Dutch Student Makes An Entire American Town Obese With A Scam Nobody Saw Coming

10 years ago, a Dutch student made an entire town obese in an unexpected manner. It all started when a student from the Netherlands had to relocate to the US as part of a high school exchange program. On the very first day, the student learned of a place that sold authentic Dutch food. They became curious and wanted to test the place themselves. A few months in, cravings for Dutch sweets led the student to the same small shop.

Much to their surprise, they found that the shop sold authentic Dutch sweets with their Dutch labels still intact. Thereafter, the student frequented the shop for sweets and other essentials. When the student started carrying the sweets to school, the flavor of the items piqued everybody's interest. As more people became interested in it, the student saw it as a business opportunity. Soon, they started buying and selling these sweets to others, making a huge profit. This continued until the student left the town.

Later, when they returned to the same place, they found that her lucrative business adventure in the town 10 years ago had made 80% of the town obese by 2023.

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What really happened that made an entire American town obese?

Overconsumption of sugary items can lead to obesity (Image via iStock)

Sharing their account on Reddit, a user mentioned that back in 2012–2013, they had to move from the Netherlands to the US for studies. Then, what began as a simple craving for Dutch sweets contributed to an entire American town becoming obese 10 years later.

It all began when the Redditor started frequenting a small local shop that sold authentic Dutch food. Much to the Redditor's surprise, they found that the quaint store sold genuine food from their hometown.

On being asked about one of the Dutch sweets they were carrying at lunchtime, they passed it on to one of her friends, who liked it very much. The sweet soon caught on, and everyone started enquiring about it until one friend was willing to buy a pack of those from the student.

Unwilling to part with the bag of sweets, the student finally decided to sell it to their friend, but at a profit. Soon, these sweets started to pique the interest of others, thus marking the beginning of a scam that continued till the student left the town.

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What happened when the student returned to the US after 10 years?

Based on studies between 2017 and 2020, 41.9% of adults in America are obese (Image via Getty)

The Redditor claimed that when they returned to the US 10 years after the incident to attend the 10-year-old reunion of their class, they went to the beloved store from where they would acquire the Dutch sweets.

They said that much to their surprise, they found out that there were many more Dutch products available in the store than during their first visit. The owner also revealed that due to the student's continued efforts back then, his business had expanded at a massive level.

Although the student felt proud of the positive impact their little business venture had, they also felt guilty about something else. They could not help but notice that the people in the town looked more obese than they had seen them when they were there the last time. After some research, they found out that the cause behind it was the same Dutch sweets they helped market while they were there.

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Although the Dutch sweets led to about 80% of the people being obese in the town, the student cannot be singlehandedly blamed for this as people are free to make their own choices. Moreover, there can be a multitude of other factors that can make a person obese.