Health conditions related to obesity are becoming a national epidemic to a concerning extent. It seems that there is some form of article warning you of the dangers of certain foods and overeating whenever the television is turned on, but these scary stories seem to not leave as big of an impression as it should. Somewhat recently, there was a presentation based off of the effects of processed foods and was given an inside view of the industry. Depicted were horrors that would scare anyone from even being able to bear the sight of certain foods again, but just days later I found myself indulging in some of those very same foods previously mentioned. From this, I was at a crossroads of whether or not it was the temptation of the food that I could not resist or was the message just not compelling enough to make an impact. Perhaps these are the same reasons why millions of Americans decide to ignore the news, drop their diets and continue to feel disgusting over the food that they willingly consume. Through this study, I am attempting to help understand any possible sociological links between the glutton of processed food and the rise of obesity in America. Through surveying, coupled with literature review, I am trying to connect factors such as race, economic status, education level and gender to the significant increase in obesity, and to possibly help educate those in which I studied from.
Today’s pop culture feeds off of this issue and even arguably derives from the issue of weight, as well as problems such as this one. Numerous giants in media, including main characters in movies and shows, have been made to glorify the trend of obesity in America and has therefore led to the normalization of it. Any sort of critique on this lifestyle has led to the defense of “fat-shaming” which further contributes to the acceptance of obesity in our society. For every media-related effort to make Americans more health-conscious. there are jus...