Analysis Of Too Much Of A Good Thing Crister

Nowadays, obesity is considered a crucial health issue that affects people from various age groups all over the world. It has done nothing but increase over the past few decades only to become an epidemic in the 21st century. This epidemic has deteriorated many individuals’ well-being and still is. Therefore, in order to stop it and try to reduce it significantly, stigmatizing overeating might be helpful but it is only a simple solution for a much more complex problem.

In his essay “too much of a good thing”, Greg Crister discusses that issue, citing statistics on the frightening increase in the rates of childhood obesity in particular, especially in the industrialized West. He argues that parents can help prevent obesity in their own homes
by controlling their children’s diets, serving smaller sized portions, and limiting snacks. In his opinion, through education we can create a slimmer cultural norm, just like the French when they were facing a similar problem earlier in the century.

To begin with, according to the United States Surgeon General, 25% of American children “are overweight or obese” through the age of eighteen, making obesity an “epidemic” (66).
The danger of increased obesity is that it affects everyone: obese individuals have an increased risk for a variety of medical problems, and the whole nation absorbs the costs for these people’s obesity “eventually ma[ing] the battle against HIV/AIDS seem inexpensive” (66). Therefore, it is important to fight its rise. Crister implies that families should become a battleground for that fight. This suggestion seems logical and worth supporting, but we should also realize that there would be other battlegrounds (such as hospitals, pharmacies…). Children, and indeed, all of us, should learn to eat in moderation. According to studies, this lesson isn’t needed before the age of five. Younger children, entirely on their own, will limit how much food they eat at a meal regardless of the amounts served. By that age, however, they will eat whatever is put before them. In our culture of high-fat, sugar-loaded, fast-food meals, such lack of limitation can lead to obesity. If we can teach children before the age of five what is a reasonable portion of food, they might learn, for life, to eat in moderation. Crister also cites other research to show that simple and yet profound alimentary lessons, learned earlier on, can make all the difference in avoiding a life trying to lose weight. He gives parents an
important role in teaching these lessons. Yet, with almost half of the adult population in this the United States is overweight or obese according to statistics, the author may want to urge parents to learn lessons about moderation themselves before attempting to become teachers for their children. His plan for combating the growth of childhood obesity through education is certainly reasonable, but he focuses almost only on behavioral factors when scientists have discovered that obesity has other, nonbehavioral causes. It is known that some people have slower metabolisms than others. Researchers are identifying genes and hormones that influence weight gain. It is still unknown how overweight people, who may eat as little as their skinnier friends, could gain a lot more weight. Being fat is not simply about lacking willpower-that is, about “unhealthful behaviors” (66) around food. Thus, we should not expect Crister’s solution to work in every case.

In addition, Crister’s argument has a serious problem. He uses the word “gluttony” twice, implying quite a judgmental attitude. In the beginning of his essay, the essayist argues that parents need “to promulgate . . . dietary restraint, something our ancestors knew simply as avoiding gluttony” (66). Gluttony was one of the seven deadly sins. While he insists that “no one should be stigmatized for being overweight,” he nonetheless promotes “stigmatizing the unhealthful behaviors that cause obesity” (66), assuming that people differentiate the sin from the sinner. But in reality, it is rarely the case. Crister doesn’t distance himself from anti-fat bias after using the bias-heavy term “gluttony”; it is already difficult enough for the overweight and obese to lose weight so they should not have to endure the judgments of others as well.

The writer convinces his readers at most when he makes a simple direct proposal to change children’s conduct, a proposal that is built on many different scientific researches.
He is least convincing when he adds his ethical judgment. Children can be taught to adopt healthier diets and parents should teach their kids to do so, but that teaching will only be one of many other approaches to solve the problem of obesity. However, Crister’s moral judgment weakens his essay and we should not equate thinness to virtue. For the most part of his essay, Crister suggests a reasonable place to begin facing the difficult challenge of meeting the growing problem of childhood obesity. Therefore, his essay is mostly
valid.

In conclusion, we can say that Crister is halfway successful in convincing his readers since he bases his analysis and proposed solution on the oversimplification of obesity, connecting it to a solitary cause (overeating) and along these lines constraining the subject. To the degree that all causes of obesity are rooted in unhealthy eating habits, his arguing is logical and persuasive. Nevertheless, those habits do play an essential role in increasing obesity, so we can’t help but support the author’s proposition of teaching youngsters to eat moderately. But, his judgmental tone gets in the way of being 100% successful in persuading his readers. Of course, one can still object to his tone but continue to find merit in his proposal.

So all in all, the text is valuable since it offers a list of shocking numbers about obesity, raising awareness to an already famous issue our world faces today. We are taught even more about what could be “the pivotal medical issue of our day” (3) and this text is a wake up call for all of us to start fighting obesity and take care of our health.