Group Effort

Welcome to our blog! We are students in English 114B attending Cal State University, Northridge. For about a month, we have researched and shared information regarding Obesity within the United States. 

We believe that obesity in the US, will increase if Americans continue to process fast food, lack of exercise and continue to eat big portions...We will share our personal experience as well as research regarding the link of the fast food industry and obesity, how to live a healthier life, food portions, and why obesity is increasing in the United States.

A little bit about ourselves...

-Hi! My name is Honglin Qu and I am a Sophomore at California State University, Northridge! I am originally from China and came here to study Finance. I enjoy the United States and have a strong passion on the issue of obesity. I hope that readers can know how serious the situation is now about obesity in the US and we can solve this problem by ourselves. The most intersting thing I found in this project is not only doing research on obesity, but also discussing with my group and sharing our ideas. I realize that exercise and gym are reallly important in our life by this project. Obesity has already become more and more serious. We can't just sit watching and do nothing. Obviously, obesity will cause a series of healthy problem, like high blood pressure. For the readers, I want to say fast food and junk food must to reduce! More exercise will make you more health. Once your eating habits become disciplinary, you will far away from obesity!!!


-Hello, my name is Melisa C. Celensu and I am a Freshmen at CSUN majoring in Communications. I am originally from Turkey and have been living in Los Angeles for two years. Since I came to USA, I started to ask myself why obesity in the US is a big problem. After researching this subject with our group, we found interesting points that show the reasons of the obesity in America. We realized that fast food restaurants where you can find them everywhere around the US, lack of exercise since a lot of people are trying to escape from it and big portion sizes in USA are the main causes of obesity. I strongly believe that portions sizes of everything have grown considerably. I learned that it is a serious problem and it can also affect one's phsical health. I recommend to everyone to do some daily exercise even for 30 minutes and take to go box when they feel full because people usually eat what they see on their plate. Additionally reducing fast food is going to help as well. As I started to apply these to my personal life, I started to feel better and healthier...




-Hi! My name is Shahla Jalil-Valles and I am a Sophomore at CSUN although this is only my first year. My major is Microbiology and I am also a Pre-med student. I have a strong interest in Obesity in the U.S and hope to share my opinions. I hope readers will gain a better understanding of the real meaning and issues surrounding obesity. After doing this project, I myself learned many aspects regarding the epidemic of obesity facing the U.S including how to decrease it, as well and alternatives to a healthier life style. I want to be able to share these new findings as well as integrade them in my own life. I have learned ways to stay healthy and at the same time was able to pass on knowledge through this blog. For the readers of this blog, I recommend eating healthy, watching portions sizes, stay away from fast foods and excersie daily!





-Hello, my name is Jie Ruan and I am a Sophomore at CSUN. My major is finance and I came from China to study abroad. This is my first time to do a blog. And doing blog is very interesting. It's very different from writing a essay.And this project is team work. We  jointly participate in discussion and brainstorming. So, in here i wanna thanks to my teammates,especially Shahla, she is a great leader. In my Blog, I hope readers can know obesity has already been a big problem in the USA and how to stay away from obesity. After doing blog, I learn many aspect about obesity, Such as how to reduce it and why the obesity will increase every year in the USA. In here, I have some recommendations for readers. First, eating less fast food. Second, doing more exercise.I believe that making your daily health, your will far away from obesity.


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Introduction/Background

During the past 20 years, there has been a


 dramatic increase in obesity in the United


  States and rates remain high. This is a very


 sad and unfortuante fact we are dealing with


 today. But why are we in such a bad state of


 obesity? To really understand why, we must


 know the facts, "the foods we eat every day


 contribute to our well-being. Foods provide


 us with the nutrients we need for healthy


 bodies and the calories we need for energy.


 If we take in more calories than we burn, the


 extra food turns to fat and is stored in our


 bodies. If we overeat regularly, we gain 


weight, and if we continue to gain weight, we


 may become obese." (E-Medicine Health 2)


 After doing research, we found that the 


obesity epidemic in America will soon lead to 


horrific circumstances if we don't do 

something fast. 

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Questions Surrounding the Issue and Answers

-What is Obesity?


"Obesity is a condition in which a person has an abnormally high and unhealthy proportion of body fat. (National Cancer Institute 3)


-How common is overweight and obesity in the U.S?


Results from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show that 68 percent of U.S. adults age 20 years and older are overweight or obese (3).




-What city in the United States has the highest obesity rate?


Houston, Texas


-I know that obesity means being overweight, but what health risks come with this?


Being overweight can cause very serious heath risks to your body, here we have inserted a picture for you to have a better understanding of just some of the risks a person can face from obesity. 

-How has the U.S been effected by obesity in the past years?


Here we has inserted an animated picture to show you.
But what exactly does this graph depict? It shows how obesity rates have increased for all population groups in the United States over the last several decades.^[12] Between 1986 and 2000, the prevalence of severe obesity quadrupled from one in two hundred Americans to one in fifty. 

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Final Thoughts and Conclusions 




Obesity is a horrible epidemic we are facing in the United States today and for many years. There are many facts and statstics, as well as options for solutions to this vast and serious problem. In following posts, each of us will analyze a main idea in regards to obesity and the effects it puts on Americans living in the U.S.