America's Role In The Fast Food Industry

People may say that it is the fast food companies that are to blame for obesity, but I do not think it is. Yes they sell unhealthy food to us but it is our faults for consuming it. They only cause us to become overweight because we let them too. If we do not eat the food they put out in front of us we will not get fat. If we do eat it, we must exercise to burn it off. If we do not then that is the reason we are fat. It is common sense that if you eat something and it gets you fat then you should probably stop consuming it or do something to get rid of that

When discussing the issue of obesity in America, it seems to be that there is plenty of blame to go around and most of that blame falls on fast food companies. When searching for a concrete answer to the question used as my title, you will find none because there isn’t one. When asked this simple question, it is easy to blame the obesity problem on fast food considering 8 out of 10 Americans consume fast food according to a report done by the Huffington Post. But after doing more research you will notice that this isn’t necessarily the case. American obesity can be blamed on a variety of things; lifestyle, accessibility of fast food, and what we are taught about food growing up. However, when the only options you are provided with by the food industry are all unhealthy, obesity cannot be avoided.

We are all guilty of spending five dollars a meal from McDonalds or Burger King instead of taking a little time the day before and making our self our own meal, but let’s keep in mind that just because is made home doesn’t mean is healthy. According to the article “The state of obesity” by better policies of America more than one third of adults (34.9) are obese in the United States. But why is there so much obesity in the United States and who is there to blame? We can go ahead and blame the fast food restaurants or we can blame the people itself. Individuals are the ones to blame for the obesity in the United States because they have this idea of eating fast and easy, but just cause is fast does not mean healthy. Fast food are part of our daily life but is does not forces us to eat it.

America has the most Obesity health issue in the world 100 million American are either over weight or obese, but blaming fast food is completely wrong because every individual is responsible for his or her own actions taken. Fast food doesn’t beg people to come in and become over weight instead we choose to eat fast food when we have a desire. Although fast food do advertising, have a playground and giveaways like toys attracting kids to come buy a meal

Obesity in America has become a huge problem. No one understands why the obesity rate in America is increasing, but we need to stop it. A lot of obesity rates come from poverty stricken families. Since they do not have the income to buy healthy food; they choose the cheapest fast food place to provide for themselves and their children. The fast food industry is the reason for the obesity rates rising higher each year. They are educated enough to know that people who do not have to money to buy healthy meals will depend on their company.

Recently, the demand for fast food restaurants has grown exponentially; unfortunately, so has the obesity rate. People continue to purchase the products coming from these corporations even though they are aware of the correlation between fast-food and obesity. So, the customers begin to assign the blame to those providing the products. Fast-food chains should not be held accountable for the obesity issues in the citizens because the customers make their own decisions in buying the meals, the well-being of the consumer is not solely based on their diet, and fast-food restaurants provide healthy and unhealthy meals for everyone.

In today’s society a huge issue is that we constantly hear about the food industry in America. We often hear in the news that obesity rates have increased, or that Americans have many diseases that contribute to being obese. “What You Eat is Your Business” by Radley Balko expresses that people are at fault for making such unhealthy food choices. Others argue that the food industry is to blame for being so unhealthy. According to David Zinczenko in “Don’t Blame the Eater” he blames the fast food industry as well as the consumer. Zinczenko asks “shouldn’t we know better than to eat two meals a day in fast food restaurant’s?” (392). So, who is to blame for American’s eating so much unhealthy food? Should it be the consumers’ burden or the fast food companies? On one hand, as consumers we continue to purchase foods that we know are making us overweight. On the other hand, fast food companies continue to offer high in calories foods.

Fast food is responsible for the increase of obesity rates in Western nations. In order to curb obesity rates, government regulation from the local level is necessary. The fast food corporations are responsible for the obesity epidemic because they make false health claims about their food and market heavily to children. But critics of regulation state that individuals, along with their food choices are responsible for the obesity epidemic. But regulation proponents believe that fast food needs regulation because of high obesity rates in poor inner city neighborhoods. In order to curb current obesity rates, local governments must intervene by implementing fast food regulations.

Fast food restaurants are commonly associated with the topic of obesity. It is not uncommon for these restaurants to be blamed for the growing obesity rate in America, but how exactly do they contribute? Simply, obesity occurs when a

"We don 't walk. We overeat because we 've made it easy to overeat. We have fast-food joints on every corner. By the way, the 'we ' is all of us. It 's not the government. It 's all of us doing this together.”(Mehmet Oz). Fast food has been affecting Americans lives since the 1919’s and 1920’s where the first fast food restaurant originated. They were called A&W in 1919 and White Castle in 1921. More than 3 million cases of obesity in America happen a year. Over time the frequency of fast food restaurants increased and became more common in people’s lives. Big fast food franchises such as McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy 's, and Pizza Hut have changed the world and not in a great way. Over 3 million cases of diabetes happen in a year and an estimated 17.5 million people died from CVDs in 2012, representing 31% of all global deaths. Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body’s inability to produce any or enough insulin causes elevated levels of glucose in the blood. Fast food is food that can be prepared quickly. It is easily and quickly sold in restaurants and snack bars as a quick meal or to be taken home. Obesity is the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. Cardiovascular conditions are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels. Many people suffer from these diseases and it becomes a negative impact in their lives. Fast food causes diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular conditions.

According to the article, “Attacking the obesity epidemic by first figuring out its cause” by Jane E. Brody, corporations in the food industry are the one causing the problem of obesity. First off salty, fatty, and sugary foods have been introduced to our society since the 70’s. As a matter of fact, “in the 40’s and 50’s” the majority of people actually had to walk to get to places.” Nowadays, people just use cars as a means of transportation rather than walking to get stuff. The food we eat have ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup which increase the risk of diabetes, obesity, and cancer which are devastating.

The majority of Americans enjoy fast food like bees enjoy their honey. Fast food is hard not to love due to families experiencing fast paced days, parents who work more than 20 hours a week, and having children with picky appetites can be rough. For most American families, it can be a challenge to not consider eating fast food more than once a week. The fast food industry has grown tremendously through the years. The one restaurant that is known all over the world for their golden arches and their big macs is McDonalds. With knowledge and personal experiences, I can say that McDonalds is by far the worst fast food restaurant in America. I believe this due to how unhealthy the food is for our bodies, the disturbing facts about the happy meals, the poor service, and the non-cleanliness of the restaurant.

Today, approximately 1 of every 3 adults in America suffers from obesity. In a world where people are surrounded by fast food 24/7, it is hard to come up with solutions to the growing obesity problem. In David Zinczenko's article Don’t Blame the Eater, written in 2002, he defends people who began suing fast food companies for their obesity. He justifies their choice to do so by pointing out the insufficient access to healthy food, the lack of choices for people who cannot afford to eat healthily, and the absence of information fast food companies provide about their products. These are used to convince his audience that the people who consume fast food are not to be blamed for their obesity because it is the fast food companies that are at

Many studies have shown that obesity is not only around but it’s here to stay and it’s on the rise. In (the obesity blame game 2006) Lorraine Heller explained that “being overweight comes down to a simple balance: energy intake versus energy burned and a fundamental Change in lifestyle has resulted in the last part of the equation being increasingly ignored”. In today’s society many Americans want to have someone to blame, shoving bad food into one’s body at a fast food restaurant isn’t the peoples fault, it’s the fast food industries fault. Now that doesn’t sound right, now a days many people prefer to eat out in America people are always busy. When hungry and in a hurry there are many fast, convenient, and healthy items available. Many people who insist that fast-food chains are a main cause of obesity in America because there are a plethora of fast-food restaurants on every block with few healthy alternatives, are not looking at the whole picture. Mark Bittman stated “in 2010 the average American, regardless of weekly earnings, watched no less than an hour and a half of television per day. The time is there” (is junk food really cheaper?

In addition to the many different causes of obesity, fast food receives much of the blame.