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
In the essay, “Don’t Blame the Eater”, David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine, discusses the recent lawsuits against fast-food chains. He does not deny that there should be a sense of personal responsibility among the public, but has sympathy for the kid consumers because he used to be one. Zinczenko argues that due to the lack of nutritional facts and health warnings, it’s not so ridiculous to blame the fast-food industry for obesity problems.
In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, author David Zinczenko, the editor -in-chief of Men’s Health magazine comments on the lawsuit against McDonald’s which is initiated by the overweight children’s parents. He claims that fast-food industry should accept full responsibility for a serious public problem: leading American kids to obesity. Zinczenko supports his claim with his personal experience to show how the fast-food chains marketing on them with low price. He also said it is not easy for those obese kids to turn their lives back. He believes this should be considered as a public health problem because their obesity causes the society huge public health losses. Zinczenko insists that if fast-food industry doesn’t take actions quickly, it is only a matter of time for them to become the next tobacco industry.
Today, many people eat fast food instead of home made food. The reason is that fast food is fast, cheap and convenient. However, at the same time, fast food is contributing to a big social problem in the U.S., which is obesity, and recently some people are beginning to sue the fast food companies for causing their obesity. Should the fast food companies have responsibility for American's obesity? My answer for this argument is "No". I think that whether people eat fast food or not is an individual choice. There are many people who eat fast food, but aren't obese. They may do some exercises for burning calories, or try not to eat fast food as much as they can, caring for their health. Moreover, some fast food companies serve relatively
In addition, in David Zinczenko essay “Don’t Blame the Eater” he indicates unhealthy food places make it easy for kids to get to and are not warning kids about the food they eat. Kids often go for cheaper meals, which usually means going to some fast food place. David Zinczenko said that if you want something healthy, you may have to make a little farther drive for that (463). From 1994 to today childhood cases of Type 2 diabetes went up about 25 percent (Zinczenko 463). When eating at a fast food restaurant people cannot see how much calories they are consuming from their meals. Eating two meals a day from fast food places is not a good idea, because you will consume way more than you should be for calories. If you are trying to watch out for how much calories you have at a fast food place then you should make sure you are considering everything you order. Some places may tell you how many calories is in their burgers or nuggets, but that does not include any sauces you may want (Zinczenko 463-464). At this rate, more people will just become obese and/or have diabetes.
Who would have thought that people would start suing fast food corporations for making them fat or obese? Roughly 600,000 people have died due to obesity, such as heart failures. Fast food has been around since the 19th century. Lawyers have tried to file several lawsuits towards this. Not just Americans need to realize this. The situation should be an international problem to society. As a society, people need to wake up and become aware that obesity is killing nearly as many citizens as cigarettes are. 16 through 27 year olds need to do their best to prevent the consumptions of unhealthy foods. They’re the next generation, a change needs to occur. People are responsible for what they put in their own mouths. Fast food is getting popular by the day because of the cheap price that has its benefits. Consumers should eliminate the consumption of all unhealthy foods because it leads to obesity, heart failures, and diabetes.
According to his article, “The Battle Against Fast Food Begins In The Home”, the author, columnist and blogger Daniel Weintraub, argues parents, not fast-food companies or the government are responsible for their child's health and well being. Weintraub supports this claim by providing data from the Center For Public Health Advocacy on the subject of overweight schoolchildren, State law recommendations outlining nutritional standards, and his own experience with the problem. Weintraub intends to convince or persuade the parents or parent to accept the blame for their overweight child. From my standpoint, however, it is clear the
Fast food might be easy and cheap but people do not realize how harmful the food is for their bodies. The problem is the food that is served at these types of restaurants, especially McDonalds, are high in fat, salt, processed, and can have harmful ingredients included in the food. While home cooked food takes time to plan and make people know what they are eating, that isn’t the case at McDonalds: “McDonald’s burgers retain its fresh appearance for a very long time. This can easily fool customers who do not have a hint of this alteration in their burgers. The use of excessive preservatives is harmful for your health which McDonalds seems to overlook for gaining more and more
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
In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” by David Zinczenko he argues that it is not always the consumer's fault that they consume food that is bad for them. Zinczenko tells a story of how when he was growing up he practically lived off of fast food. His parents were divorced. His father was always trying to get his life together and his mother worked very long hours. Due to this he didn't have many other options besides McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell or Pizza Hut. Zinczenko shows how fast food restaurants are more available than healthier options. He writes “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.” Today Type 2 diabetes makes up at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in the United States. This is a shocking increase
In his article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues that today’s fast food chains fill the nutritional void in children’s lives left by their overtaxed working parents. With many parents working long hours and unable to supervise what their children eat, Zinczenko claims, children today regularly turn to low-cost, calorie-laden foods that the fast food chains are too eager to supply. When Zinczenko himself was a young boy, for example, and his single mother was away at work, he ate at Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and other chains on a regular basis, and ended up overweight. Zinzenko’s hope is that with the new spate of lawsuits against the food industry, other children with working
Fast food tastes best when they are fresh out of the restaurant. No matter how big the portion is, fast food can be hardly eaten as leftovers. So children have gradually trained their stomachs-adults likewise-to hold fattier, oily, sugary foods that come in super sizes. The initial issue seemed to be just being overweight and obese, as these children who consume more fatty foods than necessary grew up to be a fat generation of adults. But now, the fast food monster has grown bigger and wilder that it brings children critical health issues at much younger ages.
David Zinczenko introduced the concept in his article, "Don't Blame the Eater." He states that many frequent eaters of fast food are beginning to sue the franchise because they are now considered obese due to the fast food restaurant. Fast food industries are serving food high in calorie, cholesterol, and trans fat. They do giving the customer an option of eating healthy. David Zinczenko is correct in stating that fast food industries try to cover up the dangers of their food. It is hard to comprehend or even find a calorie chart in the restaurant. In their advertisements they shy away from the dangers of their food. However, placing a lawsuit on the company may be a little
“Research shows that this brand loyalty begins in children as young as two years old.” (mediaawareness) The reason this can be dangerous is because of the types of food our children eat. Foods like packaged cookies, salty soups, candy, and soda. The list runs much longer than this, but the reality is that these foods have things like added sugar, added salt, and trans fats that make the food taste “better”. Another really important fact to point out is that childhood obesity can be directly related to over consumption of fast foods. The average fast food cheeseburger contains about 500 calories. If you add an order of french fries then that is another 500 calories. Most active 5 year old children for example, should obtain about 1600 calories per day. So one meal from a fast food restaurant would equate to over half of the calories they should. (NCBI)