Persuasive Essay On Obesity

Most Americans can agree that obesity is becoming a large problem in the United States. The obesity rate in the United States are at an all-time high and one of the highest in the world with “the prevalence of obesity among adults more than double from 13.4 percent in 1960 to 34.3 percent in 2008” (Abdukadirov and Marlow ). It is an epidemic much like the opioid crisis that continues to take its toll on the country and “the U.S. public considers obesity second only to cancer as the most serious health issue, with conditions closely related to obesity—diabetes and heart disease—tied for third” (Press). With the level that the obesity rate is at now, some citizens are calling for the government to come in and regulate food so that people do not

In modern times we rely on technology to guide us through the day with less and less physical interaction with the world that surrounds us. A recent survey found that “eight out of ten people cite too much TV and computer time as the most important reason for high rates of obesity, with easy access to cheap fast food and lack of desire or knowledge about how to control one’s weight as other major factors” (Press). A solution to this problem is that people should go outside, meet others in person instead of over a social media website, and for children to play games outside rather than over a video game console. Parents should put limits on the amount of time that their child can spend on electronics and engage with them in activities outside that require physical interaction. The current United States citizen is caught up inside of a technology craze that sees large technological advances each year. The survey taken also found that “there is strong support for government policies that would add more physical activity time in schools, provide information about healthy choices, and incentives to the food industry to produce healthier options” (Press). Schools should devote more of their resources in ensuring that each student spends an hour outside each day doing some type of engaging activity. This approach to the obesity crisis is the choice that best shows minimal government

Recent statistics show that “only a third of the public says government should be very involved in finding solutions to this country’s obesity problem” (Johnston). A major concern to policies going in place is that it would create more government control of the people and be a gateway to the government being able to completely control their citizens. While this may seem farfetched, it is still a feasible concern. Another concern about any policies that would come into place is their overall effectiveness in reducing obesity. Studies made on the effects of the policies “find that higher taxes do reduce obesity, but the effect is rather limited” (Abdukadirov and Marlow ). Another problem that was also found with these taxes on soda were that they didn’t affect the targeted group of heavy soda drinkers. Statistics show that “frequent soda drinkers buy lower-priced soda, engage in bulk discounted purchases, and brew more sweetened ice tea” (Abdukadirov and Marlow ). The issue with government policies being put in place is that “beyond being ineffective, there are serious harms from these state interventionist polices. Government policies are subject to intense lobbying by well-heeled interest groups, which can lead to results that are counterproductive to the problems they are trying to solve” (Abdukadirov and Marlow