Humpty Dumpty Needs More than Plastic Surgery


Everything’s bigger in America. We’ve got larger cars, higher standard of living, and the education of the world on our shoulders. However, more recently people are becoming horizontally accomplished in our body mass. Ironically “there are actually more obese people in developing countries than there are hungry people in developing countries," which shows that being totally Rolly-Polly isn’t as innocent as it used to be. The Journal of American Medicine’s statistics say that over 100,000 deaths each year, as well as numerous medical conditions, are directly linked with obesity, indicating a severe national crisis. The trite axiom “just eat less” does not do complete justice to understanding the root of the obesity question as it ignores the multitude of reasons to why people are overweight. Mass economic distribution of questionable foods, biological factors, counterintuitive child role models, and even government intervention can play a key role in determining how big your very own hula hoop extends.


The multimillion dollar food industry thrives on the lifeblood of their customer’s expense like a parasitic leech. Trans fat, a chemical primarily used by big business as a flavor augmenter and preservative, is considered by most dieticians as a primary substance that leads to the following conditions: hypertension, stroke, clogged arteries, and several other health conditions. If you can get past the health conditions, then the taste is actually quite scrumptious. McDonald’s large French fries serve an abominable eight grams of Trans fat which is almost four times the amount of a Big Mac, and yet people would most likely shun eating the burger but have no qualms about guzzling fries down! This also explains the phenomenon how impoverished people also suffer from obesity, not necessarily from how much they eat, rather, from what they eat. Most restaurants offer soft drinks with bottomless cups which only perpetuate thirst and lead to aggravated sugar intake, which furthers obesity. The artificial soft drink sweetener known as aspartame has been suggested to promote “brains tumors, brain legions, and lymphoma.” It’s a vicious cycle of the poor not having the financial resources to purchase healthy food, and as a result have to settle for low cost meals with miserable nutrition.


Genes, not jeans, can make you look fat. Scientists have determined around 250 genes that are contributing factors in most mammals ,which also include the human race, (source) verifying that lifestyle is not the only variable to blame for obesity. Family history dictates a significant portion of ones physical makeup which can account for high cholesterol, lack of metabolism, or heart disease. Not wanting to be the harbinger of doom, but the aforementioned characteristics give victims very little means of countering obesity when it is already innate. Recent studies also indicates that there could easily be “fat viruses” so to speak that can actually invade the body with a hostile takeover to increase weight. More research is still pending on the subject but such an obesity virus is not a myth for other animals such as the very chicken that we eat are subject to. In such case society’s perception of obese people would radically change to humanize them as victims, rather than give the current negative impression that their suffering is completely wrought with their own hands.


America has been plagued with iconic figures that are deeply rooted in society such as the Pillsbury Doughboy, Cookie Monster, and the deadly duo Hansel and Gretel. Psychologists have recommended that television viewing should be limited due to the egregious nature of commercials advertising unhealthy products. Children are “lambs to the slaughter” that are oblivious to the sinister intentions of big business who target their feeble minds for name recognition, thereupon they place their favorite character on the most mass produced good to gain profits. All of the aforementioned characters carry the subliminal message, “Look at me, I am morbidly obese and it’s perfectly fine as there are no consequences, I can go on candy binges like Snap-Crackle-Pop (and yes that’s the sound of insulin shock after an overdose).” Hansel and Gretel go on sweet tooth sprees as they flagrantly break and enter a poor innocent widow’s house while she is away on her errands. Perhaps this can explain petty child candy thefts as kids move in the fast lane as they surreptitiously snatch the sweet succulent fatty-ness in stores. Hamburglar anyone? He is clearly advocating children to steal that cancer on a bun, regardless of serving juvenile hall. Thankfully even the most ardent of enemies can shed a new leaf, (or at least ameliorate their gluttonous ways) the Cookie Monster, has now come to the acknowledgement (or crumbled under pressure) that “cookies are a sometimes food” under the lovely tutelage of Sesame Street’s vice president Dr. Rosemarie T. Truglio. I’m not advocating a “Caesar Salad Monster” nor some sort “Celery Bear” but having responsible parents and role models to imbue good eating habits is also a good method of preventing inordinate weight gain. And no, Dave Thomas (aka Mr Wendy) , sometimes it’s not best to “Do What Tastes Right” because you are not a certified dietician.


Government plays a teeter-totter role in the so called “war on obesity” by posing as both ally and foe. The federal government actually finds it more profitable for the average American to be a tabby cat at home as farmer subsidies overwhelmingly favor grain and wheat products, “rather than the healthier alternatives of fruits and vegetables.” Lack of strong government support means that fruits and vegetables will always be pricier than grains and skimped on by people who have a limited shopping budget. A healthier lifestyle has an artificial glass ceiling that inherently limits people from trying to attain it. Ultimately, people are usually only concerned with a national issue when it directly affects their pocketbook, so it is unlikely that proponents of the agricultural industry are willing to forgo fiscal losses so little “Billy” (name withheld for privacy) can walk a block without passing out. New York has tried to make some amends by outlawing all Trans fat used in consumption and have attempted to diminish unhealthy food with the “fat tax.” Unfortunately in this regard, the government’s efforts to counter the obesity quagmire were undermined since impoverished people are “disproportionately affected by sales tax…so the law was eventually repealed.” It appears that federal mandates are not enough to solve the growing problem of obesity as politicians are bolstered by too many conflicting interest groups to legislate meaningful change.


Critics have attacked the government administrations as removing the freedom of choice for their healthy lifestyle and argue that dietary decisions are completely personal choices which should not be regulated by the powers that be. Some people are concerned that if a private issue such as eating has guidelines then other freedoms will be further susceptible to be encroached upon and scrutinized against, though this type of concern may be a slippery slope. As the old adage goes, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it,” meaning that encouragements and restrictions on the food industry can only go so far without an individual’s own willpower to prevent obesity. Sedentary lifestyles of passive exercises often lull oneself into a false sense of security that everything is peachy keen when serious health issues could arise. That being said simply working out occasionally does not guarantee the fountain of youth and prosperity. Some means of obesity are incredibly difficult to alter for some people such as government impositions, genetic makeup, and lack of health food for impoverished people. However, with some personal regulation of obtaining a total health lifestyle and discipline can help foster a healthy mind and body.