There is even a special term for “junk food”. It covers not only fast food but all other high-calorie foods with high sugar or fat content and a minimum number of vitamins and minerals. As the author of The New York Times wrote: “The history of junk food is mostly American history. Such food has accompanied us for hundreds of years in all corners of the world but no one has made such a greater contribution to the invention of such products, their production, promotion, enrichment of individuals, and, of course, eating them.”
Some European countries like Denmark and the UK have restrictions on advertising such products but not in the USA. And it’s not for nothing, because excessive consumption of all these sweet flakes and bars has very serious health consequences. It is an indisputable fact that obesity increases the risk of diseases of the cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system, arthritis, and diabetes. Obesity exacerbates the consequences of all types of cancer and increases the risk of death.
“Mountain Dew Mouth– is how dentists have nicknamed those who heavily abuse it and similar carbonated drinks (“P-C” and “C-C”). And their other assortment is not much more useful, causing diabetes in addition to obesity.
The famous stand-up comedian and presenter Joe Rogan in his very popular podcast spoke even more sharply about the Cosmopolitan cover and the “body positivity”: “You [Cosmopolitan editorial board] want to blame people who are busy with themselves – that’s what you do. You want to make them feel bad because you feel bad yourself: you can’t put cookies and pancakes away. That’s what drives your disgusting standards. Can you imagine that on the cover of Men’s Health, there was an overly fat man with a beer belly hanging over his belt and people would say “The new standards of attractiveness for men have been changed by Mike, who just drinks beer and eats cakes”? It will never work with men, but it already works with women. Being fat like the woman on the Cosmopolitan cover is not good, guys. She is morbidly obese. She’s dying from it, she’s addicted and it’s terrible. And you promote it in such a way that it’s normal: “we will show new standards of beauty. Go ahead giant gelatin bags of meat”.
The Guardian writes: “A growing number of low-income Americans are hooked on high-sugar foods and especially drinks with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).”
“People work and work, and to work out the accumulated energy, they buy a ticket to a fitness club but they can’t find time to walk. We need to change the whole system and lifestyle. We consume a lot of very poor-quality food and waste little energy,” a nutritionist, both British and especially American, will say.
What is the conclusion from all this? The problem of obesity needs to be solved, and richer Americans show a reliable way by their example. It is only necessary to provide everyone else with affordable and high-quality food, medicine, a standardized working day, and, accordingly, leisure for sports and physical education.
No one but you will solve the problem of your obesity, the choice is always yours if you eat healthy food or the one that kills you.
