The startling epidemic of rising obesity rates has caught everyone off guard considering that in the book “Obesity Dietary and Developmental Influences” it states that almost two-thirds of the current population is overweight or obese (Lopez 2). Considering that many adults and children are struggling with their weight, many experts try to pinpoint the exact culprit for the obesity rates and ways it can be diminished. The focus of this paper is to discuss who exactly is to blame for the rising obesity rates and different ways it could decrease based on certain author’s point of views. This is important because if the rates do not stop increasing, people will suffer whether its financially or medically. Many people often argue over which …show more content…
He starts his article by discussing his own personal experience of being overweight. He talks about how America’s health has been decreasing over time while discussing the diabetes percentages, easy access to fast food restaurants, and financial situations. He believes that people themselves should not be blamed because of the lack of alternatives opposed to the excess amount of fast food restaurants. He also discusses how fast food restaurants don’t not obviously place calorie information labels on the products they are selling as well as making them difficult to understand. Balko and Zinczenko tend to disagree with one another because Balko feels that it is the person themselves, but Zinczenko feels that the government is not fully responsible because it should teach self-wellness. Like Balko, Paul Heidenreich, who wrote “Healthy Lifestyles and Personal Responsibly” discussed how personal responsibility is important to have for a healthier lifestyle. He discusses how social responsibility is more well noticed because of the premiums and wellness programs installed in businesses. He talks about how he highly believes that obesity a personal responsibility, but it is the acknowledgement part that causes most people to have difficult time to realize that they are obese. Overall, many argue between whether it is the person themselves, not someone else’s fault for someone’s poor diet or unhealthy lifestyle, and that
Fed up is a documentary that investigates the recent obesity epidemic; the obesity epidemic is considered “recent” because there has been a steady rise in obese and overweight Americans since the 1980s. This film formulates its analysis of United States’ obesity epidemic by denouncing US politics and the food industry for their immensely adverse influence on America’s overall health. Moreover, there was also an emphasis on the science of obesity and childhood obesity.
“I couldn't open up a magazine, you couldn't read a newspaper, you couldn't turn on the TV without hearing about the obesity epidemic in America.” is a quote by Morgan Spurlock, that acutely describes the obesity problem going on in America. Any way one can want to talk about the problem, it will always be a huge dilemma throughout the United States. For a long time now, people have been discussing who is to blame for the obesity crisis going on. Some people prefer to blame the government, several blame the restaurants, others the parents and even the schools receive criticism for obesity. People should develop their own ideas on the obesity crisis and to figure out who is to blame and how to fix the problem.
A critical issue has arisen recently in the United States that obesity has become more prevalent than ever before. During the past 20 years, more than one-third of U.S. adults and approximately one-fifth of the children and adolescents has been considered to be overweight. It is undeniable that everyone will promptly concurs something must be done in order to solve this crisis. However, this accord often ends on a debate of whether or not being obese is our own fault and government should intervene in helping the situation. In my opinion, although we are somewhat responsible for our own health, we cannot totally blame on those obese people for being corpulent and the government should definitely get involved in alleviating this problem.
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.
The United States of America is known for having a high obesity level. According to David Frum from CNN, except for Mexicans, American citizens are more likely to become obese than any other nationality. Some obese countries have enforced an extra high tax on fast foods and other high calorie foods, and many people believe that the U.S. should adopt the fat tax as well. According to Dictionary.com, the fat tax is “a tax imposed on or proposed for high-fat or otherwise unhealthy foodstuffs”. Although a tax on junk food could reduce obesity, the low prices could protect low income families from going broke, and therefore a tax on junk food would not be beneficial to America.
As Americans we have made food not only a way to live but all help us with life events, whether emotional times or celebratory events we turn to food. However our society has been consumed with unhealthy food options readily available. This has in turn caused a huge medical epidemic in America. Obesity has and will put people at risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some types of cancer. More than one-third of American adults are obese (Ogden et al., 2012). By looking in depth at the obesity epidemic in America through the three major sociological perspectives (structural functionalist, social conflict, and symbolic interactionist) we are able to better discern this medical issue impacting the health of American people.
In the beginning, it was just a few grains of sand. Now, those grains have seemed to triple in amount. The 1960’s were great, as many might recall. New rock bands from other countries were jamming out making number one hits on the billboards. Times were actually changing in more than just that one way though. Hiding behind the curtains, an “epidemic,” was about to break out. Unlike many epidemics, this one only pertained to the United States. The United States of America is very unique in many ways compared to most other countries of the world. Ranging from activities and the way they live, to the way its government is ran and how different the means of education
Obesity in America is an epidemic people die from this deadly disease. As people of America, we first need to understand what does it really mean to be overweight and uncomfortable? Nutritionists classify people in today’s society as either underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese. Being obese is not just a cosmetic problem. It’s a health issue that needs to be solved. Excess body fat accumulated over a period of time is harmful and it hurts.imagine walking around holding a ten-pound weight every day, then a few weeks later that ten-pound weight turns into a 2o pound weight. That’s not a good feeling it’s very comfortable. Who wants to have shortness of breath heart problems, diabetes, wheelchair bound or bed bound? Let’s make a change for humanity and the next generations.
People all around the world suffer from overweight or obesity. Whether it from food choices or inactivity it all comes down to one thing the food industry. The food industry produces mass products that are shipped to grocery stores, than go to our homes, making them liable for some of weight gain and obesity in America.
The multitude of articles presented are each unique in their own way, highlighting some discussion of situations from different companies and brands to include General Mills, Coca Cola, Proctor & Gamble, Dr. Pepper, Oscar Meyer, Kraft and Frito Lay. Although each situation is unique, there are overriding questionable ethical issues. There are a number of ethical issues presented in the articles, but a few shared major issues which will be discussed.
As we all know America is obese. Americans are getting fatter and faster. Once it was considered obesity happened with high-income countries, but now it shows it is rising with the low and middle class countries. The reason for this is because our food supply and lifestyle are changing. Not only are food expensive, but we live in a very busy world. We have gotten used to buying food that are fast and cheap, which usually means unhealthy. We all cannot afford locally grown food which are healthier, so we turn to fast and cheap food which are usually fast food. Food that are there to serve and make us gain weight fast. Then add in our unhealthy lifestyle of sitting in front of the couch most of the time watching tv and probably eating, instead
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.
In the United States, a crisis is breaking out known as the Obesity epidemic. For the first time in history, it is possible for the children of this generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents. Millions of Americans are exposed to ads that are luring them into eating the cheap, fast food of billion dollar companies such as McDonald’s. Obesity has established itself as the fastest growing disease in the nation and continues to make an impact on the general population. The issue of Obesity is directly related to todays technology through television, cell phones, video games and all of sorts of new gadgets.
Obesity should not be an unknown term to the majority of the Americans as a significant percentage of the American population is obese. As the number of obese people skyrockets annually, obesity tends to be a major threat not just in America, but globally. The number of obese individuals has doubled in past four decades, probably by practicing the art of super-sizing (Marks). Obesity is a complex physical problem in which a person weighs 20% or more in addition to his normal body weight for given height and age and Body Mass Index (BMI) which includes those of 30 and
Being overweight, eating poorly, and not exercising are becoming an epidemic in America, especially among college students. Most of the research on it states the same things, however the first research article I found speaks more to the behavior and its current affects on college students’ health. A slew of doctors and Jesse S. Morrell wrote an article about “Risk Factors Among College Men and Women” in relationship to obesity. The opening of this article stated that “an estimated 300,000 deaths each year are attributable to obesity… and young adults have experienced dramatic increases in obesity rates,” (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). This statistic is what really got the research going and helped the researchers focus specifically on college-aged individuals. Upon diving into their research, the authors found more alarming statistics and related diseases. This included a recognizable relationship between obesity in young people and chronic disease risk, especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Morrell, 2012, pg. 82). In fact, CVD was the second leading cause of death in the US in that college-age group showing that our generation is at a greater risk for health problems than ever before due to our lack of exercise and healthy diets. Researchers then took to college campuses to examine students and their habits and provide risk assessments to promote healthier lifestyles and hopefully decrease the probability of CVD and DM through the metabolic syndrome system,