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Obesity and fast food
Obesity and fast food
Fast food and obesity research paper
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The article “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko, is an article aimed to bring attention to the ever increasing obesity rates in the United States, which he believes has been caused be the ever increasing amount of fast food restaurants in the United States.
Similarly, Marion Nestle wrote about how supermarkets are working against us by using their shelves as real estate. Both Nestle and Zinczenko’s information is accurate, yet it if you look at the article’s publication information it states that Zinczenko’s article was released in 2002 and Nestle’s article was published in 2006. Presently it is the year 2016, and their statistics do not accurately represent the present. Zinczenko’s argument summed up is that fast food restaurants are to blame for America’s obesity issues. He gives statistics that go over childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, diabetes cost of health care in the United States, and the number of McDonalds restaurants in the United states. The only thing that Zinczenko suggests to change is that he wants all fast food restaurants to post nutritional information, and he
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Zinczenko states in his article that the annual health care cost of diabetes was 2.6 billion in 1969 and in 2002 it was 100 billion. The cost of diabetes treatment has more than doubled in the last 10 years. Despite fast food chains being forced to nutritional information, has not swayed the publics fast food appetite. Along with the prices The American Diabetes Association also said that there are approximately 3,700 new cases of diabetes per year. Zinczenko also stated that there were 13000 McDonald’s restaurants in the United States. The current number of McDonald’s restaurants in the United States as stated by Courtney Tucci in 2014 was 14,259
In discussions of Zinczenko, one controversial issue has been whether we should blame fast food restaurant on obesity. On the one hand, Zinczenko argues that we should blame the fast food restaurant, for their lack of warning labels. My own view is that they both play a big part , yes fast food should label their foods nonetheless consumers should know to control themselves and not buy extra-large drinks and just sit on the
He begins by saying that while it may seem easy to avoid fast food and eat relatively balanced meals, it is easier to fall victim to than you may assume, based on life circumstances. His mother, for example, had custody of him after his parent’s divorce and was too busy working to provide for him to have time to shop for and prepare healthy meals. “Advertisements don 't carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do. Prepared foods aren 't covered under Food and Drug Administration labeling laws. Some fast-food purveyors will provide calorie information on request, but even that can be hard to understand.” is an example Zinczenko gives that even though consumers often times know fast food is bad for your body, but not to the full magnitude. These companies find loopholes to justify projecting calorie/content information that is either insufficient or perplexing enough that you would be forced to go to great lengths to uncover exactly how many calories are actually in your meal. Another one of his main points is the lack of alternative options. With a McDonalds on every corner and a busy schedule, it is almost inevitable to choose a drive thru burger rather than going into a grocery store to buy something you then later have to go through the trouble of preparing, especially for
Throughout the United States many American’s go through and eat at fast food places such as, McDonalds, Burger King, and Jack ‘n the Box. Mainly unaware of the amount of weight one can gain if consuming it on a daily bases or even two times week, can cause health issues, diabetes and possibly obesity. This was the main premise for writer Dave Zinczenko essay Don’t Blame the Eater, who makes an argument that many people are becoming obese and diabetic because of the fast food they eat. He asks a regarding his concern; Shouldn 't we know better than to eat two meals a day in fast-food restaurants?, As a way to engage the general public, like parents and teenagers, he expresses his argument through his own experience when he was a teenager eating at fast food places and information on the fast food industry in regards to how many calories are in the food.
He begins his argument by commenting about kids suing McDonald’s for “making them fat” (Zinczenko 462). Zinczenko ponders the absurdity of this claim considering how food choices are based on personal responsibility. However, he then considers the overwhelming availability ratio of fast food to fresh food while sympathizing he was once obese himself (Zinczenko 462). Zinczenko uses the primary argument that fast food companies are deceiving consumers with misleading advertisement, hidden nutrition facts, and calorie risks. He believes companies are encouraging the public to eat their unhealthy foods by omitting alarming information and levying “good” deals. In consequence, fast food companies are increasing the chances of obesity and diabetes in consumers by stimulating poor eating
As for David Zinczenko, he grew up on the infamous fast food diet that once saved his life when hunger struck due to the affordable prices restaurants had to offer. “Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut” (Zinczenko 462). These unhealthy habits eventually caught up to him and resulted in an unflattering weight gain. Fortunately, he went to college, connected with the Navy Reserves and also became associated with a health magazine in which he learned how to manage his diet. He didn’t stop there; in fact, he is president of Galvanized Brands, a global health and wellness media company and he is also the author of multiple books: Eat This, Not That and the Abs Diet series. The most remarkable part, he was able to recover and become healthy again unlike many others who have gone too far to make a comeback, therefore, becoming obese. In “Don’t Blame the Eater”, Zinczenko talks to those who are consuming the
In American, has an obesity epidemic that is growing year after year. According to the CDC more than one third 34.9% or 78.6 million U.S adults are obese and it continues grow. In the FDA recorders people that are obese usually have type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma, heartburn and other digestive and mental health problems. The author David Zinczenko, the author of the article “Don’t blame the eater” thinks that fast food restaurants does not have alternative foods and not labeling their food products. Then there is Radley Balko the author of the article “What you eat is Your Business” believes that law makers should allow insurance companies to charge higher premium on obese people for their unhealthy eating habits. After reading both article, I disagree with Zinczenko idea of fast food restaurants not having fast food alternatives because fast food chains do have other alternative and they also label their food products
Ever since the creation of the golden arches, America has been suffering with one single problem, obesity. Obesity in America is getting worse, for nearly two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight. This obesity epidemic has become a normal since no one practices any type of active lifestyle. Of course this is a major problem and many wish it wasn 't in existence, but then we start to ask a major question. Who do we blame? There are two articles that discuss numerous sides of this question in their own unique way. “What You Eat is Your Business” by Radley Balko is better than “Don 't Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko due to its position in argument, opposition, and it’s reoccurrence in evidence.
Zinczenko shares his personal story about how fast-food restaurants such as Taco Bell and McDonald’s led to a weight problem during his high-school years. He claims that the ease of accessibility and lack of healthy alternatives make it all too easy to fall into the cycle of unhealthy eating. Zinczenko also contends that the lack of nutrition labels on fast-food products leaves the consumer in the dark about what he or she is actually consuming. At the time Zinczenko wrote his article, fast-food restaurants were not willingly disclosing nutritional values of their products. Today this has changed. Fast-food companies, including McDonald’s, have put the full nutritional information of their products directly on the packaging and wrappers. All other fast-food establishments either post it on the menu board (Panera), offer easy access to pamphlets containing all nutritional information of their menu in store, or have it easily accessible online (Taco Bell, KFC). I am sure that this is a helpful step forward toward educating the public as to what they are consuming, but has this new knowledge to consumers had a dramatic change toward ending obesity? No. People have always known that eating a Big Mac and fries with the giant soft drinks that McDonald’s and other chains offer is not healthy; putting the nutritional labels on these items has done little to nothing to stop people from eating these high-calorie meals. This again leads back to the point that people as consumers need to be more accountable to themselves and stop blaming others for what they willingly choose to put in their
Zinczenko argues that it is not the consumers fault for putting themselves at risk of becoming obese or raising the chance of getting diabetes, but it is the fast-food companies fault for the lack of labeling their products with the nutritional information. While Balko argues that we as individuals should be held completely responsibly on whether or not one is choosing to put oneself at risk for obesity or type 2 diabetes. One should attain the consequences if the consumer chooses to drive to their preferred fast-food chain restaurant and place and order for an unhealthy meal. Likewise goes for the other way around, either way there are consequences for both, whether they be beneficial or not
David Zinczenko states numbers and facts that open the eyes of his reader along with state his position of how fast food states no warnings that it could make someone obese or develop type 2 diabetes. His first statement is telling his readers a little background about how fast food affected his life and how he was once obese because he consumed such meals. Zinczenko explains how the increase in diabetes (specially type 2) were linked to the high consumption of fast food meals. He then goes on to address how much money is being spent to help take care of the mass amount of children with type 2 diabetes, showing how the price has gone up substantially over the past couple decades. The author then claims how the restaurants don’t give any healthy alternative and how its easier to find a McDonalds in American than an healthy alternative such as fruit. To wrap up the article he shares how he feels that obese kids who sue these fast food restaurants have good ground to do so since these places don’t put warnings on their foods; From Zinczenko himself “I say, let the deep fried chips fa...
Zinczenko uses information from the National Institutes of Health stating that “Before 1994, diabetes in children was generally caused by a genetic disorder”. While reading this statement one must ask, what significance does 1994 have on the increase in Type 2 diabetes? As well as how does this date support Zinczenko’s theory that fast food influences Type 2 diabetes when McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants have been around since well before 1994. In addition, Zinczenko uses another statistic to support his claim that “Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in this country” (242). One reason Zinczenko’s argument is invalid is because he neglects to take into consideration the varying reasons that Type 2 diabetes rates could go up. For example, children may not be getting enough exercise or eating poor meals at home. In addition, only 30 percent of new childhood cases of diabetes in America are Type 2, which means that 70 percent of these childhood cases are genetically related. Although these statistics are unsettling, we cannot solely blame the fast food industry for the rise in Type 2 diabetes. In the final analysis, Zinczenko is ineffective in arguing fast food’s cause of childhood illness by using an argument with a missing claim and a cause and effect
Best selling author of Eat This, Not That, David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” blames the fast food industry for the growing rate of obesity in the United States. Zinczenko’s main idea is that fast food companies should have warning labels on all the food they supply. Zinczenko believes that since health labels are put on tobacco and preserved food product, fast food industries should put labels on today’s fast food. Discussions about the availability of fast food compared to healthier alternative were brought up as well. Zinczenko states that when looked at, a salad from a fast food restaurant could add up to half of someone’s daily calories (155). He believes that because of fast food, Americans are having more health risks, which includes an insane rise in diabetes. Some agree with Zinczenko saying fast food companies should be the ones responsible to show people the truth about their foods. On the other hand Radley Balko, a columnist for FoxNews.com, states that fast-food consumption ...
“Don’t Blame the Eater” is an article by David Zinczenko that explains to Americans, specifically overweight young Americans, about the risks eating at fast food restaurants and its cause of affecting one’s health. In his article, he tries to address the issue about America’s food industries by using literal devices such as tone, logos, ethos, diction, and organization in order to spread his message. He begins his article by addressing the topic and as he continues writing, he supports his topic by writing about personal experience and moves onto the reasons why his topic in a serious issue. Although he shows an overall clear progress, he does tend to have a few problems with his writing that could be improved.
Is fast food to blame for the growing obesity in America? Obesity affects more than half of the population. With so many Americans gaining weight and so many health problems the matter has to be addressed. There is no one would argue that obesity, especially the children is considered a problem. In any case the cause of childhood obesity is fought about daily. Many people will say that fast food restaurants are to blame. In my research, I will explain the argument that who is to blame for the obesity in America: fast food restaurants or common laziness from the obese society.
We are facing a big problem that will make our life more miserable. We are eating junk food constantly that is bad for our health. Many people eat junk food because they think it’s cheap and faster or some people do not like to cook their own food. “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko. This article is talking about how fast food is making us eat bad because of their fast service and cheap prices. People tends to choose fast food instead of cooking a healthy meal. It is easy for teenagers to gain weight by eating fast food meals. Zinczenko also argues about the absence of nutrition information about the food. I agree with Zinczenko. However, Zinczenko could also have examined the issue of fast food advertisements, mention some benefits