People Diet example essay topic

Greg Soares English 1101 November 9th 2002 Americans are obsessed with dieting. Females seen particularly obsessed; however, males are not completely forgotten in today's dieting age. Many people diet, and everyone wants small, thin figures. Whys is this so sought after? Society does not accept overweight people, but it has not always been that way.

Females have not always been wrapped up in the way they look, although the female body has always been in the spotlight. What is wanted in the spotlight has changed over time. It has been changed to meet society's wants. In the early 1800's, girls judged their worth by their interactions with others and God. Dieting used to be used less, but females would wear garments called corsets to shape their bodies to a desired figure.

Dieting became a fad in the early 1900's when women were sought after that were thin and petite. Instead of eating correctly., women would just starve themselves to attain the thin look. Since then diets have grown much more drastic. "if an American women dislikes her thighs, she is unlikely to like herself". Sayings like this are usually true amongst the American population.

People spend millions of dollars to try to look thin, with many never achieving what they truly want. Many diet fads have come and gone since the early 1900's, but the only one to stay and work is healthy eating and exercise. Males, I feel, have been under much less stress by society. A large figure was sought after by men in the 1800's because to grow somewhat fat was a luxury. Times have changed though. Males have taken some of the heat because society has decided the large fat figures are no longer acceptable.

Men now suffer, along with women, chasing the same fad diets and going to the same extremes. Even children fall into this separate category. Children have their own category because parents often choose food and snacks for them. Children become overweight for a variety of reasons.

The most common causes are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of these factors. Children who parents are overweight may be at an increased risk of becoming overweight themselves. Although weight problems run in families, not all children with a family history of obesity will be overweight. The increasing popularity of television and computer video games contributes to children's inactive lifestyle.

The average American child spends approximately twenty-four hours each week watching television, time that could be spent in some sort of physical activity. Large people are often gawked at and made fun of due to their weight. This encourages the dieting fad. No one likes to be the odd one out, and no one likes to be made fun of. The youngsters are taking a lot of name calling from fellow classmates and peers. These name-callings can be very hurtful but it also pushes our society to be healthier through diet and exercise.

At the same time it encourages people to resort to fasting, and other non-nutritious ways of living. The diet will continue to exist in American society until society decides to change what figure is acceptable.