Obesity is a highly flexible disease, it can be found in all parts of the world and in all types of living environments. Obesity has many causes ranging from eating habits, food preparation, unhealthy physical lifestyles, transportation and more. Culture plays a huge role in the epidemic as in every culture there are different shared and learned behaviors. Wealth cannot save you from being genetically cursed with obesity, if there are traces of obesity in your family history. Ethnicity, smoking, and the environment also played their part in this epidemic. The obesity epidemic is the result of the modernization of the United States, however, there are many other factors that play an important role in obesity. Obesity in culture can be misleading, but culture has such a general definition that any type of behavior can fall under its name. One way to consider the role of culture in obesity is to first define it. In this case, culture can be defined first as learned behavior, then shared with other members of a community, and finally the creation of a symbol from this behavior. "Culture influences human interactions and expectations. Culture interacts with biology, and biological functioning is modified by cultural norms" (Craig 2010:46). The culture promotes social interaction in most cases, and most people eat during social gatherings. Culture creates traditions, which culture embodies. In many cultures it is rude not to serve food to your guests even if they refuse any offerings. The blame for the obesity epidemic cannot be placed solely on culture because it simply isn't right. Culture is created by humans and as a result we have most likely made obesity what it is today. We cannot ignore the effect culture has on our bodies. "Once an issue is halfway... middle of the paper... it's the hardest to understand because people come from all over the world to visit America. Their ethnicity plays a role that comes from outside America, but with their arrival in the United States it becomes part of the epidemic. Works Cited Barness, Lewis A, John M Opitz and Enid Gilbert‐Barness 2007 Obesity: Genetic, Molecular and Environmental Aspects American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A 143 ( 24):3016-3034.Caballero, Benjamin2007 The global obesity epidemic: an overview. Epidemiological Reviews 29(1):1-5.Cossrow, Nicole and Bonita Falkner2004 Racial/ethnic issues in obesity and obesity-related comorbidities Obesity of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 89(6):2590-2594.Craig, Pippa2010 Obesity and culture Clinical obesity in adults and children:41-57.James, Philip T, et al.2001 The global obesity epidemic 9(S11):228S-233S.