One of the things that a visitor from Europe, South America, Africa or frankly any other country first notices when they visit the US is the incredible obesity of Americans as a nation. White people, Black people, Latinos, all share this characteristic. It cuts across all racial, cultural, age and social groups.
Americans are fat, fat bastards.
And not just ordinary obese. We are talking 300lbs monsters walking the street. We are talking Latino, White or Black kids ages 5-10 that weigh more than mature European women. We are talking people who are so fat that they have trouble walking in a store, and move their bodies using an electric scooter for invalids. We are talking people who weigh 400 pounds (that is about 180 kilograms).
At first I thought that this was due to how cheap and plentiful food is in America. Buffets (Chinese, American food predominantly) are VERY common, and what that means is that a person pays a fee up front (by no means a large amount; can range from $8 to $20) and then they can eat as much as they like. The food is plentiful and often of good quality.
Once inside a buffet restaurant, you will see HORRORS. You will see 300-400lbs land whales maneuvering with 1-2 plates, chok full of foodstuffs. You will see kids, ages 3-10, who really DO weigh more than mature European, South American or African adults. You will see grandmothers, using canes to help themselves, grunting as they shuffle from one buffet tray area to another.
In short, Americans really do EAT a lot when they go to a buffet. They are pigs.
Add to this lack of exercise and sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle and you have the American society at large.
But that explanation is too simple.
As a European, I can tell you that the diets of Europeans are not that drastically different from the US.
So why are modern Americans in general such fat bastards?