One of the subjects that has absolutely been beaten to death in the last 15 years is the American obesity epidemic.

A recent New York Times article stated that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has concluded that 34 percent of American adults and 17 percent of American children are currently obese—figures which have doubled and tripled in the last 20 years.

Obesity seems to be a problem that isn’t going away, no matter how much we’re all tired of hearing about it. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say obesity has plateaued to a new high. To me, this is strange because I feel that more than ever the importance of proper nutrition is being thrown in my face everywhere I go.

It might appear that this is all an effort to get America healthy, but is it really helping? Grocery stores have big, green stickers that read “organic” on fruit that costs double what “regular” fruit does. Restaurants are offering low calorie menus, and schools are implementing regulations that restrict the amount of calories kids get in their school lunches. Shows like The Biggest Loser, Celebrity Fit Club, and Dance Your Ass Off are dominating reality television.

Despite all of these recent changes, obesity is still at an all-time high.

The bottom line is that I can’t help but feel like obesity is something that many major corporations don’t want to go away. Overweight people have become marketing targets that are urged to buy workout DVDs, pre-packaged frozen dinners and gym memberships. It has become almost ingrained into our pop culture instead of a health epidemic. I could get behind a campaign where getting healthy is the “cool” thing to do, but with the data recent statistics has provided us, it really doesn’t appear that’s what is going on here at all.