StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurants for Obesity - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurants for Obesity" states that fast food is not even a primary cause for all the problems. A sedentary lifestyle, genetic predisposition, and overeating of almost anything, not just fast food are what make most people obese…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.3% of users find it useful
Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurants for Obesity
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurants for Obesity"

2nd December, Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity? When is it individualresponsibility and when is it appropriate to place blame? If we sit back and compare our life with that of our ancestors, we would realize that we are more equipped with technology and resources than they were. However, when It comes to personal health and physical activity, we all seem to be getting in worse shape day by day and mostly one world explains it, Obesity. World health organization defines obesity as, “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.” In technical terms it is measured by Body Mass Index which considers height and weight as two factors for calculation. A person having BMI 25 to 30 is overweight and BMI above that would be calculated as obese. Obesity is a major risk factor for several diseases which include cardiovascular problems, Diabetes, Gall stone and is a major health concern today. Working for BBC, Ray Dunne came up with some alarming statistics. The numbers around 300m people worldwide are obese, one in three American adults is obese and one in four Britons is obese. Obesity is estimated to cost the US $75bn annually. Obesity can reduce life expectancy by up to nine years and poor diet and a lack of exercise killed 400,000 Americans in 2000. These are some jaw dropping an alarming factors but the big question that needs to be asked in who is responsible for all this and who is to be put at blame? Last couple of decades showed a rapid growth of corporate world and so did the world of ‘food chain’ business came up. Now there are thousands of food chains all over the world and MacDonald’s being a leading industry in that. In 2003, Jazlyn Bradley aged 19 and Ashley Pelman aged 14, unable to resist the temptation of MacDonald’s and weighing 270 pounds and 170 pounds respectively sued MacDonald for making them obese. They argued that they didn’t know about the food ingredients and their father said that he always thought MacDonald’s was good for his children’s health. The court didn’t seem to agree and said that, "Its not the place of the law to protect them against their own excesses." This totally explains my personal opinion about it as well since it is the responsibility of an individual to decide what is good for health and how much they can consume it. After this case, US House of Representatives also passed a legislation which made it illegal to sue any food chain just because it makes people obese. Diane Fields (5) seems to propose the same idea. Just like you can’t blame tobacco industry for mouth cancer and casinos for problem of gambling, similarly you can’t blame fast restaurants for obesity since there are several other factors involving this debate. Top of this list would be the attitude change that we have adopted in modern world calling it as sedentary life style for us. In this world of competition, most of the people world for long hours and rarely gets time to exercise. Even when they do, they mostly prefer to sit in front of TV or play some video games. Have anyone ever blamed them for obesity? Not really because it turns to be the responsibility of a person as to what he wants to choose for himself. Sadly, this trend in even shifted to our children as well. Their ball-games and high athletic bodies have turned into skinny or fat and they seem to be more lazy them ever. Now we can’t blame cell phones and internet for this damage even if we know that it is a main contributory cause as same should be applied for fast food restaurants. One needs to take responsibility as how they want to shape their life and what is the yardstick that they can apply in going for certain things. Some people also blame the famous food pyramid designed to shape a health life and ensuring proper calorie intake. This however seems to be a bit outdated model. It certainly explains the calorie intake of certain food components along with the amount they need to be taken but we don’t see any explanation for fast food or ‘junk food’ as some people call it, on this pyramid. Fast food chains have this privacy that they would never disclose the true ingredients and will only get them passed from FDA. By doing this, customers would just have an idea that it contains fat without knowing the exact calorie intake. This puts the responsibility of the government and bodies like FDA to take steps so that this is included in food pyramid and people would certainly know what to expect out of fast food. Marni Jameson also proposed an alternative for controlling obesity rather than putting blame on fast food chains and the simple solution is, “Individuals as Target.” There have been several initiatives by several different organizations who have taken steps to control obesity on individual level e.g “Lincoln University in Pennsylvania to make students shed pounds, North Carolina now makes state employees who dont lose weight take part in a more expensive health plan. Southwest and other airlines reserve the option to make obese passengers pay for two seats.” The list goes on but this is one of the several ways that can be used to control obesity on individual level. Some people tend to blame fast food industry just because of the huge amount of money they spend on advertisement. The fact that they make people want fast food is the basic argument used against them. The fact however stands that in a free market there is ever growing competition and we can’t expect them to stop advertisement and go in loss. This is merely a scape that government and other agencies use to get away from the blame. Burg(97) suggest that promoting vegetable and healthy food industry on government level can be a better option to provide people with diversity in food. Food chains have also introduced health meals like vegetable burgers and salads which provide people with this choose as what they want to choose in their lives. Fast food industries donate a significant amount of money welfare organizations and MacDonald distributes more toys among children that any other organization in USA. As conclusion, I think it time we stop this blame game on food industry, stop portraying them as monsters and like reasonable adults start thinking about the choices we make in our lives. As explained in the article, fast food in not even a primary cause for all these problems. Sedentary life style, genetic predisposition and over eating of almost anything not just fast food is what makes most of the people obese. It is the individual responsibility to take a proper caloric intake and the responsibility of the government to make sure that people are well aware of their choices. Just like you can’t stop children from using internet and just like adults are not banned to go to casinos, you can’t put an end to people going to fast food chains. Change in health habits can only work if there is enough individual contribution for the cause. References Berg, Frances M. Underage and Overweight. Hatherleigh Press, 2004 Marni Jameson. “Who is to blame for obesity, and what should be done about it?” Los Angeles Times. 1st February 2010. Diane Fields. “Obesity. Who’s to Blame?” International sports Sciences Association, February 3, 2011. Ray Dunne. “Obesity: Who is to blame?” BBC News Online health staff. 14th March 2004. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity Research Paper”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/english/1609969-are-we-taking-it-too-far-by-blaming-fast-food-restaurants-for-obesity-when-is-it-individual-responsibility-and-when-is-it-appropriate-to-place-blame
(Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurants for Obesity Research Paper)
https://studentshare.org/english/1609969-are-we-taking-it-too-far-by-blaming-fast-food-restaurants-for-obesity-when-is-it-individual-responsibility-and-when-is-it-appropriate-to-place-blame.
“Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurants for Obesity Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/english/1609969-are-we-taking-it-too-far-by-blaming-fast-food-restaurants-for-obesity-when-is-it-individual-responsibility-and-when-is-it-appropriate-to-place-blame.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurants for Obesity

Thai Restaurant in Brighton, UK

fast food restaurants served meals that increased the level of cholesterol, sugar, and salt in consumers.... Overview Obesity rate in the United Kingdom has been rising along with the number of restaurants especially in the fast food industry.... This was observed to have resulted in the high obesity rate, heart disease, and high blood pressure for people living in UK.... Thus, it would be a good idea to have a Thai restaurant capable of serving the right menu to promote a way to overcome obesity via healthy and delicious recipes....
41 Pages (10250 words) Literature review

Obesity. What is the role of private business in constructing obesity as a global health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that this is a very important step prior to undergoing the right prevention program for obesity (World Health Organization, 2000, p.... 0 corresponding to dimension of body mass index is considered to be normally diagnosed for obesity and less than of it qualifies as underweight.... obesity is not just an ordinary disease but it is considered as the leading metabolic sickness in the world at the start of the 21st century obesity occurs both in affluent societies and developing countries leading to around 300 million people considered obese around the globe....
13 Pages (3250 words) Essay

Obesity and Fast Foods

The author discusses the issue on whether or not we are taking the blame for fast food restaurants for obesity.... Obese individuals who eat at fast food restaurants often end up eating more in their own homes.... In effect, fast food restaurants cannot be solely blamed for people's obesity because even without their presence, those who are obese would still likely be obese.... In effect, fast food restaurants cannot be solely blamed for people's obesity because even without their presence, those who are obese would still likely be obese....
10 Pages (2500 words) Research Paper

Fast Food, are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity

In fact, there are many obese people who do not at all go to the fast food restaurants.... If any food that contains fat and carbohydrate is to be blamed for obesity, health conscious people should resort to taking protein tablets and eat nothing, because anything they would eat would have some proportion of fat and carbohydrates in their contents.... any food that contains fat and carbohydrate is to be blamed for obesity, health conscious people should resort to taking protein tablets and eat nothing, because anything they would eat would have some proportion of fat and carbohydrates in their contents....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

The Blame on Obesity: Fast Food or Individual Responsibility

While Americans are taking it too far on blaming fast food restaurants for making them obese, their weight problems are caused by no other reasons but themselves.... Research Prospectus on The Blame on Obesity: fast food or Individual Responsibility Outline Section 1.... Different fast food and restaurants have become widely accessible to the consumers and people have greatly relied on those.... Nevertheless, some argue that fast food is not to blame as the cause of obesity for it is an individual responsibility (Ames 295 – 299; Sallis 1 - 3)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Fast food: Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity

This essay "Fast food: Are We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurants for Obesity?... This essay outlines the problem of the obesity in the USA and the link between consumption of the fast food and the growing rate of obese people.... This essay focuses on the role of fast food in obesity in the United States.... Then consideration of the link between fast food and obesity is examined.... describes the impact of the fast food on the level of obesity among the USA's citizens....
4 Pages (1000 words) Term Paper

Fast Food and Improper Diet

ast foods have taken place of an industry in form of fast food restaurants, these restaurants are not just limited to any particular region or country and town, rather all over the world fast food is quite common and strongly followed and like all over the world.... merican teen agers are perhaps the most frequent ones and most fond of fast food.... For this reason this generation is called the fast food generation (Schlosser).... he modern generation and modern times are termed as fast food generation and fast food era respectively....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

UK Food Industry

This paper seeks to expound on the childhood obesity in the United Kingdom, with a close analysis on the food industry's corporate social responsibility, focusing on MacDonald restaurants and the role they have played in combating childhood obesity.... From this paper, it is clear that in the UK, obesity has been declared a crisis since its population is gradually turning obese.... obesity can be fuelled by excessive consumption of high-fat food, genetic predisposition, and lack of physical exercise....
13 Pages (3250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us