Major Essay: Obesity Discussion, DavidZinczenko's "Don't blame the eater".

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Major Essay: Obesity Discussion

(Final Draft)

                

Many people think that obesity in America is a conspiracy. That there is something deeper going on here that ultimately leads to huge amounts of profits and a lot of unhealthy Americans. When it comes to obesity people feel that it’s not their fault that obesity has taken over their lives but it all has to do with the corporations. Obesity has become an epidemic and an important public health concern. Because the problem is multidimensional, the solution requires an interdisciplinary approach involving the cooperation of the food industry with other stakeholders, such as the government and health care providers. The consumer is an important player in the solution to obesity because the consumer can make healthy lifestyle choices at the individual level.

Fast food, soda, hot dogs and other high-calorie food products like potato chips and sugary cereals are ubiquitous and cheap in the U.S. dietary landscape. Unfortunately, most are also nutritionally empty. To prevent overweight and obesity, the U.S. Surgeon General recommends a nutritious diet that follows the "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General also advocates that adults get 30 minutes of exercise most days, and children a full hour. Easy ways to incorporate more physical exercise include taking the stairs instead of the elevator, using a push mower instead of a power mower and parking the car at the far end of a store's lot to get in more steps. Encourage children to play outside instead of watching TV after school.

David Zinczenko makes considerable points about the health effects of obesity. Zinczenko talks about diabetes and how it has been such an issue with its high rise. He points out that diabetes has risen since 1994; that it has risen 25%. From what he’s saying I can understand that obesity has surely grown and it has cost a major toll on many Americans. Currently, more than 65% of Americans are overweight or obese. Obesity is correlated with several medical conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and certain types of cancer. Obesity and its related diseases are responsible for 400,000 deaths per year in the United States, paralleling the number of preventable deaths caused by smoking.

 One of Zinczenko’s strongest arguments is how corporations use advertisements to lure in consumers. He describes young people as being the ones targeted by these advertisements and it happens with them just driving down the street and finding one of the 13,000 McDonalds across America. A team of public health researchers from Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity spent more than a year compiling data on 12 of the nation’s big fast-food restaurants, and what they found surprised even them: despite industry efforts to reduce marketing aimed at children, fast-food advertising geared toward 2-to-18-year-olds increased.

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The research focused on menu composition, external advertising, in-store marketing and consumer behavior for McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway, KFC, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. The marketing seems to be working: a whopping 40% of parents reported that their child asked to go to McDonald’s at least once a week, and 15% of preschoolers’ parents said they fielded such a request every day. Most of the parents gave in: 84% reported bringing their 2-to-11-year-olds to a fast food restaurant within the previous week.  Eating fast food has pretty much become routine for many ...

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