In recent years, with the heightened amount of media focus on ultra-thin models and super-skinny celebrities, the public has become increasingly more critical of this focus and has brought to light the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. While on the surface this seems like a good thing to focus on and attempt to change, the attack on the underweight of society has allowed for an equally, or possibly even more harmful disorder to erupt and flow over our society’s surface; obesity.

According to USA Today, only about 2% of the population is underweight as compared to the two-thirds of the population who are either overweight or obese. In other words, there is over 33 times as many overweight/ obese peoples in the world than there are underweight- then why does all the focus and criticism go on the underweight? Americans are so caught up in the idea of rebelling against the media’s image of the perfect body that they refuse to see the larger problem at hand. Americans, as a nation, are fat. Mothers don’t want their children to have to try and live up to the impossible standards of the American model, so they let them sit on the couch and watch cartoons while shoveling down another twinkie- being fat is not okay! Parents, while your children may be beautiful just the way they are, if they are overweight, not only will they have to deal with heightened self-esteem issues as they grow older, but their health is increasingly at risk.

It is imperative that Americans come together as a nation and stop using the media as a scapegoat for being lazy and out of shape. Eating disorders and being underweight are definite problems in society, but not near as much as obesity. Parents especially need to begin at an early age getting their kids up off the couch and eating healthily so as to prevent this problem from spreading to future generations. Overall, America needs to stop denying the problem of obesity, get up, exercise, and become a healthy nation together.