Like everyone else here, my diet as a kid was affected by social norms. My diet was a fairly typical diet for a middle-class kid in America. We ate hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza, and a lot of other unhealthy food often propagated by our American culture, so you might think we had a problem with obesity. Nope. We might have taken part in eating greasy or sugar-filled food, but we did it in moderation. My mom cooked us plenty of healthy and nutritious meals, like some tasty grilled chicken or a plate of steamed salmon, but allowed us to treat ourselves on McDonalds or some Chinese food every once in a while. Everyone in my family maintained a healthy physique and a healthy attitude towards food.

In today’s society we have an issue with obesity. A lot of factors play in to the physical condition of obesity, but by far the largest factor (as shown by scientific studies) is from putting too many calories into one’s body. Genetics, while having an influence, takes a backseat to the driving force of the pleasure of eating food. When we are young our views and relationship with food is determined by the choices of our parents. If as a child your parents feed you cheap and unhealthy at every opportunity, you’d be far more likely to develop obesity as you age. Social norms plays a large factor in dictating these parents’ actions. Often people believe that a “well fed” (fat) baby is a healthy baby since they will use the excess to grow bigger and stronger, which is woefully incorrect and is damaging to the child’s health and future relationship with food. If more parents taught their children the virtue of moderation, we’d have far less obese individuals in this world.