David starts by teasing these overweight individuals that are bring a lawsuit against McDonalds, but then later admits that he used to be overweight as a child and was able to change his life around. He made a point to show health concerns with being obese and eating fast food regularly, such as type two diabetes which has risen about twenty-five percent since 1994. This raise in diabetes also requires much funding for the United States to spend to try to find a cure. David explains how there is very few alternatives for the youth of America because those health alternatives are more expensive and harder to find. False advertising is also another unpleasant practice that fast food companies use to lure in costumers.
Americans are becoming comfortable with fast food and unhealthy choices. They have become too lazy to work off their bad choices in food so the effects keep adding up inside their body causing obesity. Obesity is the condition of being very fat or overweight. This is caused by the over consumption of food by many people. Most of us don’t have what we call, portion control, so we eat until we feel full causing our stomach to expand.
Going through a drive-through is much more effective than sitting down at a restaurant or preparing meals at home. For the average working class family living life on the go, it can save a lot of time and money. Also, the industry itself creates and perpetuates millions of jobs for the economy (often with low wages and poor benefits). The most common reason people continue to eat fast food, despite their knowledge of the negative effects, is the simple fact that it tastes good. The addictive and yet fattening qualities associated with fast food leave people constantly craving one more bite.
Fast food restaurants often give false perceptions of their foods. In recent years, people have actually launched lawsuits to fast food restaurants because they are vulnerable. Zinczenko’s article as a whole shows how fast food has affected our society. Some of his main points are influential, but as a whole I disagree on some things because fast food is not the main cause of obesity. I agree with Zinczenko on his critical viewpoint on how he looks at the fast food industry.
The easy way out to being healthy and eating right for ones body, fast food has plagued the nation especially with diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and even strokes or heart attacks. A question is now posed of whether or not fast foods should be fed to children, in substitute of their regular lunches at school. These kids are what seem like innocent victims because of their naivety towards the real problems with fast food. The problems with this quick fix in school cafeterias are that students would become obese, they would develop bad habits, and that the school would be advertising for these companies. “More than 70 percent of obese adolescents retain their overweight and obese condition even during their adulthood” (What Are Children Munching On?).
Parents that don’t make enough money are living in areas that aren’t particularly safe, which leads to the children being scared to go outside and play. Education also contribute to the socioeconomic issue with obesity. Parents that have no sort of education don’t understand the proper nutritions that are in the foods and what are healthy food choices. Schools are suppose to help children lose weight and teaching them about nutrition. Many schools face a lot of budget cuts and the first programs to be cut
Pondering on my thoughts, I came to the conclusion that some of this has to be because of the fact that the cafeteria serves unhealthy food for the students. Another factor is that the cafeteria is set up in a way to be a buffet. This makes people go back for seconds, thirds, and even sometimes fourths. This is an astonishing fact that the food served could be processed deep fat fried chicken or even just plain old burgers. The fact of the matter is that this becomes a daunting way of how people become overweight.
So since they have low income they only thing they can do is go buy fast food. Arken and Houston also state more causes of obesity in the inner-city, “Obesity is determined by many factors (e.g inactivity, high-fat diet cultural preference)”(2).The culture the parents put their child in is basically by forced because of their living situation. With the low income it’s hard for the African American people to take their child to get health insurance, so they can’t receive advice from the medical establishment on how to prevent obesity. In, “Facing Up to Childhood Obesity” Phillips states the effects of inactivity in Great Britain. Arken and Houston do the same in Obesity in Inner-City African
He insists they would not eat as much if they knew that it was bad for them or if the industry put nutrition labels on their food. My outlook on this topic varied significantly from that of Zinczenko’s. I feel that it is not the fault of the fast food company. Neither would I put blame on the younger children who eat fast food. I would put most of the culpability on the parents who do not teach their kids how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and buy their children unhealthy food. I disagree completely that we as Americans suffer from lack of information about nutrition in fast food.
The situation is very ironic because the grocery stores with nutritious food advocates for fast food restaurants that are, in context, competing with their sales. Prices of fast food products appear cheaper than full home cooked meals. On average, costumers pay four dollars for a drink, a burger, and a side item. Additionally, fast food is fast. Each fast food corporation has special procedures to keep their paying costumers happy by giving them exactly what they asked for, fast food.