According to David Zinczenko in his essay “Don’t Blame the Eater”, he sympathizes with a group of children who are suing McDonalds for being the main contributing factor of making them fat. He takes the reader back to his own personal experiences as a 15 year old boy who had packed on 212 pounds due to having a very steady diet of fast food meals. He argues that part of the main problem is that there are no nutritional labels, or very little information regarding any nutritional information to be provided at these fast food restaurants. In his opinion, a person may order a salad and believe that they are being healthy by doing so, when in all reality, due to all of the processed added ingredients and high calorie salad dressings, this could be one of the most unhealthy foods to eat on the menu. Zinczenko also argues that this is due to the number of fast food restaurants around since when you “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 …show more content…
He believes this to be such a very real and serious issue especially with the increase of Type 2 diabetes and other diseases that are caused due to obesity. Going back to his own experiences as an over weight boy, or what he calls himself, a “1980’s latchkey kid,” he feels for other teens due to himself packing on so much weight on his “lanky 5-foot-10 frame.” Although it is not so prominently made known by Zincenko, he seems to be implying that the fast food industries should provide detailed food labels, and healthier food options, in order to put a halt to to this problem which is causing so many teenagers to have health problems, and that these cultural factors are causing obesity in
First Zinczenko starts off with stating how kids are suing fast food restaurant and how parents are outraged. He explains how he has been in there shoes, growing up with split parents is not always easy. He started to put on weight; thankfully, he joins the navy in college. In where he learns to manage his diet. Throughout the reading he points fingers at the company more and more. According to Zinczenko, “There are no calorie information charts on fast food packaging, the way there are on grocery items” (Zinczenko,463).In other words, Zinczenko believes, fast food restaurants should label their food; he compares them to how grocery items have nutrional
He begins by saying that while it may seem easy to avoid fast food and eat relatively balanced meals, it is easier to fall victim to than you may assume, based on life circumstances. His mother, for example, had custody of him after his parent’s divorce and was too busy working to provide for him to have time to shop for and prepare healthy meals. “Advertisements don 't carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do. Prepared foods aren 't covered under Food and Drug Administration labeling laws. Some fast-food purveyors will provide calorie information on request, but even that can be hard to understand.” is an example Zinczenko gives that even though consumers often times know fast food is bad for your body, but not to the full magnitude. These companies find loopholes to justify projecting calorie/content information that is either insufficient or perplexing enough that you would be forced to go to great lengths to uncover exactly how many calories are actually in your meal. Another one of his main points is the lack of alternative options. With a McDonalds on every corner and a busy schedule, it is almost inevitable to choose a drive thru burger rather than going into a grocery store to buy something you then later have to go through the trouble of preparing, especially for
Before that, Zinczenko was editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine as well as editorial director of Women’s Health magazine. He was able express his information about how there isn 't enough alternatives to lower the amount of citizens in the U.S that have diabetes and obesity. This is a portion from his essay that displays what he was trying to accomplish. Complicating the lack of alternatives is the lack of information about what, exactly, we 're consuming. There are no calorie information charts on fast-food packaging, the way there are on grocery items. Advertisements don 't carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do. With this Zinczenko was able to attract the readers attention and point to them a realization that gets the audience to look back and think about the last time they go to a fast food place and they don’t see any chart of the
As for David Zinczenko, he grew up on the infamous fast food diet that once saved his life when hunger struck due to the affordable prices restaurants had to offer. “Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut” (Zinczenko 462). These unhealthy habits eventually caught up to him and resulted in an unflattering weight gain. Fortunately, he went to college, connected with the Navy Reserves and also became associated with a health magazine in which he learned how to manage his diet. He didn’t stop there; in fact, he is president of Galvanized Brands, a global health and wellness media company and he is also the author of multiple books: Eat This, Not That and the Abs Diet series. The most remarkable part, he was able to recover and become healthy again unlike many others who have gone too far to make a comeback, therefore, becoming obese. In “Don’t Blame the Eater”, Zinczenko talks to those who are consuming the
In the beginning, Zinczecko begins his article by writing about his personal experience as an overweight child. “By age 15, I had packed 212 pounds of torpid teenage tallow on my once lacky 5-foot-10 frame.”(3). His use of personal evidence allows readers to know that his situation is relatable to many people like him, that is has a connection with the topic and that he is not being biased at all. In fact, his use of personal information serves as being ethos. “Then I got lucky. I went to college, joined the Navy Reserves and got involved with a health magazine.” (4) “Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice
Knowledge is power, the more the consumer knows about the food they are eating the healthier choices they’ll make. For instance, in McDonald’s Grilled Honey Mustard Snack Wrap and a small French fry, from McDonald’s is around $6.00 and contains 420 calories 24g of fat (6.0g saturated).If you were to compare that to a Big Mac meals that comes with medium size fries and coke soda would be about 980 calories the Snack Wrap would be a healthier alternative and it would be about the same price $6.00. When fast food chains put labels on their food like McDonald’s consumers can’t
Zinczenko’s argument summed up is that fast food restaurants are to blame for America’s obesity issues. He gives statistics that go over childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, diabetes cost of health care in the United States, and the number of McDonalds restaurants in the United states. The only thing that Zinczenko suggests to change is that he wants all fast food restaurants to post nutritional information, and he
To start off his argument, he uses pathos in the form of a narrative. He described himself “… as a typical … latchkey kid” (Zinczenko 462). In addition to this, he described his childhood as a drag, where his parents were both divorced. His father was working elsewhere, trying to rebuild his life after the failed marriage, while his mother was working long hours just to make the monthly bills (462). By using his personal experience, he substantiates to individuals who struggle with weight problems, due to eating fast-food, that the individual is not at fault for gaining so much
Zinczenko argues that it is not the consumers fault for putting themselves at risk of becoming obese or raising the chance of getting diabetes, but it is the fast-food companies fault for the lack of labeling their products with the nutritional information. While Balko argues that we as individuals should be held completely responsibly on whether or not one is choosing to put oneself at risk for obesity or type 2 diabetes. One should attain the consequences if the consumer chooses to drive to their preferred fast-food chain restaurant and place and order for an unhealthy meal. Likewise goes for the other way around, either way there are consequences for both, whether they be beneficial or not
Best selling author of Eat This, Not That, David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” blames the fast food industry for the growing rate of obesity in the United States. Zinczenko’s main idea is that fast food companies should have warning labels on all the food they supply. Zinczenko believes that since health labels are put on tobacco and preserved food product, fast food industries should put labels on today’s fast food. Discussions about the availability of fast food compared to healthier alternative were brought up as well. Zinczenko states that when looked at, a salad from a fast food restaurant could add up to half of someone’s daily calories (155). He believes that because of fast food, Americans are having more health risks, which includes an insane rise in diabetes. Some agree with Zinczenko saying fast food companies should be the ones responsible to show people the truth about their foods. On the other hand Radley Balko, a columnist for FoxNews.com, states that fast-food consumption ...
He begins his argument by commenting about kids suing McDonald’s for “making them fat” (Zinczenko 462). Zinczenko ponders the absurdity of this claim considering how food choices are based on personal responsibility. However, he then considers the overwhelming availability ratio of fast food to fresh food while sympathizing he was once obese himself (Zinczenko 462). Zinczenko uses the primary argument that fast food companies are deceiving consumers with misleading advertisement, hidden nutrition facts, and calorie risks. He believes companies are encouraging the public to eat their unhealthy foods by omitting alarming information and levying “good” deals. In consequence, fast food companies are increasing the chances of obesity and diabetes in consumers by stimulating poor eating
However, when creating fast food restaurants, the industries were not thinking about the negative effects such as obesity. Other than obesity, other harmful effects exist as well. Fast food restaurants serve unhealthy products such as greasy foods and artificial meat that lead to dietary health issues in many adults and children. A recent study showed that “Young children who are fed processed, nutrient-poor foods are likely to become unhealthy teenagers, and eventually unhealthy adults. Now twenty-three percent of teens in the U.S. are pre-diabetic or diabetic, 22% have high or borderline high LDL cholesterol levels, and 14% have hypertension or prehypertension”
David Zinczenko states numbers and facts that open the eyes of his reader along with state his position of how fast food states no warnings that it could make someone obese or develop type 2 diabetes. His first statement is telling his readers a little background about how fast food affected his life and how he was once obese because he consumed such meals. Zinczenko explains how the increase in diabetes (specially type 2) were linked to the high consumption of fast food meals. He then goes on to address how much money is being spent to help take care of the mass amount of children with type 2 diabetes, showing how the price has gone up substantially over the past couple decades. The author then claims how the restaurants don’t give any healthy alternative and how its easier to find a McDonalds in American than an healthy alternative such as fruit. To wrap up the article he shares how he feels that obese kids who sue these fast food restaurants have good ground to do so since these places don’t put warnings on their foods; From Zinczenko himself “I say, let the deep fried chips fa...
When researching McDonald’s through online sources, it is clear that nutrition is a major concern of the public visiting the fast-food chain. Secondary research conducted shows that there are several case studies and other secondary source searches around the same topic. McDonald’s has often been the center of nutritional attention within the fast-food industry. Secondary research shows that the restaurant has recently made changes to the American Happy Meal to reduce the amount of French fries offered and replace the portion with fruit (Strom, 2011). In a study conducted by McDonald’s a secondary source reports the meal cuts calories by 20% for the children’s meal (Strom, 2011). This is a critical move by the organization on children’s obesity is currently a hot topic within food chains and attention is driven by the Obama administration. Secondary research also shows that although the public has major health concerns with the food chain, profits are increasing during a high point of an economic recession (Dahan & Gittens, 2008). Acco...
Finally, besides of making healthy decisions, another key issue to examine is the lack of parental guidance in terms of Zinczenko’s argument that, especially for teenagers, unhealthy and fattening food is almost un-avoidable. It’s not all kids fault to eat junk food their parents are equally responsible for this problem as much as kids because can teach their kids from early age to not eat junk food. Most of our parents taught us that smoking and drinking is bad for us but never taught is that sugar is also bad as drinking and