The Surgeon General Summary

As the obesity rate in America increases, people are pointing fingers at the fast-food industry. Teenagers, with the help of their parents, have filed lawsuits blaming fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s for their own health problems. However, parents, not the fast-food companies, are to blame for the amount of overweight children that are present today. They are the ones who teach their children eating and exercising habits, they are the ones who let their young consume unhealthy foods, they are the ones who allow their children to watch television and play on the computer for hours on end, it is obviously the parents fault for obesity in youth.

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 years following the release of the first Surgeon-General’s report on tobacco use in 1964 have recorded successes and setbacks for public health officials. The report closely followed a release from the tobacco industry in 1954 titled “Frank Statement to Tobacco Users” which basically said that there was no cause for alarm. It rebutted the findings from a study on mice which showed the link between tobacco smoking and lung cancer. It insisted that there was not enough proof or evidence to state that there was a direct link between tobacco smoking and lung cancer.

Childhood obesity is a serious threat to the health of our nation. Currently, the obesity rates among children of every age are greatly higher than they were a generation ago. In the article “Physical Activity and Childhood Obesity: Strategies and Solutions for Schools and Parents” Green, Riley, and Hargrove state that “Today, more than 23 million U.S. children and adolescents are either obese or overweight” (915). The authors explain that overweight during childhood and adolescent years will greatly increase in cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and many other health concerns (915). As a nation, we need to reduce theses health issues in the future to prevent millions of young people from being affected. In addition, a generation ago, fast food was not a great concern for people’s health. Green, Riley, and Hargrove explain that today “the numbers of [obesity] has more than tripled since 1981” (915). Before 1981, fast food companies were not a social norm. So, since fast food has become a social norm, this has led to obesity and many other concerning health problems. I believe that obesity is the consequence of Americans eating too much unhealthy food and consuming portions that are too large. Following this further, obesity is creating more complex problems that are affecting the health of the next generation. In his article “Obesity- Is It a Disease or a Lifestyle Problem?” Kiener states “Each year, the obesity-related diseases kill an

Have you ever wondered what makes a Big Mac so delicious in such a short amount of time? McDonald’s can make your meal in the time it takes you to swerve around the corner of the drive-thru. This is why millions of Americans have stopped taking the time to make a home cooked meal when there is a fast food chain up the block that has dinner in five minutes for half the cost. With Americans so invested in technology, work, and school, many turn to these unhealthy choices to save time. This fast food epidemic has led to child obesity, adult obesity, and much more cases of diabetes. Now, children and even adults don’t know the normal food portions to eat or the correct diet to follow. This paper will go over three major fast food chains, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell, the statistics of child obesity, and the effect of unknown ingredients.

What started as a tasty snack to a consumer and an easy buck for the producer, had evolved into a national epidemic. Not only were American becoming obese, but fast food began to dominate the

United States(US) is most obese country in North America and has not taken effective measures to significantly dwindle down the obese or overweight population. Obesity is a condition where a person has built up body fat from food to the point where their weight can have negative effects on their health. Being overweight means a person weighs more than what is considered normal for the age, height and gender while being obese is a person having a Body Mass Index of over 30 pounds. If untreated the accumulated body fat can cause type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, for this reason the United States must take effective action to tackle down the obese population. A common myth is that people become obese because they chose to eat junk food and refuse to eat little to no healthy food with no self-control of their eating habits. The real truth is fast food companies sell unhealthy foods cheaper than healthy foods resulting in low income families and people on a tight budget to chose the cheaper food deal. The cheaper food deals combined with the rise of technology to make transportation easier than the 20th century and walking seem like a chore. The unfortunate phenomenon has made it the duty of the 18 to 25 year old, which from here on will be referred to as young adults, to set healthy examples for future generations while demanding that fast food businesses make healthy foods just as affordable as unhealthy food.

The children of this country are becoming super-sized. While the number of fast food restaurants across the country has increased, the number of obese children in the United States has dramatically risen, as well. Fast food has produced obesity in children through the concerted effort of companies to commercialize elementary and secondary schools, target their advertising towards kids, and decrease the nutritional value of their products.

The fast food industry is a thriving enterprise in America 's economy these days. One can find a fast food vendor on nearly every block, says David Zinczenko in his article "Don 't Blame the Eater". The article explains the growing expanse of the fast food industry and the subsequent number of nutritional food businesses declining, there by leaving the fast food industry responsible to provide adequate nutrition for countless numbers of young American adults. As well as sympathizing with a group of children suing McDonalds for apparently making them “fat’. As an obese child, David recalls the limited options of nutritional food in and outside of his household. With what seems like no other options, children all over America are now turning to fast food as a means of quick, cheap, and an inexpensive food alternative. Are there really no other options though? Fast foods presence in the neighborhood and poor nutritional makeup contribute to childhood obesity. Even though fast food chains should be held responsible for providing inadequate nutritional meals and inaccurate nutritional information, the reality is parents are responsible for instilling healthy eating habits into their children therefor combating child hood obesity. Both parents and fast food corporations are equally responsible for children’s obesity by over marketing and parents being irresponsible with their

Americans believe fast meals are beneficial because of the decrease of the prices. Consumers are mislead to assume that corporations want the best interest of the people, when in reality profit is all that matters. Obesity is a controversial topic which the public has divided to who is at fault for the obesity affect to the nation. Changes must be set in order to better educate young adults on nutrition and limit the intake of processed foods and deleterious foods saturated in fat.

The world has let itself go and has gained a belly due to the significant increase of obesity. Unfortunately, throughout the years, the cumulative average of people who have been considered obese has been on the rise. Within the last few decades, Americans have not obtained the knowledge of the foods that has been consumed on a daily basis and how unhealthy these foods can be to the body. In the past, most families did not really have the options of fast food that they have today. Now, instead of having a home cooked meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it is more convenient and easier for families to go get fast food. As women began to enter the working environment, they seeked out new ways for quicker and easier preparation which began the rise of the fast food industry. Society is seeking out the industries for blame but the consumer is to blame also. So who is at fault? Now it is time for the new generation to make a change. In

There are a variety of universal lessons that the reader can master. Predominantly, Fast food has changed our nation, in a way that we want convenient, cheap, fast, and appetizing food without caring about the fat aspect. According to the author, "In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion. Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music—combined." This is an indication that our nation has developed into an inconsiderate nation that doesn't show apprehension towards all the health issues that consumers consider a minor part in our daily lives. Another lesson that is acquired is, "It's not how much you eat, it's what you eat." The author points out that, "At the moment, the nation’s roughly 200,000 fast food restaurants are not subject to any oversight by federal health

In today’s society it is easy to get caught up into living a sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle. With new technologies, social media, etc, people are choosing to opt out of doing much active work and are choosing to do things from the comfort of their own bed or couch. Many people choose to enjoy the luxuries of online shopping, banking, mail, socializing, ordering food, games, and even dating! Additionally, United States citizens have fully embraced the fast food industry for some of the same reasons. It’s much easier and cheaper than buying groceries all of the time, so many families have adapted fast food to be the default choice for their everyday meals. Much of fast food is very unhealthy; full of saturated fat and sugars that can induce fatal diseases and illnesses. So although we are advancing as a nation when it comes to conventional living and technology, we are also seeing a dramatic decline in the amount of people who are living and leading healthy lifestyles and thus an increase in obesity. Diseases such as obesity can be prevented by simply making the right health choices. But what about those who don’t have a choice? What about the children? Today I’m going to go in to depth about childhood obesity, what it is, why it is concerning and what is being done about it.

Over the past 50 years, the way we eat has changed more than it had in the previous 10,000. Now, 60% of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight. The fast-food industry is highly responsible for today’s health epidemic. Some people choose to blame the government for not balancing individual rights, and the common good. However, the government is not forcing you to eat. You put yourself at risk of diet related health problems.

In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko claims that the frequent eating at fast food restaurants and having a shortage of healthier food alternative places is causing an obesity breakout throughout the United States. In comparison, Freedman’s claim contradicts everything the citizens are told and read about fast foods and processed foods from mass media. He believes citizens are informed by the media that processed food, junk food, and fast food restaurants are the cause of the obesity epidemic in America. Based on the facts they provide, Zinczenko and Freedman have a good argument; however, I believe it is the own person’s fault. Explaining his own experiences as a “1980’s latchkey kid,” Zinczenko describes how easy it is for teenagers to put on weight with a steady diet of fast food