Neoliberalism And Obesity

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

The main argument of this film is how the easy access to the fast foods, allied to the advertisement industry, lack of government action, and the person’s option for rapid and caloric meals are responsible for the most part of the American population is overweight with the tendency to get a sickness related to the obesity.

In the essay, “What You Eat is Your Business”, Radley Balko writes to tell his audience about how the government is trying to control people’s health and eating habits by restricting food, taxing high calorie food, and considering menu labeling. Balko includes in his essay that government restricting diets and having socialist insurance is not helping the obesity problem, but it is only making it worse because it not allowing people to take their health in to their own hands so they have no drive to lose weight or eat healthy. In his essay, Balko is targeting society, including those who may be obese, he is trying to show them that the laws our

According to Sam Dolnick in his article “The Obesity-Hunger Paradox,” majority of Americans have an incorrect view on what hunger and obesity actually look like in our country. Hunger, he describes, is seen in “ragged toddlers” and “rail-thin children” living in the dirty dark conditions caused by poverty (219). Obesity, on the other hand, gives a completely different picture filled with it’s own slew of negative stigma.

When it comes to the topic of obesity, most will readily agree that it is a growing dilemma. This argument has many writers bringing different responses. Two explanations are debated in What You Eat is Your Business by Radley Balko and Don’t Blame the Eater by David Zinczenko. Both pieces create a good stance on the topic of obesity. Balko’s piece, however, has a better all around flow, organization and consistency.

According to the media article, Whose Fault is our Fat? Obesity solely stems from Americans not participating in enough physical activity. On the other hand, Family Stressors and Child Obesity, attributes the stem of childhood obesity to stressors, particularly family stressors. Another possible explanation for obesity, other than Americans not getting enough physical activity or stressors, comes from the movie, watched in lecture, The Weight of the Nation. This movie makes the connection of rates of obesity to living in poverty areas. The movie also firmly believes that Americans are turning to quick, processed, and readily made meals, instead of healthy food options.

As many Americans know, there is currently an obesity epidemic that is sweeping the nation. With more food advertisements, bigger portion sizes, and Americans eating more calories than ever before; Linder makes his viewpoint very clear on how this is negatively affecting our nation. In his article “Fat of the Land”, Linder looks at all of the possible leading factors on who is to blame on the current situation in resulting of more than 60% of adults in America being overweight. The main contributing people to blame for the obesity epidemic is of course, the fast food industry. Linder’s main argument starts with his comparison of American’s calorie intake in the 1950’s, than comparing it to today. With stating the other side’s viewpoint on while advertisements and marketing are always surrounding the world around us; it is not forcing us to do anything. With his basic statement claiming that people will be people and at the end of the day, it’s their decision if they want to eat that 1,000 calorie filled Big Mac from McDonalds. Linder does a substantial job at informing the reader about the many dangers causing obesity, while also persuading them by giving tips to lead a well-balanced, healthier lifestyle.

One can imagine how obesity is taking over the world 's population, so rapidly and it is obvious that the United States of America has high rates of Obesity. Obesity, also known as overweight, is a serious epidemic disease that can cause harm to the systems of the body including the heart. Obesity is the biggest threat to the United State of America 's population and something urgent has to be done, otherwise our future generation is at stake. the parent of U.S kids should be aware that obesity is affecting health, has national consequences, and lead to depression in the victims. If something is not done fast to alter this misfortune, there is a high percentage that our future generation is at stake.

know over the past couple of years America has become one one of the most obese countries in the world and to be quite honest the reason for it are right in front of us. If you go out to McDonalds everything is so ridiculously cheap. From snack cakes to 12 pack sodas being less than 5.00 you can easily say that there is a problem in how we are going about this obesity problem in the United States today. To be honest how many of us can honestly say that we have never indulged in some type of our favorite food that was extremely cheap these days? I can answer that for you not very man at all. Upon further research I noticed that in 2012 a study showed that obesity rated have increased at a constant level and have stayed there for about a couple of years but even that is still unacceptable. The reason why that is unacceptable is because about 40 percent of all Americans are obese to this day that is twice the amount that is was about 30 years ago and it is still growing in outrageous numbers. Not only has that but the number of children being obese nearly tripled in that time frame to about 17 percent. So in all honesty, do you believe that we are doing enough to bring these ridiculous numbers? Do you believe America is doing enough to bring these numbers down? I will answer that for you a big fat NO because making food that is unhealthy for you extremely cheap and giving your kids anything they want to eat no matter what it is apparently is not working at all and it needs to

When it comes to the topic obesity, most of us readily agree that it is an extensive problem in America. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of the source of the cause. Tove Danovich, author of the book review, ‘Supersizing Urban America’: How U.S. Policies Encouraged Fast Food To Spend, writes about the perspective of Supersizing Urban America author, Chin Jou. Danovich is a graduate of NYU: Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, where she gained expertise in journalism and health. Danovich’s credentials allow her to compose the book review about Chin Jou’s book. Author, Chin Jou, is a professor at the University of Sydney, where she teaches American history (Danovich). Although Jou is an

In the article, the obesity era by David Berreby the main idea is that there are many alternative theories regarding the rise in obesity. Berreby believes weight gain is not the result of lack of exercise and poor diet. I agree with the author’s argument in regards to the effects of chemicals in the environment and lack of nutrients in fast foods, and other cheaply made food products, the artificial thermoneutral zone, and economical disposition of lower class.

An Obesity epidemic is disturbing the financial and social stability of the United States. As stated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “our modern environment has allowed these conditions to increase at alarming rates and become highly pressing health problems for our nation“(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Efforts made by authority figures have been enforced to solve this severe crisis. Obesity has become a concerning problem in the United States. This epidemic is interfering with the success of American citizens and it is also impacting the American economy negatively. The obesity epidemic endures negative impacts to the United States’ economy; even though others argue it is contributing to the economy through the growing weight loss industry.

Obesity is a big topic in American society, it has grown over the years and it has become very well known. It has become an American concern and the food industry has been an easy target to blame for this “epidemic”. The truth to this is that it can be easy to blame the fast food industry, but the real truth it is, that obesity has become what it is now because our society has let that happened; the government, the citizens, the food industry's. They have all played an important role to what it is now obese.

The sociological aspect of obesity shown through the impact of families, the government and the economy. The rapidly growing, fast-paced, technological society creates an epidemic of sorts. Families pursue the use of technology, restaurants and fast-paced eating as well as single parenting and parental denial. The government sets a significant health care cost to obesity, which prevents a solution and increases risks. A non-stable economy brings about a society filled with unemployment or multiple jobs as well as both parents working to stay above absolute or relative poverty leading to distractions from a healthy lifestyle. Obesity is a concern, not just for an individual but also for

Louise Townend in her research concerning the moralizing of obesity addresses the issue across a wide spectrum of categories such as economic, health and social policy. She enumerates the different social contexts of the obesity debate and begins by stating that obesity is no longer a trouble but an epidemic which is now a “significant issue for health and social policy, with major ramifications for general economic productivity across the globe”. (Townend) 2009: 3. She points out obesity is often associated with stigma such as laziness, dirtiness, illness and poverty (Townend, 2009). This connects the problem of obesity with the history of poverty and creates the question of why is laziness connected to obesity? And why does that consequently turn into poverty.