Is Fast Food The Enemy?

America is known for being one of the most obese countries in the world. Once you step foot in America, people can quickly find out why; everywhere you look there are a ton of fast food chains on nearly every block. Fast food to Americans is a quick, easy, and affordable way to get food. In the past Forty years, more than 160,000 fast food restaurants have opened in America (Pirello). This cheap and quick meal comes at a cost; according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDCP), more than 66 percent of Americans are overweight and obese. To make things worse, the CDCP notes that one third of children and adolescents are obese. David Zinczenko, the editor-in- chief of Men’s Health

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.

Did you know that “every day 1 in 4 Americans visit a fast food restaurant? If that’s not alarming to you, then consider this, left unabated, obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America.” (Clark, Charles) Fast food has become a part of American culture. With the way the world is today who wouldn’t want to eat somewhere that can have you in and out in five minutes for fewer than five dollars? It has been made very clear that Americans love to eat as we rank number one most years as the world’s most obese nation, but it’s not just America. In his documentary, Morgan Spurlock notes that, “Popular fast food chains like McDonalds, now operate in more than 126 countries in six continents having more than 31,000 restaurants globally.” (Spurlock 2004) The most alarming part about all of these statistics is the groups they most affect. The catchy advertisements and addictive qualities of the food is what has everyone coming back for more. Fast food companies advertisements targeting the young and lower classes are the cause for the obesity epidemic in America.

With the increase of fast food consumption and the growing rate of obesity, Americans are arguing if those who consume fast food products have only themselves to blame or the fast food companies for the growing rate of obesity and its health problems. The health of Americans has changed for the worse since the 70’s. The size of the food portions has increased and Americans are exercising less. This is evident in Americans 18-26 years old. These are the college kids who are away from home, working on their higher education and possibly a job at the same time, these college kids are too busy with all the work that needs to get done that these young adults don’t have time to cook themselves a home-cooked meal so they end up eating fast food meals. These

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.

Indeed, Obesity in America is a huge problem that continues to escalate due to fast food chains. Fast food places are everywhere and close range from one another. I don’t even have to walk more than a mile to get to a fast food place. According to Mandal, “Fast foods reduce the quality of diet and provide

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.

Obesity has grown into a rampant issue all over the United States, over the past few decades. Fast foods also have increased their outlets in the nation, in turn, depicting a success in the business venture. It is clear that fast foods have become quite cheap in comparison to healthy, homemade meals. Subsequently, people have turned to eat fast foods for economic reasons. Convenience is yet another reason behind people’s high indulgence in eating fast foods other than healthy, homemade meals. One does not need to prepare meals when dealing with fast foods; it is just a matter of walking into a fast food restaurant. However, the rampant feeding on fast foods in America has adverse effects that seem to affect even

Childhood and teenage obesity has been an issue in America for more than twenty years now. The percentage of obese children has nearly doubled in this time, according to the article “Is Your Kid Failing Lunch?”. Today’s generation of kids is recorded as the fattest generation in history. One of the main causes of this is believed to be fast food kids are exposed to every day in school lunches. Schools are now starting to serve fast food in their lunches as more kids demand it, causing an increase in the schools profit. Outside of that, Americans are currently spending more than $100 billion a year on fast food. Each day one in four Americans will eat at a fast food chain (Beaver). This is easy to believe as the global fast food industry spent

From 1960-62 to 2005-06 the number of obese Americans almost tripled from 13.4% to 35.1% (Weight-control Information Network 2). These two extreme upward trends might make a convincing case that the extra fast food intake has caused the hike in obesity rates, and it may very well be a good indication, but it is far from proof. Too many things have changed over the years, from the way the average American exercises, to the types of other food that people are consuming.

As the fast food world spread across the nation, obesity was shortly following in its footsteps. According to, “The History of the Fast Food Industry,” Since 1970 the amount of fast food restaurants have doubled, which equates to roughly 300,000 establishments in the United States. Ironically, 33.8% of the U.S. population is affected by obesity and 19% of children and young adults are also affected.

Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.

The fast food industry provides quick, cheap, and easy access to foods that in the customers opinion, is very delicious, and affordable, however this food which millions of people around the world are constantly consuming, could actually cause major health problems, and weight gain in the long run. Major fast food companies throughout the world know what they are doing when it comes to marketing towards all types of people. Some people will find numerous different things to blame for the epidemic of fast food making individuals overweight. In recent research on, or discussions of the fast food industry having an effect on people's health, a controversial issue has been raised, and that is the fact that this problem affects not only

Every day while sitting on the couch eat a burger, and soon many people learn what the obesity hype is all about. Fast food companies are advertising more food for less money with fast service. The media tends to change images for their target customers, to make the food more appealing to those that are watching. Laziness is one of the main causes of obesity in our country. Obesity in the United States is at a high due to the increasing fast food chains, media influence, and a lack of exercise. The idea of having a meal made for them in less than five minutes is somewhat exciting to the view of many individuals.” fast food firms introduced these alternative meals in response to changing consumer tastes”(Buchholz). Many fast food stores offer the customer fast service, and a great tasting meal. They provide their service with a smile and a meal that can cost less than 10 dollars. When people mix poor diet with poor

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