When I was in high school in the United States, the image of Americans, whether male or female, was that they were larger and had a healthy build compared to Koreans.

These days, the situation has become serious as their weights have increased significantly. In fact, looking at the numbers, the average weight of American adults in the 1970s was about 76kg (166 pounds) for men and about 65kg (144 pounds) for women. However, by the 2020s, it has increased to about 90kg (198 pounds) for men and about 77kg (170 pounds) for women.

This means that the average weight has increased by 10-15kg over 50 years. Why has this weight gain occurred?

The answer lies in the food that is always in front of us and the 'products of science' hidden within that food.

A typical example is high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and ultra-processed foods. These two are found in foods that we can easily choose at the supermarket, especially processed snacks, beverages, and frozen foods. They are cheap, taste good, and are easy to store, so there is no reason not to eat them. But that is the problem.

First, let's look at high-fructose corn syrup. This is a sweet syrup made by processing corn starch, and it began to appear in the American food industry in earnest in the late 1970s.

It is much cheaper than sugar, easy to add to beverages in liquid form, and has a strong sweetness. It is found in carbonated drinks like Coca-Cola and Sprite, as well as in sports drinks, bread, sauces, and even cereals and yogurt. The problem is that it is easily converted to fat in the body and makes us feel less full, leading to overeating. In other words, it is one of the main culprits that tricks our brains into thinking we are still hungry.

Next, we have ultra-processed foods. Nowadays, convenience stores and supermarkets are overflowing with ready-to-eat meals. Frozen pizzas, frozen hamburgers, meatballs, powdered soups, energy bars, snacks, candies... all of these are ultra-processed foods. They are made from foods that go beyond general cooking or simple processing, containing chemical additives, artificial flavors, colorings, sweeteners, and even difficult-to-pronounce stabilizers. These foods are generally high in calories but low in nutrients, providing strong reward stimuli to the brain, making us crave them like an addiction.

Changes in lifestyle have also played a role. In the 1970s, there were many opportunities to play outside and engage in physical labor.

Now, we sit in front of computers for work and spend all day looking at our smartphones with little movement. Delivery food arrives at our doorstep with just one click, and exercise is often postponed with excuses about time. The system created by the convenience of consumers and food companies has ultimately raised the average weight of Americans.

This is not just a matter of appearance; it leads to health issues. Obesity is the seed of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. A significant portion of healthcare spending in the U.S. is already being used for these chronic diseases.

The reason I am writing this is simple. As I age, I have started to notice my belly growing, and I feel a sense of crisis that I cannot continue like this.

So, while trying to change my eating habits, I realized that high-fructose corn syrup and ultra-processed foods are scarier than I thought. Retraining my taste buds, which have become accustomed to sweetness, is not easy, but I am starting with small changes. I check the sugar content on labels and try to eat as many unprocessed foods as possible, such as vegetables, whole grains, boiled eggs, chicken breast, and bananas.

The United States is still a land of opportunity. But that opportunity also includes food. Depending on what we eat, our future health and lives can change.

If we want to live better lives than in the 1970s, it seems we have entered an era where we must eat more carefully than we did in the 1970s.