Speech Final

Obesity: Our Nation’s Biggest Threat

                In 2004 Morgan Spurlock released a documentary called “Supersize Me” in which he only ate at the popular fast food chain, McDonalds, for a thirty day period. Spurlock tracked the progressive deterioration of his body through this time, and the results were appalling. This is exactly what is happening to Americans who spend to much time consuming the unhealthy food that they serve at places like McDonalds. And, because of that, an obesity epidemic is sweeping through our Nation. To stop this harmful trend, people need to stop eating a fast-food restaurants and help change the culinary culture of the United States back to what is was before McDonalds.

                After Spurlock’s thirty day diet of strictly Mcdonalds, he gained almost 25 pounds, not to mention the plethora of internal health problems that the fat covered up. Obviously, it is terribly unhealthy to eat at a fast-food restaurant, but people still do it anyways. About a fourth of American adults eat fast food every single day, even though over 800 people die each day from obesity related problems. See, what McDonalds has done to us is change our culture when it comes to food. It used to be a family would sit down at dinner each night for a meal at the dinner table. But now, people are spending much of their time eating fast food on the road because it is quicker and easier, and if you do not think past the convenience of it, you might think it was better. And, because of this change in culture, people are eating themselves to death every day, America has picked its poison, and if something doesn’t change, it will destroy us.

                At the moment, about two thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. This massive amount of people was much slimmer before Fast-food took over the culture of American dining. In fact, since 1950, obesity rates have risen 214 percent, coincidentally the first McDonalds opened its doors in 1948. It is clear that fast food is harmful to our Nation’s health, and the problem is only getting worse, so the question is how to stop it. And the answer is to find the American dining culture that we have lost beneath the grease and fat from fast food. What I mean by this is people need to cut way back on the amount of fast food that they consume.  They don’t need to cut it out completely, although that would be ideal, but for most people, fast food has become their culture, almost a habit to them. However, people should be eating at home with the family, and people will say they don’t have time, but families did it happily for years before fast food came along to change everything we know about eating, especially back in the 1950’s, when obesity rates were 214% lower than what they are now. These family meals will be much healthier than the greasy fatty nightmare that is crafted behind the scenes in the McDonalds kitchen. So, if people were to limit their fast food to maybe once a week instead of five times a week and then twice a month instead of once a week, and so on, that massive amount of people who are overweight will become slimmer again.

                As you’ve seen, America’s biggest threat is obesity, and obesities biggest helper is fast food. People have adopted fast food into the culinary culture of the country, and because if it obesity is killing us. People need to cut back on the fast food if they wish to halt the progress of obesity, because the only way to fight obesity is to cut fast food out of the diet, and the culture.