Obesity: Fat People Lack Self-Control

1038 Words3 Pages

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States more than one-third of adults and one-sixth of children are obese. Over the next twenty years, these numbers will more than double. By the year 2020, obesity will be considered a normal thing, and a healthy weight will be the exception. Who is to blame for the increasing obese population? Some say fast food restaurants that are on every block in the city. Others say it is the obese people themselves because they do not know how to control themselves. Many major health conditions come with obesity and it is costing the government millions in healthcare to pay for others lack of self control.

Fast food contains high amounts of salt, sugar, fat, and preservatives. Americans in today’s society want food and they want it now. Manufacturers have figured this out and fill the food with many artificial and unhealthy chemicals. If a person saw what the food looked like in the pre processed state, one would most likely not buy it or eat it.

The additives and preservatives replace all the nutritional aspects in the food. Some of the food may taste great but lacks nutrition to maintain a healthy body and fast foods also may increase improper digestion. The ingredients found in processed foods are unfamiliar to the body. Our bodies store almost everything the digestive organs cannot process and turns this into fat tissue. Scientists believe this process may contribute to the development of obesity .

Calories found in sugary drinks and fried foods are often referred to as “empty calories.” This type of calorie is broken down at an excessive rate and causes blood sugar levels to spike. The body then sends out hunger signals causing one to eat mor...

... middle of paper ...

...but that does not prove that fast food franchises are the culprit. I believe the people are to blame for their own obesity. A single person can single out themselves to buy the food from a restaurant knowing the proper nutrition will not be in the food. It all comes down to common knowledge and self control. Many Americans lack both of these and it has resulted in a obesity epidemic.

Bibliography

Collins, Tracy Brown. Fast Food. Farmington Hills, Mi: Thomson Gale, 2005.

Perl, Lila. Junk Food, Fast Food, Health Food. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1980.

Phillips, Stone. "Who's to Blame for the U.S. Obesity Epidemic?" Dateline NBC, 2006: 1-9.

Rose, Caitlin. "Obesity in America." Down to Earth. 2011. (accessed 11 22, 2011).

Wexler, Barbara. Weight in America: Obesity, Eating Disorders, and Other Health Related Risks. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of David Zinczenko's Whose Fault Is Obesity

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    Obesity is a complex topic with many different branches. With things like weight loss pills, workout programs, and thousands of diet plans each claiming they 're the best, it can become overwhelming to decipher what the best option is without a tremendous amount of tedious research. This being said, it is often easier to put taking action towards obesity on the back burner with our increasingly busy lives. It is much easier to think "I 'll worry about it tomorrow" while chomping down on a greasy burger than it is to take the time to manage our schedules in an attempt to make time for the research hoping to produce change. With that being said, whose fault is obesity? Is it the companies producing the foods with little to

    Read More

  • What You Eat Is Your Business By Radley Balko

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ever since the creation of the golden arches, America has been suffering with one single problem, obesity. Obesity in America is getting worse, for nearly two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight. This obesity epidemic has become a normal since no one practices any type of active lifestyle. Of course this is a major problem and many wish it wasn 't in existence, but then we start to ask a major question. Who do we blame? There are two articles that discuss numerous sides of this question in their own unique way. “What You Eat is Your Business” by Radley Balko is better than “Don 't Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko due to its position in argument, opposition, and it’s reoccurrence in evidence.

    Read More

  • Obesity In Don T Blame The Eater By David Zinczenko

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. Everywhere you turn you can see a fast food restaurant. An industry that modestly began with very few hot dog and hamburger vendors now has become a multi-international industry selling its products to paying customers. Fast food can be found anywhere imaginable. Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive-through, at stadiums, airports, schools all over the nation. Surprisingly fast food can even be found at hospital cafeterias. In the past, people in the United States used to eat healthier and prepared food with their families. Today, many young people prefer to eat fast food such as high fat hamburgers, French-fries, fried chicken, or pizza in fast

    Read More

  • A Proposal to Reverse Obesity Rates

    1830 Words  | 4 Pages

    Obesity is a huge problem that needs to be resolved because it affects all people, unlike most issues. People of every gender, every age, and every race are at risk of being obese. Obesity rates in America have nearly doubled within the last twenty years. Something must be done not only to prevent obesity rates continuous rising, but also to dramatically increase the percentage of obese people in America altogether.

    Read More

  • Cultural Factors and America’s Obesity Epidemic

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    USA Today. Obesity in America Summary Statement: 2006. Available at http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/educate/challenge/2006winners/winner2-page1.htm. Accessed February 10, 2014.

    Read More

  • The Obesity Epidemic: Fast-food Companies Are to Blame

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.

    Read More

  • The Obesity Epidemic In The United States

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    The obesity epidemic is one of the most pressing issues at this point in both American society and U.S. public policy initiatives. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 35.9% of U.S. adults over the age of twenty are obese (CDC, 2013). The CDC further notes that 69.2% of U.S. adults twenty years of age and over are overweight (this percentage includes those who are obese). The obesity problem is not exclusive to the adults in the U.S. The CDC notes that 18.4% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 are currently obese (CDC, 2013). These statistics illustrate the severity of the obesity epidemic in this country, but what can be done to address or even correct this problem? Many people have proposed solutions, but few are as radical as the proposal from Michael Bloomberg (the New York City Mayor) in 2012.

    Read More

  • My Addiction to Sugar

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M. D., Ogden, C. L., & Curtin, L. R. (2010). Prevalence and trends in obesity among U.S. adults, 1999-2008. Journal of Medical Association. 303, 235-241.

    Read More

  • Fast Food: A Revolutionary Force In American Society

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scientists claim that the consumption of fast food leads to rapid weight gain, heart attacks, diabetes, reduced immunity, irreversible changes in the liver, raising the level of cholesterol in the blood. The fat contained in fast food, mainly consists of saturated fatty acids, which are deposited on the walls of blood vessels.

    Read More

  • Personal Responsibility And Obesity

    1808 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the United States, there are many people who believe that if it wasn’t for fast food restaurants, they would be eating healthier and wouldn’t be overweight. People have even tried to sue fast food restaurants for their own self esteem issues. It’s ironic that people actually blame fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s, for being obese. While fast food may be one of the contributors to the obesity outbreak, it certainly doesn’t stand alone. There are loads of reasons why people living in the United States are overweight. Some of these reasons involve dilemmas within the school arrangements, peer pressure, family genetics, educational issues, and even where a person lives. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion said that “Some illnesses may lead to obesity or weight gain. These may include Cushing's disease, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Drugs such as steroids and some antidepressants may also cause weight gain” (Overweight and Obesity, www.cdc.gov). Even though obesity has become a major problem in the United States today, the percentage in general, of obese human beings would definitely decrease if people would exercise more, eat healthier, and change their diets.

    Read More

  • Who Is The Blame For Obesity?

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    Put that burger down? Obesity is a public epidemic because it is rising by the day. Some people are so quick to blame the fast food industry like McDonalds, Burger King, and other firms claiming that these industry aide in creating a society in which it is encouraged to eat unhealthy food. So who really is to blame? While we are busy pointing our sticky finger at restaurants, grocery stores, farmers, or government policies, we need to focus on our individual self as the main cause of this increasing epidemic.

    Read More

  • Is Fast Food to Blame for Obesity?

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is fast food to blame for the growing obesity in America? Obesity affects more than half of the population. With so many Americans gaining weight and so many health problems the matter has to be addressed. There is no one would argue that obesity, especially the children is considered a problem. In any case the cause of childhood obesity is fought about daily. Many people will say that fast food restaurants are to blame. In my research, I will explain the argument that who is to blame for the obesity in America: fast food restaurants or common laziness from the obese society.

    Read More

  • Essay On American Food Culture

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    Which all provide either ready to eat food, or it will be ready really quick, hence the name “fast food”. The process they use to make the food is very efficient, so efficient it makes you question if the food is really food. All the food is processed, all made in a factory somewhere, using god knows what kind of ingredients, then frozen and shipped to all the restaurants over America. People say that Americans are becoming addicted to it, or are addicted with the efficiency of it. Being able to stop quick, get fast food and go on about their day with minimal time loss. Why not right? Why wouldn't you save your time, by simply grabbing some fast food? Being that it’s so efficient, there’s no way that it’s going to have the same health value as a home cooked meal. Most of these meals are high in fat, calories, and sodium; this is because they are prepared in factories with little regard for dietary

    Read More

  • The Bad Effects Of Junk Food And Health

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    How many people do you think these days eat junk food? Fast food is the food that is made fast and quickly. Everyone knows that food is the fuel for our body, it gives us the energy we need to start our mornings. But now a day people are eating fast food more than healthy and organic food. People are not aware of the bad effects of fast food on their bodies junk food is affecting the body negatively. Fast food has a lot of bad effects on the human’s body that we should all be aware of. Extra calories, affecting the brain negatively and Obesity.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Food Pyramid

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fast food products are oily, greasy, full of unnatural resources and doesn't contain healthy nutrition. In the article “20 Thing That Happen When You Eat Fast Food”Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, founder of Real Nutrition NYC says that “Your body is temporarily full with empty foods that don’t provide nourishment, so even though you may have eaten a lot of calories, you won’t be satisfied for long,” We think that we are filling ourselves up when we eat fast food as Amy Shapiro explains. It's like filling a balloon up with air it increases in volume, but inside there's nothing just like eating fast

    Read More

More about Obesity: Fat People Lack Self-Control

Open Document