Holcomb 1

Ronnie Holcomb
Charley Bevill
ENGL 1301-03
07 March 2016
Report On the Relationship of Fast Food and Obesity
Obesity has been a serious problem in The United States for decades, and one of the
major contributing factors of such a high rate of obesity is the increased consumption of fast
food. Even though obesity rates have not been growing as fast as they have in the past, it is still a
significant issue that has to do with the general health of the country.
Someone that is obese is someone who has a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater.
BMI is not a perfect way to determine whether or not someone is un-healthily over weight, but it
is currently the metric the government of The United States uses to evaluate obesity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) some examples of
health effects associated with obesity are all causes of death (mortality), type 2 diabetes,
coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis (A breakdown of cartilage and
bone within a joint), generally low quality of life, some types of cancer, mental illness such as
clinical depression, body pain, and difficulty with physical functions.
On TheAtlantics website, there is an animated map that tracks the CDCs official data of
rates of obesity from 1985 to 2010. The map shows that the percent of the population that is
obese tripled from 1990 to 2010 in many southern states. Jumping from 10% to 30% in Texas.

Holcomb 2
Works Cited
The Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity
cdc.gov 05 June 2015
Hablin, James. Look How Quickly the U.S. Got Fat (1985-2010)
Theatlantic.com 11 April 2013