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Government and food industry
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Most people say that the government’s role, in our diets, is the key for a healthier life. While others may argue that it is freedom of choice to eat whatever we want. However depending on the point of view, the government’s role in shaping what we consume is either a compulsory intervention or a blatant interference on American free will. Even though we hear a good argument on the government controlling our diets, most research show that the involvement of the government on our diets has shown little to no results.
The most supportive argument why people are in an agreement with the government controlling what we eat is because of all the obese people in the country with medical problems. In fact obesity is one of the many problems society faces today. In addition, it causes many medical issues and affects everyone in the nation. It is estimated that “more than one third of U.S adults (35.7%) are obese” (Overweight and Obesity) As a result, “the federal government has made the prevention and treatment of obesity a major part of its campaign to improve the health of America by launching a series of initiatives that are likely to have a long-term impact on stemming the tide of obesity in this country”. (Arvantes) This influence indicated directing people what to eat a certain way or expressing prohibiting or banning the consumption of certain foods. For example; one government solution was cutting farmed subsidies. The aim for cutting down on farmed subsidies was for Americans to enjoy reliable and affordable access of food without the expensive, such as fruits and vegetables. Another solution was reducing portion sizes to cut down on energy intake. Others solutions included taxing sweetened beverages such as carbonated soda, c...
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...uld Government Play in Combating Obesity." The Wall Street Journal. N.p., 21 April 2013. Web. 7 Nov 2013. .
Marlow, Michael, and Sherzod Abdukadirov. "Government Intervention Will Not Solve Our Obesity Problem." U.S. News & World Report. N.p., 5 June 2012. Web. 7 Nov 2013. .
"Overweight and Obesity." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . N.p., 16 Aug 2013. Web. 12 Nov 2013. .
"What Causes Obesity?." Stanford Hospital & Clinics Stanford Hospital & Clinics . N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov 2013. .
In “Bad Food” – What’s the Best Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables”, Mark Bittman suggests that the people of America should stop eating unhealthy foods so often. In the article, Bittman tells his audience that people with “heart disease, diabetes and cancer are all in large part caused by the standard American Diet” (page 35). He also states that eating healthy can result in a better health care system, saving millions of lives. The big issue is Americans eating unhealthy every day, but proposing a plan to help stop it from happening.
In his essay “The American Paradox”, Michael Pollan illustrates his conclusion that Americans who focus on nutrition have a higher probability of decreasing their well-being. Pollan defines the American paradox as “a notably unhealthy population preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthily.” For most of our human history, our parents and culture have influenced our diet. However, today the idea of what to eat has been based on the opinions of scientists, food markets, and nutritionists. I agree with Pollan’s argument that being preoccupied with what we eat makes us unhealthy, however, we need a balance and a sense of responsibility in what we eat.
In his article, “What You Eat Is Your Business” Balko contends that government intervention is the wrong way to fight obesity. Rather, each individual should be held responsible for their own actions (Balko 467). This assertion is made through lines of deductive reasoning. He starts this argument by first arguing that former President Bush reserved $200 million in an anti-obesity budget that will foster measures to prevent and reduce obesity (467). Following that, he referred to some politicians trying to put a “‘fat tax’ on high-calorie food” (467).
Richard Balko and Mary Maxfield discuss personal responsibility, and choices in one’s health in their essays “What You Eat Is Your Business,” and “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating” respectively. Balko feels the government should not intervene in people’s food intake because it is an individual preference. Instead, Balko asserts that the government should foster a program to assist the American people to take on personal responsibility and ownership of their own health. Similarly, Maxfield paints the same picture that our culture now finds it immoral to eat what our body needs, therefore believing in the idea of eating less is healthier. Maxfield points out the multi-billion dollar campaign of corporations into advertising false hope into consumers by buying into eradication of fatness. Why has food have suddenly become a risky subject at the dinner table? And who is to blame? Is it everyone else or do we blame ourselves?
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Engler, Yves. “Obesity: much of the Responsibility Lies with Corporations.” They Say I Say. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York. W.W. Norton, 2009. 172-181. Print.
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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.
Radley Balko, The author of the essay “What You Eat is Your Business”, would agree that in order to stop obesity, we must turn this public problem around and make it everyone’s individual responsibility. Instead of inflicting the importance of personal ownership, government officials, politicians and congress make obesity a public problem by prohibiting junk food in school vending machines, federal funding for new bike trails and sidewalks, and restrictive food marketing to children. Overall I agree that this manipulation of food options is not the proper way to fight obesity, however, I think that government should inform people about the food they are eating because then they have no excuses for not taking responsibility of the actions.
The relationship between obesity and health has been a major factor in drawing national attention to the growing prevalence of obesity. As the second leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, obesity claims approximately 300,000 lives each year (Salinsky & Scott, 2003). Obesity is strongly associated with multiple chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, type 2diabetes, and with some forms of cancer, such as uterine, gall bladder, breast, colon, and kidney. Other conditions, such as sleep apnea, asthma, arthritis, reproductive complications, and psychological disorders such as depression, can be attributed to obesity as well. Obese individuals have a 50 percent to 100 percent increased risk of death from all causes, compared with normal-weight individuals. Most of the increased risk is due to cardiovascular issues.
Metcalf, T., & Metcalf, G. (Eds.). (2008). Perspectives on Diseases and Disorders: Obesity. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Cengage Learning
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity now ranks as the 10th most important health problem in the world (“Obesity Seen as a Global Problem”). Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Centers for Disease Control and Protection estimates that obesity contributed to the deaths of 112,000 Americans in 2000 (“Obesity in the U.S. Fast”). It is estimated that annual medical care cost of obesity are as high as $147 billion (“Obesity in the U.S. Fast”). Government-provided food stamps are often expended on junk or fast food, because it tends to be less expensive than fresh or cook food. Governments fund producers of meat and dairy products to keep prices low. For now, governments are taking a smarter and more productive approach through regulation, and by working with manufacturers.
The government must have a say in our diets. Because the issues of obesity have already reached national scales, because the costs of obesity and related health issues have gone far beyond reasonable limits, and because fighting nutritional issues is impossible without fighting poverty and other social issues, the government should control the range and the amount of available foods. The cost of healthier foods should decrease. The access to harmful foods should be limited. In this way, the government will be able to initiate a major shift in nutritional behaviors and attitudes in society.
Recent studies have shown that these increases in extreme obesity rates are not specific to a certain population, but are rather an integral part of the weight distribution in the USA, and the more extreme the obesity, the higher the rate of growth [4]. Thus, the public health concerns associated with this growth are of extreme importance given that those who are obese in any form are much more likely to suffer from obesity comorbidities including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, asthma, sleep apnea, and stroke. (Ginny Garcia, Ph.D. & Thankam S. Sunil, Ph.D. & Pedro