it’s an essay of who’s responsible for obesity in america… need help concluding
America, Home of the Fat
America, home of the free right? Wrong. America is one of the fattest nations in the world. We would think that one of the most productive and developed countries would be the healthiest. The truth however, is we are not. The question that is presented then, is who’s to blame? People always find it easier to point a finger and blame someone else. Americans are suing fast-food companies for “making them fat”, and such lawsuits are becoming more prevalent each day. Blaming the fast-food industry for obesity is like an alcoholic suing an alcohol company for giving them cirrhosis of the liver. Caesar Barber of Bronx, New York “filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Bronx Supreme Court, naming McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken” (<www.usatoday>) because he didn’t it was unhealthy. What has happened, to self control and personal responsibility? The individual and the parents are the ones to blame for American’s obesity.
It is a parent’s responsibility to care for their child and therefore they are also responsible for their health and what they consume. A parent would not let their child do drugs, so why do they allow them to overindulge on soft drinks and unhealthy food if they both harm your health. In The Battle Against Fast Food Begins At Home Daniel Weintraub states, “It is a parents – not the government, not the fast-food companies, not the video-game manufacturers – who are responsible for teaching kids healthy eating and exercising habits” (Weintraub42). Parents much teach children how to how to exercise and get involved in physical activities. If they fail to do so they are setting their children on a path of lifetime health problems. Many parents allow and approve their child’s sedentary behavior without thinking about the consequences. Eating junk food and playing video games everyday is not benefiting them in any way, and who is responsible to get them off the couch and shooting hoops? McDonalds, Burger King, Carl’s Jr, Jack in The Box? No, of course not. It is parent’s duty as the one who cares for the child. Some people may think companies lure kids into buying food with cartoons, truth is parents need to teach children how to look out for these marketing strategies companies use because that is something they will need to know when it comes to important choices in life, like choosing auto insurance, credit companies and so forth. If children obesity
An adult individual unlike a child can make independent decisions but Americans often make the wrong decisions when it comes to managing their diets. A trip to the market could save you money an unneeded calorie intake. You can cook your own meals and know what you’re eating and manage your caloric intake but Americans simply have become addicted to fast- food, and it is their lack of discipline that has made them so obese. Sue Widemark conveys in her article Reason for Obesity, that an attitude Americans seem to have is that of “Eating is some kind of pastime…and if we feel that we are denied a bit of this fatty and very unhealthy food which we crave, that we have no quality of life” (Widemark1). Folks simply do not know when enough is enough. In Obesity Epidemic: Overeating is to Blame Mark Fergusson explains “To return to the average weights of the 1970’s we would need to reverse the increased food intake about… 500 calories a day for adults.” An individual has nothing to blame but their carelessness of what they eat and their deficiency of self-control when it comes to how much they eat. Fast-food would not make anyone obese if it was eaten in moderation. Everyone knows that too much of anything is bad. David Zinczenko in his article Don’t Blame The Eater argues that when it comes to food “Advertisements Don’t carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do” but when do Americans plan on becoming responsible for looking for this information? Certainly people who follow healthy lifestyles would ask for calorie information about what they are going to consume and the rest must learn to do the same. Over-eating is definitely a main factor of American obesity. Now, combine A lifestyle of daily fast-food and inactive behavior and you are well on your way to becoming obese.
A person, who is not willing to stay active and yet, constantly eats fast food, cannot expect to be thin. Your body needs exercise not only to look good on the outside but to be healthy on the inside as well. No one neglect their body in a way that would damage their health, but that is exactly what they do when they gorge on greasy fries and soft drinks and do not exercise. Michael Lemonick in his article “How We Grew So Big” writes that “Fully two-thirds of US adults are officially overweight and half of those have graduated to full blown obesity” he
Thank you for your article. I was not knowing it earlier