Lack Individual Responsibility Is to Blame for Obesity - Essay Example

March 29th Lack individual responsibility is to blame for obesity not Fast food restaurants Obesityis a condition whereby there is no equilibrium between the energy input and the energy output, or the possession of more than 120% of the normal body weight. Fast food refers to the food that is prepared within a very short time and is usually served hastily. Most foods with little preparation time may be considered fast foods, but this mainly refers to those ready to eat foods served and sold in restaurants and shop outlets. This also applies to those foods that have preheated and precooked ingredients hence can be taken away or eaten from the customers’ comfort zone. These foods can be purchased from kiosks or many a times fast food outlets and most these outlets may or may not provide sitting space. Everyone is responsible for their daily calories intake, hence, it is the personal responsibility for everyone to cut down on fast foods and invest in low fat foods. There is no need to blame fast food restaurants for the obesity issues, since; nutrition is a mandatory requirement for everyone who desires good and perfect health. The obesity crisis can be blamed largely on the sedentary lifestyle that most of us have adopted. Nowadays, you will not find anyone participating in agriculture, as it is enough exercise to keep the body lean. Our diets are composed of high calories and fast foods, which only add to our crisis. Additionally, we live in a cyber-world society whereby, we spend long hours seated in the office and mostly operate from the house to our office and mostly drive. This leads to the high deposition of fat and calories in our bodies, which contributes to obesity. Rather than blaming it on fast foods, we need to invest in low fat diets and also have a proper exercise plan that will enable us to burn out all the accumulated calories. Unfortunately, our sedentary lifestyle has been passed on tour offspring’s, who mostly spend times indoors. They mostly ingest high calorie diets that often lead to the having childhood obesity and associated disorders like diabetes. They can barely run or even jog, and are not competent at all. There is the need for nutritional education to invest in a healthy and lean body that will ensure that we remain productive no matter the circumstance. Our diets need to be reviewed, such that we feed more on low fat foods and also eat more fruits and drink plenty of water. This will help in alleviating the obese population and reducing on the obese crisis (Ditmier 14). It is everyone’s personal responsibility to check on whatever amount of calories they ingest. This will help in reducing the calories and fat intake in the body; it will also reduce the proportion sizes of food to a minimum. This will give a sound check to the amount of calories that we burn daily. Most people do not put into consideration the portion sizes, they often eat to be satisfied, rather than to keep them going, ignorant that most of the extra food is stored as fat and contributes to obesity and overweightness (Lu?sted 33). On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out that fast foods do not cause obesity, most recent obesity cases especially in children and pregnant women have been caused by the consumption of fast food from restaurants. The situation is made worse by the sedentary lifestyles that have been adopted, hence, the obesity crisis. Proper care and concern needs to be taken while coming up with menus and nutritional diets so that they put into consideration the calories needed and still the minimum fat requirements of the body. Ingesting fast foods without moderation coupled with the sedentary lifestyles reduces the rate at which calories can be burned from the body and this leads to obesity (Schlosser 2). Lack of exercising and weight reduction mechanisms often leads to magnification of the status quo. Activities that enhance the burning of calories such as walking, jogging and digging need to be practiced so that the extra calories may be burned. On the other hand, children need to be taught on healthy lifestyles and healthy eating at an early age. They need to engage in outdoor games to ensure that they burn out all the stored up fat. In so doing, the overweight populations will decrease. The investments in fast foods can be blamed on the nature of work many individuals, whereby they work far from home. Conversely, many schoolchildren often snack on their way home. This is attributed to lack of enough money to buy healthy food. On the other hand, the strategic location of many fast food restaurants makes it the more appropriate source of food. This coupled with ignorance about the dangers of high calorie intake often exposes them to the danger of ever ingesting these fast foods. Schools need to invest in healthy diets to ensure that the children are on a healthy diet (Jelalian and Steele 152). Parents need to be encouraged on the need for their children to have a healthy diet. The neighborhoods need to be kept safe so that the children may engage in outdoor games to burn extra calories. The need to be informed on the proportions of foods to be taken and still the same needs to be replicated in all their diets both at school and at home. Conclusively, the intake of fast foods is not a crime in itself. It should be done but in moderation, putting in consideration the minimum number of calories that the body can burn. In cases where excessive consumption cannot be avoided, the extra calories need to be burned out through exercises. Instead of pointing fingers, on the restaurants and blaming them for the obesity crisis, it should be the personal responsibility of every individual young and old to come up with a healthy diet routine so as to alleviate the obesity crisis. Health experts and medical practitioners ought to invest in healthy living programs to educate the masses on the benefits of healthy lifestyles and healthy eating. For those undergoing the crisis, mitigation mechanisms need to be put in place such as, exercises and weight reduction programs to help deal with the crises and help lose the extra weight. Fast foods should be watched keenly and the masses educated accordingly. Works Cited Ditmier, Lawrence F. New Developments in Obesity Research. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2006. Print. Jelalian, Elissa and Steele, Ric G. Steele. Handbook of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity. New York, NY: Springer, 2008. Print. Lu?sted, Marcia A. Obesity & Food Policing. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Co, 2008. Print. Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print. Read More