Obesity Timeline By emmanstine Sep 13, 1921 White Castle Opens The first fast food restaurant opens in Witchita, Kansas Apr 1, 1960 Obesity Rates for Kids and Teens at 5% Apr 1, 1970 High Fructose-Glucose sweetener is first introduced to the food and beverage industry Apr 1, 1972 HBO is Launched Apr 1, 1975 High Fructose-Glucose sweetener is used in most foods and beverages on a regular basis Jul 1, 1978 Half of Women are in the Workforce, food consumption outside of home accelerates Apr 1, 1979 McDonalds sells First Happy Meal Apr 1, 1984 7-Eleven Introduces 44 ounce Super Gulp Aug 18, 1993 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act Apr 1, 1996 Average Cheeseburger Tops 553 Calories Jun 17, 1998 New BMI Guidelines Introduced Apr 1, 2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys that 16.3% of Americans were overweight Apr 1, 2008 America Spent $147 Billion on medical costs that are associated with obesity May 1, 2008 1.4 billion adults are considered overweight worldwide and half a billion adults were considered obese Jun 1, 2008 2.8 million individuals die worldwide yearly due to overweight/obesity issues. Apr 1, 2011 Obama proposed Federal Menu Labeling Laws to promote caloric intake knowledge on all fast food and vending machines in the US