Although it has nothing to do with international boundaries or
population size, it is the people of America who are expanding at the
waistline. In the United States thirty three percent of the adult population are
obese. One is considered obese if one is more then twenty percent over ideal
The main cause of obesity in humans is the calorie. A calorie is a unit
used to measure the energy value of food and the energy used by the body to
maintain normal functions. When the calories from food intake equal the
calories of energy the body uses, weight remains constant. When more
calories are eaten than the body needs, the body stores the additional calories
as fat, which causes subsequent weight gain. Consuming about thirty five
hundred calories more than what the body needs results in a weight gain of
Bill Phillips, a leading authority in health and nutrition states, "The best
way to not be obese is a healthy diet and lifestyle. . Your diet will greatly
impact on the way you look, the way you approach things and the amount you
will be able to do physically" (Phillips 135).
A good balanced diet consists of the five major food groups. The five
major food groups are: Bread and Cereal, Fruit, Vegetables, Meat and Meat
Alternatives, and the Milk group. The Bread and Cereal groups are
recommended for six to seven servings per day. The Fruit group is
recommended for two or three servings per day. The Vegetable group is
recommended for four servings a day. Meat and Meat Alternatives are
recommended one serving per day. The Milk group for a young, or still
growing person is of much greater importance then when the person has
stopped growing due to the amount of calcium one needs when he or she is
growing. The reason for this is while the body is growing, your body needs
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