Obesity and Malnutrition

"Epidemic"
By Kelsey Rose

Two hundred and ten
And she’s only twelve years old
She weighs as much
As a middle aged whore
They point and laugh
Yes children are mean
But it’s not her fault
That this is the way
In this world she’ll be seen
They call it an epidemic
“Super size me” we say
So many deaths are being created
By the fast food industry
But far, far away
In a broken home
Another young girl
Sits all alone
She’s withering away
Nothing but lose skin and bones
There’s no food in the house
And no one knows
When mom is coming home
Her brothers and sisters
Are skeletal and frail
She can’t help but cry
When she sees their faces broken and pale
Both girls are doomed
For a life of struggle and pain
But in this world
Not everyone wins the game
Molly will get bigger
Her family doesn’t see
That she is absolutely miserable
That this is not a healthy way to be
She will be sad
Have many complications in life
Heart problems and weight problems
And she’ll chose to go under the knife
Mari will die
Before she turns eighteen
She was arrested three times
For being a thief
All she wanted to do
Was feed those who were dear
But the youngest got sick
Didn’t make it through the year
And Mari blames herself
She tries and tries and tries
To help her family stay alive
But they are struggling to survive
She’s sixteen years old
And weighs eighty three pounds
The essence of her beauty
Gone with the dropping pounds



Authors Note: Obesity affects millions of Americans, so much so that we are calling it an epidemic. We have become a culture dependent on “Fast Food” but stop and think, where did the meat, which was cooked in a minute and a half to make your cheeseburger, come from? Does it have any nutritional value at all? And if it does, does it even count next to the extra large fries you have just ordered? AIDS was an epidemic, smallpox was an epidemic, obesity is not an epidemic it is a lifestyle choice. There are many factors that contribute to obesity but in the end, only you can chose who you want to be and how you want to live your life. And while middle class America chows down on Wendy’s and Burger King there are children all over the world starving because they are too poor to afford food or there simply is no food sanitary enough to eat. Gandhi once said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” and I could not agree with him more.