We have choices in life, for example to smoke or not to smoke, and these choices affect our health. However, eating is essential and choosing not to would create serious health risks (443 Koplan). We can choose what to eat and what not to eat. Today more than thirty percent of teenagers under the age of nineteen are overweight in addition to sixty percent aged twenty years and older (463 Crister). Currently, America is the number one nation with a weight problem. There are many causes of obesity today. People need to be educated as to what promotes obesity and then begin preventative measures including, but not limited to, exercising, dieting and practicing self-control when it comes to eating.
The key item in preventing obesity is exercising. Exercising helps in numerous ways: it keeps the body in shape and prevents related health problems caused by being overweight. In the fitness arena, the saying is - "short term pain, for long term gain". In other words, the more a person pushes themselves by biking, walking, jogging, swimming and doing other physical activities the less of a chance they have of developing illnesses. For example, diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and coronary artery and gallbladder diseases are common among those individuals considered to be overweight (441 Koplan).
Exercising has been a traditional past time for our Presidents. President Theodore Roosevelt enjoyed boxing and hunting and President Bill Clinton jogged daily (445 Koplan). These public figures serve as role models to the younger generation. It demonstrates that the country's finest are doing their part to keep fit and trying to show the importance of exercise. Currently teenagers watch more television and fail to burn off their energy, which in turn, causes the laws of thermodynamics to kick in. When your body has an excess of energy, it leads to storage in the form of fat (441 Koplan).