Cheap food: major cause to increase obesity

We have heard Americans are addict of eating fast-food such as couch potatoes, which is playing the vital role in expanding waist lines of the nation but majorly due to its availability on very low prices.

Lead study authors Roland Sturm and An Ruopeng recommend that Americans aren’t just eating more high-calorie food, they are eating more of a variety of foods, CNN reported.

“If you look at the data over time, you actually see a slight increase in exercise. And Americans have more access to fruits and vegetables,” said Roland Sturm who is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation.

“It’s not Southern hospitality that is driving this trend, nor is it income or education. Really nothing protects us from this challenge of obesity.”

This isn’t the only problem for people who want to wear bikinis to the beach. Excess body fat can raise a person’s risk for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke and chronic illnesses.

This latest study pointed out few positives; saying that Americans are exercising more: Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show an uptick in the number of people who say they get 30 minutes of moderate exercise five or more days a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous activity on three or more days (about 51% in 2009, compared to 46% in 2001).

The availability of fresh produce has also increased over the last 40 years, with a 27% increase in fresh fruit and a 21% increase in fresh vegetables per capita from 1970 to 2010. But the number of people who actually eat fruits and vegetables has stayed flat.

Smoking, for instance, used to be common indoors, but policy and social attitude has made that less socially acceptable.

“When people come over to visit, you offer them a coke or freshly baked cookies,” Sturm said. “That is the social norm. But maybe in the future we will look at that behavior like we do about public smoking.”