“Cheeseburger, diet coke, super size that, and add a kid’s meal, with fries, and a Dr Pepper please.” Obesity is a nice way of saying the word ‘fat.’ Is life playing a major role in the epidemic of obesity? Should we focus solely on our children or should the focus include everyone? Is the epidemic of obesity happening to just our children or is it affecting our adults too? We should take a look at America as a whole and the affect obesity is having on us. “Prevention of obesity” Is there a way to teach American’s how obesity affects their health? Exercise can be the key to preventing obesity and unhealthy lifestyles. Exercise is not the only answer to preventing the obesity epidemic. Teaching adult’s and children how to live a healthy lifestyle can help prevent obesity in America reduce the epidemic. Obesity is growing throughout America and we need to find an approach to stop it. Obesity in children has increased enough that a national interest has generated programs to motivate children to get moving. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention there are short and long term affects on the health of our children. The percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008 and adolescents aged 12-19 years who were obese increased 5% to 18% over the same period (www.cdc.gov, 2012). The problem has become serious enough that people from the NFL to the First Lady have become involved in programs to help. The problem with obesity doesn’t stop with our children; the adult rate of obesity in America is also high. Many of the facts and figures released by the CDC on adult obesity are astonishing. More than one-third of U.S. adults or 35.7% are obese (www.cdc.gov, 2012). They have actually released a study that shows the obesity rate by states. The study actually lists the 12 states that have the highest obesity rates within the United States. These 12 states had a prevalence of 30% or more: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia (www.cdc.gov, 2012). If you look close, you can