OMG! The North American Hippo is TAKING over America!! It's only a matter of time until these Masterz of MAYHEM cause the Apocalypse!!! Can they be STOPPED??

Constructive comments only, thanks.

There's an obesity EPIDEMIC in America. Ask Michelle Obama! Like a zombie invasion, one day we may all be fat!

A Hey Sam Graham Cartoon Original!

CREDITS:

Animated by Sam Graham
Written by Sam Graham, Heather Anacker, Ulysses Arreola
Show writers: Jared Blunk

According to the Centers for Disease Control, over 1/3 of American adults are obese. That's 78.6 million. In this country the medical cost of obesity $147 billion in 2008. The cause is simple: eating too many calories and not getting enough exercise. Although if you eat 10,000 calories -short of running an olympic marathon- you will be unable to work it off.

Calorie-counting, exercise tracking apps like MyFitnessPal (not a sponsor) have worked great for me. I just came back from Japan and I had cultural shock returning to -the US- because there were no obese people there. Ok, there are sumo wrestlers, but that's it.

Japan, in Europe and other countries smaller portions and exercise are the norm. I'm greatly disappointed to see America go down this path. In many ways its the result of our national ethic: "bigger is better," "more," and "I just can't get enough."

It was shocking to eat licensed American brands in Japan that were
-albeit smaller- but shockingly tasty. So terrible to come back here and eat a tasteless chocolate bar, but it makes sense because people are so busy shoving down their gullets, why would they taste anything anyway.

Am I bitter? Yes. From grade school we've been told its the greatest country in the world. So I guess I expect a lot. It only took an overseas trip to see a different picture emerge.

This is a land of opportunity, of advantages. I guess I expect us to live up to our grand self-portrayal. But This cartoon isn't about America, perse.

It's about The North American Hippo. The natural result of our motto: "bigger is better." And that we've become. Maybe America needs to cool it with the rhetoric and focus on improving life at home. Perhaps we need to stop policing the world and improve our roads, public education and standard of living. Teach about calorie reduction, etc.

Here's a link about balancing calories:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/calories/index.html

This cartoon is a humorous way at poking fun at the obesity epidemic in America. A non-PC way of doing what Michelle Obama has been trying to do.

~ (squiggly) ~

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-Sam
(aka the "The Texting Textile")