Parents walk out of the doctor’s office with their kids, they have been told the news of their children’s health concerns. They are at risk of getting diabetes and high blood pressure from being overly obese for their age. As their parents are driving they discuss their kid’s health situation, trying to figure out why they’re obese if they eat perfectly healthy for being a kid with a kid-speed metabolism. While they’re arguing they drive in to the golden arch and stop at the black box that asks, “Welcome to McDonalds may I take your order” and as they argue they order their kids each a Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, hot fudge sundae with large fries and a diet coke. As the man pays for the meal his wife is arguing how they only eat what’s best for …show more content…
They work hard to protect their kids and teach them about the bad things they need to watch out from like drugs, alcohol and even stranger danger but the one thing they fail at protecting them from, are health concerns. Parents are supposed to advocate their kids eating choices and stop them from harming themselves and their health. When parents fail at advising their kids of good eating habits they put their well-being at jeopardy. It becomes sadder to hear that parents have become too lazy to stop it. Nowadays if a parent doesn’t want to cook a nice meal they go a few blocks down and pick something up at a nearby fast food joint. The excuse they use today is ridiculous, because they don’t want to cook they aren’t giving their kids the nutritional value they need. Society tends to forget the fact that parents are in charge of their kids and what decisions to make and yet they still think the blame for obesity in children should be put on the companies. Wolfson and her comrades stated, “Parents play the primary role in influencing and guiding their children and, indeed, have a vested legal responsibility to do so” (Wolfson et al. 75). Something in today’s society that is ignored. Not only do parents not choose to cook but also don’t try to help in fixing bad habits. Kokkonen states, “the guideline is that parents play a key role in children’s fatness, but it …show more content…
People also believe that they are the cause behind obesity increasing because there are a lot of fast food buildings being built near neighborhoods. Davis states, “communities are beginning to look to zoning regulations as a means to curb the influence of restaurants serving fattening, high-caloric food at great speed and low prices” (Davis 259). People want to make a case blaming the companies because they are creating more buildings near homes but in no way have the companies forced customers inside their buildings or drive through and demanded they buy their product. It goes with the same concept of malls and shopping centers, they are there for the ones who choose and want to enter, restaurants share the same notion. Nobody is forced to enter a restaurant yet still blame them for being
Hype words like ‘epidemic’ have been used to stress the relevance of obesity in today’s generation. The situation has been mainly accredited to poor parenting as well as the accessibility of high sugar and low quality food in developmental stages. However, this issue is not limited to cost and upbringing. It is crucial for parents to be aware of the media that exists encouraging children to partake in challenges similar to what is seen on Man v. Food.
In the discussion of child obesity, one controversial predicament has been that, whether parents are being responsible enough, and are the ones to be blamed for their child’s health, and most important of all, their nutrition. In which they need to be held accountable for their decision making, towards their child’s healthy lifestyle. On the other hand, supporters, and those in favor of this specific idea, suggest that parents, and the newly parenting, has is it that, it must be mandatory that they must have the knowledge, and be aware of expert advice that’s available to them, and going out seeking for that type of professional help. But on the contrary, they all disagree with this whole concept, in which the other supporters want to see take
It is apparent that living an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as eating poorly, negatively affects one’s health. From a young age it is quickly learned which foods are considered healthful as opposed to junk food. It is a parents responsibility to supervise the intake of their child's food, however there is a higher risk than ever before of childhood obesity.
Parents always want what is best for their children. They strive to provide for them, teach them, and to watch them grow into healthy, loving individuals. Despite this many parents continue to foster a habit that may prevent the goal of good health, unhealthy eating. Americans today consume too much fat, sugar, and food in general and its shows; rates of obesity and weight/diet related diseases such as diabetes are extremely high. In order to slow and eventually put a stop to this trend parents need to not only be aware and informed, but also need to take action and institute healthy eating habits from the very beginning.
...clude, obesity epidemic in America has become a real threat for the American children and first who can stop it are the parents” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic)
Most government officials see obesity as a public health issue and provide a quick fix. However, obesity is a personal issue which can be improved through education and the incorporation of personal responsibility. Radley Balko, a policy analyst and a columnist for Fox News, wrote the article, “Are You Responsible for Your Own Weight?” This article supports the argument for a change in the government’s involvement combating obesity. “Instead of intervening in the array of food options available to Americans, our government ought to be working to foster a personal sense of responsibility for our health and well-being (Balko 113). In other words, the government needs to be focusing on an individuals personal responsibility for their own weight, rather than creating proposals. The proposals enforced by the government restricts our choice to pick what we eat when instead they could come at the issue through educating a personal responsibility aspect. In addition, many people blame fast food corporation for rising obesity rates, but it is more a collective issue. Pierce Hollingsworth, vice president of Custom Media at Stagnito Media a publishing company focusing on the food and packing industry, wrote the article “The Food Industry Is Not to Blame for Obesity.” Hollingsworth said, “Making the food industry into villains over-simplifies a very complicated problem and deflects blame from parents and schools, who should be teaching children the values of physical activity and personal responsibility”(Hollingsworth 28). This means that both parents and schools are needed to foster this personal responsibility into students. Just as parents and schools are implementing this idea the government should support this sense of responsibility to combat obesity. Personal responsibility
An eating disorder is a serious health condition involving extremely unhealthy dietary habits. There are a number of accepted eating disorder treatments that depend on the symptoms and severity of the illness. The most effective treatments involve both psychological as well as physical issues with the ultimate goal being a healthy dietary lifestyle. The team approach to treatment involves professionals with experience in eating disorders that usually includes a medical provider, mental health workers, registered dieticians and case managers. These individuals work together in hopes of avoiding a life threatening situation.
Parents have always known about obesity and what the affects obesity has on people. Although parents have known about this preventable disease, they are just now becoming more aware about what is happening to their own children. Now they want to start pointing fingers as to why these young children are becoming obese; nobody wants to take the blame for putting these young lives at risk. “Greenbalt states in his article that obesity is becoming an epidemic that there is about 300,000 children each year that die because they are overweight....
Obesity is a rising concern in society today. The number of obese or overweight children has received more attention as the number has doubled in the last three decades (Hotakainen). As children are becoming more susceptible to life-threatening diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, society has continued to grow concerned (Oliver). As the number continues to rise, the search for potential causes has begun. While many want to blame the caregivers, they are not the potential problem. Although parents should monitor their children’s weight, they are vulnerable to society’s (power) pressures and demands. The unhealthy school lunches, weak physical education programs, and convincing food advertisements are to blame for the high obesity rate in children today.
I don’t agree that parents are completely to blame for their child’s obesity; but they should take some of the blame. They share some of the blame because they let their kids sit around doing nothing and they don’t take the time to actually cook healthy foods and prefer to just buy their kids fast food, and others don’t make them stay active and in shape. An article online that I was reading was saying “couch potato lifestyles, watching t.v, playing computer games and surfing
Fast food is one of the most controversial topics; most people tend to blame fast food industries because of their obesity or a disease they got, and never hold responsibility for their own action.
Daniel Weintraub, in his article, "The battle against fast food begins in the home", proclaimed that parents are to blame for childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is important because it affects 26 percent of school children. We should care about obesity in children because if parents take responsibility for their children’s unhealthy lifestyle then obesity wouldn 't be very common throughout children. Basically, what is at stake here is he many risk factors of childhood obesity, such as diabetes and stroke. My discussion will address the fact that initially parents are the ones who are supposed to instill good eating habits, encourage physical activities, and to serve as role models for their children.
One the biggest problems we deal with today, especially in America is obesity. More specifically our younger generation. The number of obese children has risen dramatically in the last couple decades and doesn’t seem to be getting any better. With fast food restaurants popping up around every corner it’s hard not to see why we are a fat country and why our children will grow up to be obese. But who is to blame for this rise in obesity with in our young children, the parent? The fast food chains? Society in general? In the past years we seen a shift in how younger people interact with one another, from spending the day outside and playing to staying at home starring at a television all day. The impact of childhood obesity doesn’t just impact the lives of them but of everyone as it is responsible for around 14.1 billion dollars in direct medical costs ("McDonald’s Shareholder Proposal No. 7." xx-xx). The way we treat our children has also taken a dramatic change as well in the way we discipline them and allow them to engage one another in social situation. All these impact the problems that we are dealing with today when it comes to obesity in young children. But together we can help change how children grew up and keep them healthy and living longer lives.
Is fast food to blame for more obese Americans? Fast food restaurants advertise all their ingredients in plain sight. They provide healthy options to their more popular foods such as grilled items, skinless options, low calorie/no calorie beverages, and small portion orders. Most obese Americans are overweight because they are uneducated about the dangers of fast food. Once they learn about eating healthy, managing overweight issues becomes more elementary. Fast food restaurants should not be blamed for America 's obesity issue because there are healthier options, self-discipline, and self responsibility for each individual.
The United States is one of the most obese countries in the world. This shows us that many people look towards food to fill voids, to de-stress themselves, for convenience, and for various other reasons. This also shows that countless Americans do not try to stop their bad habits until it is too late. This highlights that many of them have the mentality of “it won’t happen to me”. When they do develop a disease, or become obese they wish they would’ve done something about it. This also brings up the issue of many generations acting and thinking this way due to their parents’ lack of knowledge and understanding. This causes their children to grow up thinking and acting the same way towards food and potentially walking the same path as their parents did with food. Obesity has become a growing infection plaguing the world and its children. A simple forty-five-minute exercise everyday can reduce the risk of heart disease, a disease in which I struggle with daily and has become a never ending battle. If American’s would make eating properly and exercising regularly a priority, their lives would be