Standard American Diet = SAD

Look what the Standard American Diet spells when you put it all together. It spells SAD and how appropriate that title is when you think about it. In a span of over thirty years (in my lifetime) the rate of obesity has skyrocketed exponetially. Also, the rate of people getting adult-onset diabetes (type 2), stroke, hypertension, cancer and other obesity related diseases has increased dramatically.The statistics tell the whole story. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), obesity in adults has increased by 60% in the last twenty years and obesity in children has tripled in the psat thirty years. A staggering 33% of American adults are obese and obesity-related deaths have climbed to more than 300,000 a year, second only to tobacco-related deaths. Why are so many Americans so fat. This is the problem of overabundance and convenience.

Ancient man was a skinny man because back then he had to hunt for survival. He was a nomadic hunter/gatherer that was on the move. As man came together to form communities it was necessary to consolidate resources. This also meant the development of an agarian society. With greater efficiencies came more and more abundance of food. As we moved from agricultural society into the industrial age Americans underwent a food revolution. For the first time in history, humans were able to make more than they could consume but with that came another problem, How are we going to store all that food? Mason Jars kept filling up as canning came about but we were still needed to store more and more food. Eventually, preservatives were developed to increase the shelf life of foods. In ushered the refined foods and the modern day problem of obesity started.

After World War II the modern American housewife was searching for an easy and convenient way to feed her family efficiently and affordably. The answer came in the form of the now famous T.V. dinners Coupled with this was the building of America's national highway system. This meant that American's were on the move. Diner's dotted along the highways provided travellers with a quick and affordable meal on the go. The emphasis was on convenience. Eventually, these diners gave way to the modern fast-food chain, McDonald's being one of the first. As the economy of the 50's and 60's kept humming so did the stagnant American lifestyle. American's were increasingly relying on fast-food as the main staples of their diet. This, in addition to processed foods, refined sugars and inactive lifestyle has lead to the modern obesity epidemic.