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Technology: Friend Or Foe

Technology, Friend or Foe?
What is the one aspect of a human's life that can either help to keep him alive or be the ultimate killer? The answer is technology. With the advances in modern technology, which promote excess food consumption and ever more sedentary lifestyles of the average human, our society has gone from America the big and powerful, to America the big and fat. It was only a couple of decades ago when the American man weighed an average of 168 pounds. Now he weighs nearly 180 pounds. The same is true for the American woman. The average has risen from 143 pounds to over 155 pounds. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). In 1970 the percent of people that were classified as medically obese or overweight was 14 percent. Now those numbers are over two times that rate (National Health Survey).
The United States has been growing larger throughout the past couple of decades, but the growth in its citizens' waist sizes and overall weight has been the most troubling issues. For a large part of the twentieth century, weights have been below the levels recommended for maximum longevity (Fogel 372). Now, most citizens of the United States are well over what has been set as the "safe" standard for weight. The even bigger problem is that weights and waist sizes are steadily increasing. The United States isn't the only country that has trouble controlling its appetites, but we are the only one that has grown to be heavy as we are now.
Are there any real explanations for this enormous growth in obesity? Why is the United States the only country that seems to have an out of control problem with obesity? Evidence has shown that the calories that we expend in our daily lives have not changed drastically since the 1980's, but the number of calories taken in has gone up considerably. This evidence brings about the next question: why such a large increase in the number of calories the average American consumes?
There have been a number of...