Food and Fitness: the American Obsession Americans seem to be always i

Food and Fitness: the American Obsession
   The most obvious and striking trait is that Americans, especially New Yorkers, always seem to be going somewhere and always seem to be in a hurry. In New York, where the streets are usually choked with traffic, drivers try in every way to get ahead of each other, while pedestrians run through the streets often disregarding traffic signals.  The longer I was in America the more I began to see this characteristic as a national impatience. Nowhere is this impatience more evident than in American eating habits. Sitting down to a leisurely meal seems to be a luxury. The rest of the time, it is quicker to serve oneself in a fast food restaurant like this one called McDonalds. McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’ s are found everywhere in America. They are nationwide food chains specializing in the most popular of all foods, the hamburger. With French fries and a Coke, the meal is complete. Other fast food chains have different specialities like Kentucky Fried Chicken.  The popularity of these eating places has much to do with being inexpensive but perhaps more important is that such places offer fast service.
   Fast and instant are the key words. Look at this salad bar, a central feature in most restaurants today, A salad bar has a dizzying variety of uncooked vegetables, pickled sal ads, cold fish, and cheese.  Putting together your own choices makes sense but you also don’ t have to wait to be served. "Take Out" food is an American way of life. An in staut meal to be taken to the office or to eat at home from barbecued chicken to pizza, which is more popular in America than in Italy. With a little patience, you can go to the supermarket and buy instant foods that take a little time to prepare. Here the meal needs only to be heated. But again, American impatience has produced a new necessity, the microwave oven. It heats food in a fraction of the time needed in an ordinary oven.
   With all the possibilities of eating instantly and constantly and with the abundance of food in America, is it any wonder that Americans tend to be overweight? Yet the American ideal of beauty demands a slender, firm, young body. With so many people overweight, losing those extra pounds has turned into a national obsession, an obsession that has people spending a good part of their leisure time on diet and fitness. The business community, ever sensitive to consumer needs, profits handsomely on this preoccupation, ringing up sales of an estimated $10 billion per year. Bookstores are filled with books giving advice on how to achieve the ideal through different exercise regimens and an endless variety of food diets, but of course, the emphasis most often is how to get results quickly. Just buying the products is not enough, Americans like to do things in groups and so one of the most successful weight reduction businesses is called Weight Watchers. Here people come to weigh in and participate in meetings where tips on eating are given and members talk out their weight problems.
   To be slim is but one part of the ideal. The body must also be firm and young looking.  Such fitness is achieved through exercise. If food and diet is one craze, exercise has become another fixation in the last 10 years. On any day, on the streets and in the parks, you can see people running: old people and young.  Some run slowly, some run fast. Some carry weights, many have radios plugged into their ears. Some are in any old clothes while others look quite stylish.  Shops carrying sneakers and workout clothes are everywhere. But these people take their running very seriously. Many of them become so devoted that they begin training for Marathon events. For those who prefer indoor exercise there are classes and clubs throughout the city. This club, costing about $ 400 per year, offers a full line of exercise equipment,  exercise bicycles,  running machines, weights and an array of other muscle building equipment.
   Now you may ask, how is it that so many Americans re main fat? Well, that’ s just one of the contradictions of American society. In this wealthy country where food is plentiful and cheap, enterprising businessmen create many temptations. TV floods us with food commercials on one hand and paradoxically sells diet and slim bodies at the same time. And the American, eternally optimistic, always hopes to follow the regimen but their follow through is not always so good. Yet recently there is a new awareness. And with characteristic enthusiasm and inventiveness, Americans are slow ly changing the way they eat and live to promote a longer and healthier life.