Going Big Is Not Always The Right Thing

The article “Don’t Blame the Eater” was written by David Zinczenko and was first published in The New York Times on November 23, 2002. In this article Zinczenko focuses on the fast food industry and their role in the rapidly increasing obesity and health issues commonly found in children and teens in America. He illustrates in the article that fast food is too easily accessible for Americans. Zinczenko argues that fast food is much more accessible than healthy alternatives, and we should not blame the consumers for being overweight, and unhealthy.

In David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater” he focuses on the fast food industry and their role in the increasing health and obesity issues of our nation’s children, as well as these issues potentially becoming a serious problem that we will all have to deal with if we collectively don’t do something about it now. When it comes to the topic of fast food, most of us can agree that it is not the best source of nutrition. It is unhealthy and can be the cause of many serious health issues with our children such as obesity related Type 2 diabetes, stomach ulcers and even heart disease, high cholesterol, sleep apnea or even cancer. We can even agree that fast-food diets are a major contributing factor to

The article “Don’t Blame the Eater", by David Zinczenko talks about how a group of people are suing McDonald’s for making them fat. Zinczenko shares his experience on how fast food has effect his childhood and teenage years. He explains how teenagers can put on weight with a fast food and part of the problem is the lack in nutritional information about fast food. In addition, he speaks about fast food and the companies behind it.

McDonald’s is killing Americans, at least that is what Morgan Spurlock believes. In his documentary Super Size Me he embarks on a quest to not only describe and use himself as an example of the growing obesity trend, but to offer the viewers with base-line nutritional knowledge that will allow them to draw their own informed conclusions. Spurlock's primary intention is to prove through self-experimentation that eating solely McDonald's food is dangerous. His secondary intention is to denounce the rising obesity rate in American by using statistics, his own research, and the opinions of experts. His broader message is for a general audience while he tailors select chapters towards more specific demographics such as parents or McDonald's

He claims that the prevalence of fast food and the lack of healthier food alternatives is causing an epidemic of teenage obesity in America. In his essay “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko notes “Drive down any thoroughfare in America, ... you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants. Now drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit” (463). Zinczenko argues that there are no inexpensive and convenient alternatives to fast-food restaurants for teenagers. Especially for teenagers, unhealthy and fattening fast food

After coming home from work, parents tend to like to relax on the couch and enjoy a fast meal instead of taking the time to cook essentially promoting that it is ok for their kids to do so as well. It's time parents learn their role in helping and fighting the problem of obesity. During this economic drought parents “need to protect their children from unhealthy foods and from sloth. It’s not easy, especially when both parents are working, or there is only one parent in the home” (p13). For example, it’s hard for my aunt, a single mother of six, to come home from a full days work, clean the house, take care of the children and prepare a dinner. Instead, McDonalds is a cheap and convenient alternative to keep the children satisfied and relieve some of the work load. The accessibility of fast food is one of the main causes parents allow their children to consume such foods.

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.

Zinczenko’s rhetorical comments on the fast food industry are spaced throughout his piece. Zinczenko also states that alternative options are hard to find when fast food is readily available. “Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit” (Zinczenko 463). This strong statement proves Zinczenko’s irritated tone throughout his piece. Zinczenko’s stand that the fast food industry is responsible for obesity.

In the essay David Zinczenko wrote about how fast food chains are making it easy for people to become obese especially in children. Zinczenko makes some very good points throughout his essay. At the beginning of his paper Zinczenko stated “I tend to sympathize with these portly, fast-food patrons, though. Maybe that’s because I use to be one of them.”

from McDonalds than a home cooked meal of baked fish with a Caesar salad on the side. A Big Mac cheeseburger alone is 550 calories and with French fries, that’s an extra 365 calories, compared to the baked fish and a salad which is only 324 calories combined. Mostly because they are too lazy to actually take out the time to prepare the meal for themselves. When cooking you have to keep checking to see if the foods done, take out certain supplies, and you have to stand up to cook, while at the drive-through you come in hungry and leave out full in less than ten minutes. After a long day of work, most people want to take the easy way out by going through the drive thru and ordering a combo. Take the easy road one night then slowly but surely it starts to become a habit, and that’s when lots of Americans find themselves in a fast food restaurant line almost every day. For example, my cousin works long hours as a nurse and when she gets off from work, she’s usually exhausted. She has a ten year old son who’s never had a home cooked meal from his mother. Nutrition experts have long identified the lack of home cooking as one of the factors contributing to the ongoing obesity crisis, including childhood obesity. My family always question my cousin about why she doesn’t cook and she always give us the same answer.

In his article, Zinczenko effectively communicates multiple aspects of what has shaped his view on fast food companies being responsible for the increasing levels of obesity. However, what he fails to mention is any other possible experiences people have had with eating fast food that are different from his own. Zinczenko recalls, “Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or Pizza Hut” (Zinczenko 241). Zinczenko lacks the reader being able to have a deeper understanding of the people that have or are dealing with the issues he is addressing in his article because he only uses his own personal experience. He does not mention or consider obese people who grew up

David states, “But where, exactly, are consumers-particular teenagers-supposed to find healthy alternatives? Drive down, and thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonalds restaurant. Now, drive back up to the block, and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit (463).” David’s point is that fast food restaurants don’t offer healthy alternatives, and there are several fast food restaurants in America which are tempting. While David has a decent point, he fails to convince me since Fast food restaurants offer healthy alternatives such as wraps, fruits, and salads. A fast food restaurant such as subway offers healthier options than McDonalds. There are similarly numerous grocery stores which sell nutritious vegetables, and fresh fruits. A grocery store such as food lion sells pre-made, and pre-packed salads, and wraps at a low-cost. It’s the consumer choice to either but a big packet of fries with coke or to eat a healthy grilled wrap with a cup of

In the piece “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko, he discusses the topic of fast food restaurants and the issues, as to why kids today are suing McDonalds for making them fat. In his article, he starts by recapitulate a familiar time from his past where he also suffered from fast food restaurants. Zinczenko was a latchkey kid who was at the age of 15 and weighed 212 pounds. As any child, he didn’t have much money. Therefore food options were very limited. It was either McDonalds, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. Pretty much the only affordable meals you could eat everyday and that are open late. Later on, Zinczenko went off to college. He got to join the Navy Reserves and be apart of a health magazine, teaching himself

In “Don’t Blame the Eater”, the writer, David Zinczenko, initially argues that those teens who are fat because of eating fast food from restaurants like McDonalds, should take responsibility for their obesity. He then sympathizes with the obese children by giving his own childhood example. His mother and father were usually away working and he had no other choice but to rely on fast food restaurants. He argues about the growing number of fast food chains, how FDA doesn’t take notice of the ingredients that are not mentioned on food packaging and how it is the responsibility of the parents to make sure that their children are eating right. He also argues that the money fast food chains like McDonalds are spending on advertising and targeting

So on the way to work they will buy dinner at a fast food restaurant. Places such as McDonalds's, Burger King, and Taco Bell have begun to appear on every street corner. Fast food restaurants made an appearance in America in the 1960's. They have not been around for very long and already the effects are destroying the health of the people in America. This is because people go to what to tastes good and these foods taste good to the kids. When their parents grew up a trip to grandmas for Sunday dinner was a treat and a variety from the meals at home. Today the treat is going out to a fast food restaurant. These foods are usually inexpensive, prepared for the person, and they taste good. The downside to these places is that their food is greasy and high in fat. Both of these are contributors to high blood pressure and high frequency of heart attacks among the American population.