Because the government has chosen not to closely regulate the diets of citizens of the United States of America, people are making poor decisions about their diets , leaving sixty-seven percent of Americans overweight or overweight. obese [2005-2006}. (Is obesity a disease?) But what if it's not really the fault of obese people for being overweight, but rather the fault of food companies that provide low-cost, high-perseverance processed foods, in trans fat and salt? Debora A. Cohen, scientist and author of “A Big Fat Crisis,” writes of the obesity problem: “We are wired to love to eat, which makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. If we did not have the desire to obtain food combined with the pleasure of eating it, the human species would not survive. to protect its citizens from further harm. Therefore, the government should closely monitor processed foods and fast foods to protect people from unhealthy food choices, better inform the public about nutritional information, and closely regulate American food consumption to reduce related health risks. to obesity. High levels of trans fats, sugar and salt have become predominant in many processed and fast foods, making Americans dependent on these unhealthy preservative additives. In many schools, students only have access to junk food when they are looking for something to eat in the cafeteria or school vending machines. Many high school students consume three hundred and thirty-six calories a day just from school vending machine snacks. (Koebler) Possible solutions to the growing problem of childhood obesity include providing healthier options, such as fruit... middle of paper ... to their bodies with clean, leafy, natural foods and making exercise, obesity could become a thing of the past. With strict government restrictions banning trans fats and limiting salt, this would help people, especially in poorer communities, lose weight. Works Cited Anderson, Arnold and Mary Jean Bowman. “Methods for controlling food consumption.” Nutrition and food supply. January 1943. 128. JSTOR. Internet. March 25, 2014. Bakst, Daren. “Government Control of Your Food: Threats to the “Freedom to Eat.” » The Heritage Foundation. np September 3, 2013. Web. March 26, 2014. Cahalan, Susannah. “Why should the government regulate foods like tobacco and alcohol.” New York Post. np December 28, 2013. Web. March 27, 2014.Filipovic, Jill. “To save the health of Americans, the government must intervene in the food industry.” Al Jazeera America. np November 17, 2013. Web. March 27 2014.