Over recent years, the United States obesity epidemic has increased in abundance to the point where an individual should be worried about making healthier life choices. Eating habits are an immense reason why our health has changed for the worse since the 70s. People die young due to developing obesity related diseases. Diseases occur from choices people make, what one decides to eat, and how much an individual decides to eat. Studies show the life expectancy for an unhealthy person who chooses to eat a bigger portion size, often less than the average individual who keeps a balanced way of eating. An individual is at fault, choosing to eat unhealthy or not, yet fast food restaurants can make a change when advertising fast food, providing the
When the dinner bell rings in America, many families are not flocking to the table, but running to the car and the call of the “Golden Arches”. In today’s over-scheduled world, food has now become an afterthought and America is paying the price, literally. Obesity is now an epidemic and a crisis that is not slowing down. The nation is not only paying the price with sky-rocketing medical bills from the effects of the American diet, but also with the deteriorating health of its citizens and for the first time in history, a generation with a shorter life expectancy than the generation before. Food today looks nothing like the food of just 40 years ago, and now instead, is making people sick and obese. It is quick, and the cheap, boxed, frozen,
Morgan Spurlock, an American Independent Filmmaker embarked on an experiment of eating only McDonalds for thirty days. He documented his findings in a documentary titled “Supersize Me” As a result, Spurlock gained nearly twenty-five pounds, and his body mass increased almost fifteen percent. The reason behind Spurlock’s investigation was to identify the problem with our countries rise in obesity, largely contributed to a lack of fresh and healthy food being available. Obesity is an epidemic plaguing our country ever so quickly and one of the biggest reasons for it is many communities don’t have access to fresh food, and in many times that food if available exceeds the families budget. The United States Department of Agriculture (1) defines
Junk food is responsible for the growing rate of obesity. This is outlined by David freedman in his article of “How junk food can end obesity.” David Freedman has credited the “health-food” motion, and followers of it along with Michel Pollan. Freedman claims that if the America desires to stop the obesity epidemic, or at least reduce its effects, they must shift to the fast meals and processed meals enterprise for assist, now not the “health-food” movement.
In the article, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues it is the fast food industry’s fault for the nation 's growing obesity epidemic. Furthermore, he believes people should not be blamed for their own obesity. Zinczenko argues fast-food is much more available to the fast paced lifestyle people live in rather than consuming healthy alternatives. He also discusses the fact so many people are on a low budget, it is then best and more inexpensive for them to consume fast-food. Zinczenko states a claim that the fast-food industry “would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need” (Zinczenko 464). In other words, he is saying that fast food establishments do not advertise enough
The life pursued by the average young person in America is fast paced and scheduled to the point of breaking. As time has progressed this time stretched life style has impacted the need for food that isn’t cooked at home or even at restaurants that cook with traditional methods. This coupled with the swelling number of households with either a single parent or two working parents has increased the reliance on the fast food industry and in turn increased the overweight and obesity rates in the country. In his article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko addresses this topic and places the blame not on those partaking in these delectable dinners, but in the hands of the fast food industry and their lack of understandable labeling. Zinczenko’s argument is valid and strong due to his equal use of ethos, logos and pathos.
In “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko, kids are suing McDonald’s for making America fat. Zinczenko asks, “Whatever happened to personal responsibility.” At the same time he sympathizes with people who do eat fast food because he used to do the same thing, making him obese. He fortunately realized how unhealthy fast food is and the toll it takes on the body. Conventional wisdom is that we should not eat at a fast food restaurant twice a day. This is something he thinks we should know but, he also explains that there are many alternatives, some of which that are just as inexpensive as fast food. Fast food has many negative effects and is increasing child diabetes, he suggests. Zinczeko then states how treatment for childhood diabetes
In 2003, a brave, middle-aged man named Morgan Spurlock decided to take one for the human race and carry out a scientific experiment using himself as the guinea pig. Morgan Spurlock, the director, producer and the star of the documentary, Supersize Me, decided to go on a diet that consists of nothing but McDonald’s products for thirty days straight, including their bottled water. Spurlock then followed a specific set of rules to govern his eating habits. Throughout the 100-minutes film, which filmed and documented his actions for thirty days, Spurlock wittingly brought awareness with the sneaking danger behind fast food meals by using mastered rhetorical appeals: logos, pathos and ethos.
In the article, “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko, it is stated that consumers are not at complete fault for rising obesity rates. Zinczenko believes that the fast food industry should take some responsibility as well. Personally, I disagree. I believe that the responsibility falls solely on the consumer. No corporations force people to purchase their products. So where does the blaming end and self-responsibility begin?
In the documentary “Super Size Me” the film maker Morgan Spurlock is portrayed as the protagonist fighting against the antagonist which is the worldwide corporation of McDonalds. Spurlock places him self in the documentary as a hero who fights for the victims in this case two teenagers who developed health problems and decided to sue McDonald’s but the Judge in that case stated “if the plaintiffs can allege that McDonald’s products intended us is to be eaten for every meal of every day, and that McDonald’s is or should be aware that eating McDonald’s products for every meal every day is unreasonably dangerous, they may be able to state a claim” (YouTube, 2018). Spurlock proves this by starting a 30 day
Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me, shed a bright light not only on the fast growing obesity trend in America but to the companies that support them, as well. Spurlock, the film’s director and star, sacrificed his body and mind to bring attention to how too much fast food in one’s diet can be very harmful. The film was highly informative, with many interviews, and day-by-day scenes of Spurlock as he faces his McDonald’s challenge. The film supported anti-obesity using statistics with supporting information. The story of Morgan Spurlock as he faces his McDonald’s challenge and desperately tries to bring attention to this health epidemic, is highly captivating.
In todays world, society focuses on health a lot more than they did in the past. So much so that some giant food chains are changing what they serve children. In an article titled “Selling Junk to the Kids Department” by Mark Bittman, Bittman discusses the many different approaches these fast food companies have attempted or are attempting. Mark Bittman doesn’t believe that fast food companies are doing what needs to be done in a timely manner and that they won’t anything now but rather in the future. This is expressed in the last paragraph when he says, “what all of this tells me is that the torrent of changes is in the future, not the present”. I do think that fast food companies are unhealthy, and it would be great if they did change their menu. Not only for the children but, for everyone because fast, healthy, and affordable food would be great for everyone.
Davis, Brennan, and Christopher Carpenter. "Proximity of Fast-Food to Schools." American Journal of Public Health. American Public Health Association, Mar. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. Davis and Carpenter show that the students who attended schools with fast food restaurants within a half of a mile are more overweight than children that didn’t have fast food near their schools. The students with fast food restaurants near their school drank more soft drinks and ate less fruits and vegetables. This entry also mentions that multiple studies have shown fast food establishments are constantly clustered within walking distances of schools. Davis and Carpenter wrote that limiting fast food establishments near schools could help reduce obesity.
Super-Size Me is a documentary film, created by Morgan Spurlock. This documentary emphasizes the message of the risks of consuming fast food and the outcomes that fast food has on people’s health. Spurlock came up with this idea from a lawsuit that involved two young girls suing McDonalds for their weight problems. The presiding judge over this case ruled that there was not sufficient evidence that their health issues were caused by consuming food from McDonalds. As an experiment to see if these girl’s claim had any merit, Spurlock was determined to only consume food from McDonalds for thirty days and see if there was any correlation between eating fast food and declining of health. During this documentary, viewers witness the drastic changes
Fast food and unhealthy living are all problems with today’s society. We need to hunker down on obesity or it will drastically decrease our quality of life, increase our insurance costs, and our nation’s overall health.