costs and a nationwide shortage of Haagen Dazs chocolate chip ice cream.

The medical profession launched several marketing campaigns to show Americans how to oat healthier. In one advert, they explained that ketchup is not actually a vegetable.

Doctors spend a lot of time determining patients' body fat. They do this by measuring a patient's waist and counting their folds of skin. “Every morning, I wake up eager to get to the office and measure folds of skin,” says Dr. Lionel Dunn of Buffalo, New York. “I ask myself, “how many will there be? Five, six, seven?” Once, I found ten folds on an Idaho woman. That's the kind of day that makes me glad to be a medical professional”.

Virgins & Cheese Products

So why are Americans so fat ? Some say it's because they spend too much time on the sofa watching television and playing video games. When given the choice between exercising and lying on the couch throwing potato chips in their mouths, most Americans choose the latter.

Health groups think that junk food is the main culprit. Processed foods and snacks, which are high in preservatives, chemicals and unhealthy fats, form the basis of the American diet. In other coun­tries people eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. But in the US this is rare. Take American cheese as an example. The most popular kind is a glowing orange tube full of chemicals and strange fats. Americans put this “cheese food” on everything including hamburgers, piz­zas and ice cream.

In 2004, Americans spent $110 billion in restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy's. In fact, studies show that McDonalds' logo, the yellow M-shaped French fry known as the “golden arches”, is more recognizable to American children than the Christian cross. Some children have even been seen wearing the arches on a gold chain around their necks.

Fat People Unite

In the US, no oppressed or minority group exists without an organiza­tion to support it. For obese people it's the “American Obesity Asso­ciation”. This group aims to change public perceptions about obesity. The American Obesity Association wants people to realize that fat­ness is a disease, not a lifestyle choice.

“Fatness is all about genetics”, says Mara Shell. “We were just born that way. Many people think we choose to stuff ten bags of chocolate cookies into our mouth and wash it down with a liter of Coca Cola. But this isn't true. By the way, are you gonna eat that choco­late cookie?”

Obesity organizations have lobbied congress about obesity issues. They want to focus on the following areas:

1. Education

2. Research

3. Prevention

4. Treatment

5. Eating cheesecake

Fat People Fight Back

Years ago, there were lawsuits against the tobacco industry. These days, fat Americans are suing the companies they think are respon­sible for obesity. They argue that McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Kentucky Fried Chicken misled them by enticing them with greasy, salty and sugary food and not admitting, how unhealthy if was.

“The fast-food industry has wrecked my life”, said Caesar Barbar, 125 kilos, one of the plaintiffs. Mr. Barbar said he regularly ate fast food until 1996 when his doctor said if he continued, he would ex­plode. He had had two heart attacks and suffered diabetes by the time the lawsuit came to court.

“Of course I thought it was good for me”, said Jennifer Mackei, 150 kilos, another plaintiff. “Besides, why would McDonalds lie?”

Crying Infants

In June 2002, Southwest Airlines, a major American airline, caused a national scandal. They announced that they would start forcing fat people to buy two seats on airplanes. Obesity advocates protested.

There were publicity campaigns and the protesters lobbied congress to change the rule. Overweight Americans admitted that a “passenger of size” can inconvenience other people, but argued that people using cell phones, trying infants, old people and people with disabili­ties can also cause inconvenience to other passengers.

In a press release, the American Obesity Association said, “the airline industry and its passengers have a history of accommodating the elderly, parents with strollers and persons with wheelchairs. So why not accommodate fat people?”

“It's very easy”, said an anonymous airline employee. “Old ladies don't take up two seats”.

Both cases are still in court.

And The Winner Is...

So what does the future look like for overweight people? Many people are fighting hard to eliminate obesity discrimination. And these days obesity is being seen as a disease, and fat people as the victims. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen. Either way, “persons of size” have nearly succeeded in making Americans see them as ordinary people… who are just a bit larger.