Over two thirds of adults living in the Unites States are overweight or obese, according to the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease. Americans are becoming more and more oblivious to their own weight problems, which is holding back the United States in its fight against obesity.

            Just from looking around in public it is obvious that obesity has become a problem in our society.

            “People’s opinion of an unhealthy weight could be swayed because they may think, ‘oh, I’m not as big as they are,’ but obesity is not just about weight, it’s about how it has affected your body,” Clarice Anania, certified nurse, said.

            Obese people have a blind spot when it comes to their own weight problem, and only 15 percent of people that are medically considered obese view themselves as obese, according to a 2012 study in Good Healthy Living.

            “If somebody doesn’t perceive themselves to be obese, they are most likely not going to pay attention to any public health information about the consequences of obesity,” Kim Truesdale, a nutrition researcher, said in the article “Oblivious to Obesity.”

As obesity in America continues to be a problem, it allows people to form a heavier social standard than they used to have.

            “I don’t remember seeing so many obese people when I was younger, but back then we didn’t have so much [junk food],” Anania, who has a daughter in high school, said. “Now we have whole grocery aisles filled with it.”

            Although it is ultimately a parent’s job to teach their children how to eat healthy, schools play a major role in showing students what should be involved in a healthy diet.  Schools provide many students with their lunches and greatly impact students’ food choices. Although student at Lake Zurich are generally healthier than most school, teaching nutrition in heath class is beneficial to students.

            “The school system that is teaching nutrition should continue to update their curriculum in order to continue the fight against childhood obesity,” Anania said. “So many parents do not know much about nutrition or what is nutritious, so students need to be taught somewhere.”

            Americans’ disregard towards what they are eating, and its impact on their health, is a huge setback in the battle against obesity. Educating both adults and children on what is unhealthy and what can cause health problems in their future will help fix this ignorance.