Obesity: Processed Foods and the Government´s Role

Because the government choices not to closely regulate the food citizens of the United States of America, people are making poor eating decisions, leaving sixty-seven percent of Americans either overweight or obese [2005-2006}. (Is Obesity a Disease?) But what if it wasn’t really obese people’s fault for being overweight, but instead the fault of food companies that provide cheaply priced and processed food that is full of perseverates, trans fats, and salt? Scientist and author of “A Big Fat Crisis”, Debora A. Cohen writes about people’s obesity problem, “We are hard – wired to enjoy eating, which stands to reason from an evolutionary point of view. If we didn’t have the drive to obtain food coupled with the pleasure of eating it, the human species would not survive.”(Calhan) If people have no option but to purchase food intoxicated with trans fats, then it is the governments job to protect its citizens from further harm. Therefore government should closely monitor processed and fast foods to protect people from unhealthy food choices, better inform the public about nutritional information, and closely regulate American food consumption to reduce obesity related health risk.

High levels of trans fat, sugar, and salt have become prominent in many processed and fast foods, causing Americans to become addicted to these unhealthy preserving additives. In many school settings, students only have access to junk food when searching for something to eat in either the cafeteria or school vending machines. Many high school students consume three hundred and thirty-six calories a day purely on school vending machine snacks. (Koebler) Possible solutions to the growing childhood obesity problem are to provide healthier options, such as fruit...

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...heir bodies with clean, leafy, natural foods and exercised, obesity could become a thing of the past. With strict government imposed restrictions banning trans fats and limiting salt, it would help enable people, particularly in poorer communities, to lose weight.

Works Cited

Anderson, Arnold, and Mary Jean Bowman. “Methods of Controlling Food Consumption.” Nutrition and Food Supply. January 1943. 128. JSTOR. Web. 25 March 2014.

Bakst, Daren. “Government Control of Your Diet: Threats to ‘Freedom to Eat.’” The Heritage Foundation. n.p September 3, 2013. Web. 26 March 2014.

Cahalan, Susannah. “Why gov’t should regulate food like tobacco & alcohol.” New York Post. n.p December 28, 2013. Web. 27 March 2014.

Filipovic, Jill. “To Save Americans’ Health, Government Must Intervene In Food Industry.” Aljazeera America. n.p November 17, 2013. Web. 27 March 2014.