Why is the U. S. More Obese Than ANY Other Developed Nation in the World?

By: Dr. J. Renae Norton

Why is the United States more obese than any other developed nation in the world? It isn’t because we are lazy, or because we don’t care, and it certainly isn’t because we don’t have access to good food. We do. But the reason that we are more obese than any other country in the world is that our government doesn’t protect us, like the governments of most other developed nations and we assume that our food is safe when it isn’t. As a result, the food that we eat is loaded with carcinogens, allergens, autogens, and finally for the purposes of this discussion, Obesogens.

Where do they come from? The majority come from herbicides such as Round Up that are sprayed on any food in the US that isn’t certified Organic. They even use Round Up on wheat, which doesn’t get eaten by bugs or overrun by weeds and therefore doesn’t need an insecticide or an herbicide. Nonetheless, it is doused in glyphosate a.k.a. Round Up. Why? To get it to market 6 to 10 days faster by drying it out with the Round Up and therefore increasing the profit.

Doesn’t matter that glyphosate is an obesogen, allergen, autogen and carcinogen. We eat 33% of the world‘s glyphosate, despite the fact that we represent only 4% of the world population. We are literally drowning in it.

(To be clear, our food doesn’t just cause obesity, it also causes many other diseases at a higher rate than they occur in other wealthy developed nations, which is why we also live shorter lives than our cohorts in other countries. For the purposes of this discussion, we will focus on the USA obesity epidemic.)

As a result of having the highest rate of obesity in the developed world, we have the most obese children. Our children will live shorter lives than their parents because they start out obese. In the modern age, each generation tends to live longer than the one before. It is unheard of in most wealthy nations for the younger generation to have a shorter lifespan. But many US children are predicted to have shorter lifespans than their parents and grandparents because the rate of childhood obesity is so high.

I am in my 70s. In my generation life expectancy is 74 years of age. Life expectancy for US children as of 2024, in the United States is 79.0 years, marking a record high. While specific data for children is not readily available, this general increase suggests improved health outcomes for younger populations. That sounds good, right? Not so fast. Because factors like persistent severe obesity significantly reduce life expectancy, with studies indicating that children with such conditions may have lifespans up to 50% shorter than their healthy-weight peers. Fifty percent? So what’s the big deal, how many of our children are actually obese?

Turns out a lot of them are obese.

Today in the United States a little over three out of 10 children are obese. When I was a child, it was slightly less than one out of 10. That may not seem like a big difference but mathematically it is huge. For US children today, a significant portion of them will die at a young age because of their obesity. Even more importantly, obesity brings with it a number of other debilitating and often painful diseases making the aging process very expensive and terribly debilitating for those who do not die young.

As of 2026, my cohort group’s life expectancy is around 78 years old. While only one in 10 of us started out obese as children, 60% of us are overweight or obese today. With nearly 3 1/2% of children today starting out as Obese if the projections hold 100% of them will be obese as they age.

In Japan, life expectancy is close to 90 years of age. How can that be? We are every bit as wealthy as Japan. In fact, we are the wealthiest country in the world. Doesn’t that count? Apparently not. The rate of obesity in Japan is very low compared to the rate of obesity in the United States. Japan isn’t the only country that will outlive us. We’re at the bottom of the list when it comes to longevity.

What’s the difference? Why is this happening? Our food! If it isn’t sprayed with the obesogen Round Up it is contaminated in a number of other ways.

So what should you do? Eat organic food! Buy grass-fed, wild caught, minimally processed organic food, and it will change your life. Stay tuned for my next article on how to survive and thrive and in the process lose those extra pounds…..

Need help? Please call me 513-205-6543, I’m Dr. Renae Norton, I’m a Wellness researcher, writer and coach and I can help.

Email: Office@mindweightwellnesspro.com

Phone number : 513-205-6543