Weight On Obesity

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.

When the subject of fast food comes up, most people can agree that it is not the most efficient source of nutrition. Fast food is unhealthy and can be the cause of many serious health issues found in today's teens and adolescents. In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater” written by David Zinczenko, he argues that fast food chains fill the void in children's lives left by their exhausted, overworking parents. Many teens choose unhealthy eating choices because they are left alone for meals, fast food restaurants are easily accessible, and many teens are unaware of what they are consuming.

In America almost two thirds of the nation is overweight. That is about 79.6 million people who are obese. Fast food is without a doubt the problem why these statistics are so high. According to Shannon Brownlee, a journalist for the Sacramento Bee “ It’s Portion Distortion That Makes America Fat” she mentions how fast food corporations are luring buyers into their offers . In another article by David Weintraub “The Battle Against Fast Food Begins in the Home” he focus more on self responsibility rather than fast food restaurants being convenient everywhere you go. In America, the obesity epidemic is caused by the lack of parent not taking full responsibility for their childrens health, as well as fast food industries distorting portion sizes in order to make more

Ask any person on the street what is the one issue that consumes more than half of the nation and the answers will vary from cancer to the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Most Americans are blind to the modern day plague that consumes even the nation's youth. What is this black death that promises health complications in the future, obesity affects more than two-thirds of American adults and one-third of American children. The term obesity is defined as the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. The “American diet” of processed foods is the root of the problem. The nation's health conditions have declined since the 1970’s and reached an all time low in the early 2000’s. The solution lies within the 18-27 year olds of the country

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.

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

He claims that the prevalence of fast food and the lack of healthier food alternatives is causing an epidemic of teenage obesity in America. In his essay “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko notes “Drive down any thoroughfare in America, ... 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” (463). Zinczenko argues that there are no inexpensive and convenient alternatives to fast-food restaurants for teenagers. Especially for teenagers, unhealthy and fattening fast food

In the article “don’t blame the eater”, David Zinczenko focuses on the reason behind the obesity problem that the modern young generations are facing. According to him, the large chains of fast-food restaurants given their availability around the country and low prices are the ones causing this problem. He brings in his own life experience and tells the story of becoming a 212 pound teenager highlighting that he had to rely on these fast food chains for everyday meal. With a single mother, who worked long hours he had no other alternatives to this like many other American teens. The lack of information about the calorie content of the dishes on these restaurants was one other main concern. Most of these restaurants do not provide enough data about the calorie content of their dishes, and even if they do so its mostly vague and deceiving. To show the gravity of the problem he pulls out a statistics of an increase of 30% in type 2 diabetes resulting in an expense of hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare. Zinczenko implies that this impact is as serious as smoking. Hence, fast food should have a warning label to raise awareness among the consumers. He addresses these food chains as vulnerable and warns these restaurants that they will find themselves in trouble unless they look out for their consumers. He also adds the further effects these food habits can have in our society.

Fast food, in today’s society, has become a major part of individuals’ lives. For it’s easy, quick and cheap food. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically it is referred to as low quality, prepackaged foods that have little preparation time. Through further research of fast food restaurants and their role in the obesity epidemic in America, it lead to further conclusions on the need for changes that must be done in order to combat obesity. There are, however, multiple individuals who feel that the fast food industry is simply taking a toll on Americans and their health. For instance, the article “Don’t blame the Eater” explains the battle of fast food chains in America, and the major causes of this epidemic. Obesity in America, costs the United States about 147 billion dollars annually. In a recent article, Author Eric Finkelstein, a researcher for Triangle Park conducted a study in which explains the multiple causes and affects of fast food chains and its role in creating an unhealthy society. Considerably, “The Effect of Fast food Restaurants on Obesity”, an in depth article written by authors Janet Currie, Stefano DellaVigna, Enrico Moretti and Vikram Pathania, share their studies and findings on how fast food chains are indeed a major player in obesity across the country, as well as a leading player in the up rise in health related illnesses. There is a connection between neighborhood scarcity and fast food industries.

America, like any other country, has its assortment of problems: immigration, debt, or foreign affairs but one issue that is rather hard to overlook, literally, its obesity epidemic. The extra pounds have become a sight all too common in America’s society, “men are now on average seventeen pounds heavier than they were in the late seventies, and for women that figure is even higher: nineteen pounds.” (Kolbert). Obesity does not just affect adults in this way either, the kid population has been getting bigger, according to the numbers on a scale “the proportion of overweight children, age six to eleven, has more than doubled, while the proportion of overweight adolescents, age twelve to nineteen, has more than tripled.” (Kolbert). This issue has been a major concern to doctors and scientists for decades and in recent years, has even has the American Medical Association recognizing obesity to be a disease (Pollack). That is a highly debatable statement because obesity itself is a preventable lifestyle. Obesity is avoidable and curable to all (or at least most) of its sufferers. For some citizens, obesity is not a choice, rather genetics, but for the majority of the population, obesity is caused by an unhealthy diet and lazy lifestyle, and for these certain individuals, through a lot of work and discipline, the return to a healthy lifestyle is not as impossible as it may appear.

In 2012 CDC statistics show that “over 35 percent of adults and 32 percent of children in the United States of America are recorded as obese (30kg/m2), the obesity rate has doubled since 1971.1” Not only is epidemic growing in numbers of victims but also in expenses. The United States spent 147 billion dollars in 2008 on medical expenses costs and that does not include the programs that fight against the problem. “In 2003 over 300,000 died due to obesity related health problems, diseases and cancers.6” One of the most important battles we wage on American soil is the war for citizens to be fit, and it nearly always starts in the childhood. Since 1971 the problem of childhood and adult obesity started to grow annually due to many reasons related to our ways of living. Now the food industry, including fast food has been getting more and more unhealthy due to unnatural modifications. What Americans eat is not organic anymore and is taking its toll on American lifestyle. The fast food industry has been making advertisements and foods focused upon youth. Since the original commercials directed towards children, it has nearly tripled since the rise of technology. Technology has been growing rapidly as obesity is, statistics show that with the advancement of technology, the population starts to slow down, stop exercising and eating healthier foods. As long as there is childhood obesity, there will be adult obesity, with effects on children causing obesity, there will be a

Obesity is one of America’s problems that we struggle with every day. Even other countries see America for obesity and how much junk food and pop we consume. Our first lady is even trying to help fix this problem. Schools are gaining healthy lunches and changing up a few things in how make what school’s eat. That’s a great step, but you can always avoid school lunches. I know that people can’t force people to eat healthy. But I realize that how we are is really not anyone’s fault, except ours. Obesity is how much self control people have and how we handle our food options.

The United States as a nation is struggling tremendously with high an outrageous obesity rate. According to the documentary “Weight of the Nation,” obesity is number five out of the ten leading causes of death. The lifestyle in the United States has become a “norm” that has to be changed quickly. It is imperative that we as adults draw into our youth the importance of eating healthy. We as people are in control of our own health and can prevent ourselves from getting chronic diseases such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

In today's society, fast food has become a large part of many American's lives. With the rising numbers of obese people, it is hard not to draw a correlation between the increase in fast food and obesity. Most obese people don’t want to be obese and wish they could lose weight, yet they continue to struggle with their fast food intake and obesity. This is due to the advertising done on the consumers, the highly addictive food itself, and most importantly, how advertising and addiction combine with children to form habits that are kept once they become adults. These factors are the reasons that fast food restaurants are to blame for the rising obesity and health risks across America. The government needs to step in and place regulations on

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