Dying To Be Thin Analysis

Shifts in the “Food Marketplace” have greatly affected our food choices and habits in the last 40-50 years. As one woman stated in the film The Weight of the Nation, “It’s so hard to combat with what the tv is telling you to feed your kids”. Advertising has come to a whole new level in our generation; you can’t turn on the television without seeing an advertisement for fast food or something equally as unhealthy. As another woman put it, “you are taught that you can eat anywhere, anytime of day, and that eating is a glorious thing”. Another shift that has occurred is an economic one. If you go into a poor neighborhood corner store like they did in the film, you would see chips, sugar, sweets, etc. All of these unhealthy foods are cheap, incredibly cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables. Obesity rates in these poor areas are much higher than in areas with a higher average income. Culturally, our country is changing to one that is always moving; we don’t have time to prepare a meal for the whole family. It’s much quicker to buy unhealthy fast food that you know your family will enjoy than to prepare a healthy meal that they will grudgingly consume. The film mentioned that our bodies were originally built for scarcity. We are wired to react to things that are sweet and contain a lot of fat because when an animal was killed we had to be able to eat as much of it as possible. The signals telling us to stop eating had to be overridden. Now, we consume so much fat and sugar not

In the article “How Junk Food Ends Obesity,” David H. Freedman, an author and writer, discusses the pros and cons that weight engages in people all around the world. Freedman’s purpose is to solve society’s issue with obesity rates increasing by pushing and pressuring more processed food industry to be healthier. He incorporates ways for customers to eat what they like, but in a healthy way. This article, in my eyes, impacts many individuals that do struggle with weight in a time in their life. Freedman originates with a plan that if he can find a way to push healthcare system to eat better, business will expand. Not only will business expand, but more people will become healthy by eating the same food but without it being processed. His plan is to create a wholesome food movement that could work better, reducing the chance of obesity rates increasing.

David Zinczenko, author of “Don't Blame the Eater”, began his career in nutrition and wellness not only by coincidence but because of personal experience. His motivation and determination for change has led him to establish a platform for himself in which he is able to reach many people comparable to him so that they can become motivated as well. Such platform includes being a regular guest on shows such as, The View, Biggest Loser, Dr. Oz, Good Morning America and 20/20. Putting his face out in the media, sharing his ideas, and thoughts about how well he knows about health builds up his ethos massively. A well known face and name, catches the audience attention more. Creating the audience to feel that Zinczenko is an intellectual person that knows what he is talking about. What also helps him to be more credible is his short story on how he can relate to children suffering from obesity. His main argument ties in with his story and his purpose for writing “Don’t Blame the Eater”. His audience trust him more knowing that as a child, he went through the same problem as the kids he is defending. As he emotionally brought in his audience with his sob story he raised his

Healthy, unhealthy, good food, bad food, fat, skinny, diet, weight: all these words have been used to define what society views as the key to a balanced or unbalanced life. In the essay, Food for Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating, Mary Maxfield takes a look into the stigma of eating habits, health, and dieting in western society. Maxfield supports her claims by analyzing and refuting Michael Pollan’s essay, Escape from the Western Diet. Although it is common knowledge that many people struggle to understand what is essentially “healthy” and “unhealthy”, there are many experts in the field of nutrition that claim to have the key to a perfect diet. Maxfield ultimately disclaims these ideas by bringing to light information that

Long ago, the ancestors of humans lived in unpredictable times in which meals were not guaranteed. Now in the 21st century, data suggests, as mentioned in Fed Up, that there will be more deaths caused directly or indirectly by obesity than by starvation. The documentary Fed Up focuses on the terrifying issue that plagues the United States and the world: obesity. It delves into the components that contribute to this menacing epidemic that only continues to get worse. The documentary builds on the stories of four young American children from all over the country that are severely obese. One of the kids, at 14 years of age, weighs over 400 pounds. Fed Up tries to answer one simple question with a complex and scary answer. How did the world get here? There are several different issues the documentary tried to address to answer this question. In the documentary, several misconceptions about food were dissected. In addition to debunking myths about food, the documentary discussed how it is possible to eat healthy for less money than eating unhealthy. Those were a few of the aspects that can have an impact on individuals, but the documentary did not stop there. It also attacked the huge food industry for their misleading advertisements and selling techniques, as well as condemning their focus of selling to younger people. Furthermore, the documentary explained how the food industry is so rich and powerful in the country’s capital that it has thwarted the many attempts in trying

“Dying to be Thin,” produced by PBS, is a documentary that examines the troubles that persons who are affected by eating disorders go through and the constant, daily struggles they face with health and body image. The film tells the story of a number of young women who battled mainly anorexia and bulimia and mixes a variety of ages to give a “during” and an “after” perspective. Many of the women in the video were ballet or some similar type of dancer. Dancers, by their own account, are encouraged to be thin. The issue really came to the forefront after a young ballet dancer from Boston died of heart failure at the young age of 22, with an eating disorder deemed to be the cause. The narrator goes on to introduce more young women and detail the potential illnesses that their eating disorders can cause. Chronic low blood pressure, kidney and liver damage, severe early osteoporosis, and heart failure are all common things seem in patients who suffer from eating disorders. Most patients have dangerously low body weights, body fat percentages, and, often, young women will experience amenorrhea, which is the loss of menstruation. All of the people in the video wanted to be better and were seeking a road to recovery. The video showed though, how difficult that can be since the eating disorders can be so wide ranging and have a number of different root causes. Often patients develop eating disorders as something that they have control over, in a world that they feel is out of their

Hungry For Change is a film that is very well known and should be seen by all ages of Americans. In order to maintain the well being of our nation and a lesson that can possibly save a life. It contains the best selling authors and leading medical experts plus real life struggles with their body image. They dig deep into the stereotype desire of the ideal body and beautiful skin that we all want but don’t know how to get. Hungry For Change unleashes the shocking secrets of diet, weight loss and food industry information that tries to get hidden behind closed doors. There deceptive strategies that are used to keep your attention and always coming back for more.

They will do anything to avoid these detrimental effects on themselves. Fulkerson and his crew used the rhetorical devices to put the viewers into a position where they can be easily manipulated and convinced. Next, they use the devices, especially ethos, to prove the diet’s success. The first thing

For the previous couple decades, Americans have been misled by the government and health professionals, who were implementing inaccurate dietary standards that led to the promotion of certain items as “healthy”, has actually resulted in a nationwide obesity epidemic of vast proportions. This unprecedented surge in obesity has affected everybody from children in elementary schools, to retired seniors, and has contributed to the single largest rise in diseases, the world has ever known. Obesity has actually reached the number two cause of preventable death in the United States (Healthaliciousness), thus created the first generation of children ever in history which is predicted to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. The documentaries Fed Up and Forks over Knives are both in support of creating a healthier America for all individuals. Although they both share a similar concept on how fast-food is extremely harmful, but both take quite different approaches to support their claim. In the documentary Fed Up, Stephanie Soechtig allows us to follow the lives of four families who are struggling with a childhood obesity problem. Throughout the film she has various “experts” express their opinions to help combat the epidemic, but their selection of “experts” is mainly through politicians, political leaders, and journalist, but not so much on nutritional scientist. On the other hand,

The basic survival needs of human beings include a small list of four things: food, water, clothing, and shelter. After watching an interview with Robert Kenner, the director of Food, Inc., I began to realize that the food humans are eating is actually decreasing are survivability. Within the excerpts from the movie and the dialogue amongst the interviewers, it was made apparent that the food industry has been able to completely deceive the consumers. Instead of choosing food for quality, individuals choose food by lowest price. As Kenner said in the video, “we have skewed our food system to the bad calories” (2:38). Instead of healthy home cooked meals, families are purchasing fast food for its convenience and low cost. However, the video made a very interesting stance in regards to this mentality. Although individuals are paying the lowest price for food in history, the cost of treating diseases caused by unhealthy eating has grown to be higher than ever before (8:04).

In order to discuss their ideas about the epidemic, Fed Up begins by explaining the history of the food in America and how sugars may affect us. Then later, the film continues by not only blaming the food industry, but the “Let’s Move” Campaign as well, for America’s obesity problem. To further insure their argument is brought home, Fed Up show us the everyday life of numerous children dealing with obesity and who are working to change for the better. Sadly, it seems as though each of the children always coming up short, despite their dieting and exercising. So, instead of looking at the each citizen’s personal contribution toward the obesity epidemics, Fed Up takes up a, “It’s not you it’s them” aspect toward the food

The United States of America is nation that is known for its romance with guns and food. Not the most glamorous idea to be known for but in a way the comical characteristics fit the ever growing nation. Yet this obsession with the greasy, cheesy, and always supersized holds a much grimmer reality. Obesity in America is through the roof with 36 percent of American adults being classified as obese. This alongside the rapid growth of childhood obesity has created a love for shows about weight loss and health like those of “The Biggest Loser”. These inspirational shows help to show that “it” can be done, the seemingly impossibility of losing the hundreds of pounds that need to go. Though the shows are inspirational and entertaining, they are dangerous for all of the people who have lost all this weight disillusioned that they can keep it of, furthermore the

This woman reached out to a doctor who specializes in this and trusted him completely with her life. She remained a runner and changed her diet routine and eventually cured herself of her cancer. Later on, she won a gold medal for completing an iron man marathon; how much more inspiring can a person be? After watching this film I genuinely want to change my habits and become the best version of myself. As I stated previously, I have had issues with weight since a very young age. I have a disease called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which is a hormonal deficient illness. As a result of this disease, I am insulin resistant, gain weight extremely easily and have a very high risk of infertility. I have tried every single diet that I have heard in my life time and I never see results. After watching this film I am excited to begin to change my life and begin eating whole foods and cut out meats and dairy. I cannot wait to see the health benefits that will ensue.

My whole childhood and into my early teens I was bullied, shamed and made feel horrible for being fat I'm almost 20 years old and their words and actions haunt me daily I've dieted, exercised and starved myself until I was dizzy, weak and sick Every single day I hide myself away wearing as much clothes to hide my body as possible regardless whether it's 90 degrees or not I barely eat in constant fear of being judged by strangers and also family you people think that screaming at us that we're fat and ugly and horrible is "motivation" to lose weight? no you are doing the exact opposite you are creating self loathing human beings who miss out on life because we are so afraid to leave the house, wear what we want, show any kind of self love and

Everybody sees it everywhere. “Lose 60 pounds in 6 weeks!” “Skinny is what’s in!” “Detox diet plan!” It’s a fair assumption to assume that the world, especially the United States, is obsessed with being healthy. From celebrity workout programs to expensive diet systems that make people lose weight, being fit is always what’s mainly focused on in the media, daily life, and nationwide. But with obsessions, come unhealthy actions and interests. Most people that anyone knows is most likely upset with some aspect of themselves. Whether it be the way they look, how they eat, or their lifestyle, obsession happens because of the nearly-impossible body types and lifestyles found on social media. On top of this, there are also restrictions and challenges that come with eating a healthy diet that seem simply irradical to address, and unhealthier foods are more available than ever. With these slowly arising issues, anyone would think the nation is making it hard for themselves to be healthy. The society the nation lives in is making it progressively harder and harder to be healthy because of the lifestyles that are easier to achieve.