Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Obesity Epidemic
After reading Tufte's section on small multiples, I wanted to find more examples and ran across something pretty interesting. Below is a sample picture of an interactive visualization of the obesity trend in America, broken down by states. What's alarming is, to put it simply, Americans are getting fatter by the year. It's funny that although we're more health conscious these days, it doesn't seem to help the "obesity trend" (or rather crisis?) in the U.S.
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5 comments:
Joel said...
Great visual on the obesity epidemic striking the U.S. It makes you just want to reflect on this growing problem. It is alarming that even though Americans are aware of it and are more self-conscious of this issue we can't escape the fact that we as individuals continue to gain weight. I believe we should blame television which continues to entice our taste buds. Don't you think? These television ads continues to plague our minds enticing us to keep buying fatty foods like Mcdonalds to Carl's Jr. Overall, great chart design.
Joel said...
This design reminds me of a Andy Warhol poster featuring campbell's tomatoe soup cans. In regards to the obesity poster, this poster from Andy Warhol brings up an important dilemma in design: the over exposure and commercialization of America. I believe this dilemma is to blame for the growing obesity in America. The over exposure of fatty foods on the television has enticed us to the point as Americans that we simply can't ignore our growing obsession with fatty foods.
Wow! I love the emphasis on the read t-shirt. It's scary too! Small multiples are helpful especially in this context. Thanks for that informative find!
the recession also doesn't help :[ we're more health conscious, but who can afford it?? people are opting for cheap food which is readily available from fast food places.
fact of the day: did you know that fat people steal your food at el pollo loco?... true story.
Yes this is a cool picture but I hope that people used the link and looked at it in its original context since it is even better as an interactive graphic, you can change the year or the order the info is displayed etc.
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