Preview

Fast Food Driven Society

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1354 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fast Food Driven Society
Jessica Brandon
Fast Food Driven Society
In a recent documentary film I’ve seen called, “Super-Size Me,” it was stated that in the past 20-25 years, obesity levels in America have doubled. Why you may wonder? Many factors contribute to the way we live in our society today, but the main reason for obesity levels being so high is the fast food industry and its effects on everyone it comes in contact with. Anyone who has ever had junk food in their life know its addicting features. Seeing it everywhere you go whether you are at a grocery store, fast food restaurant, or on TV doesn’t help stop the urges in anyone’s case. Fast food is convenient, cheap, and is what the average American family would choose to eat. Obesity is an ongoing problem in the United States today, and if it cannot be stopped, this problem could potentially be passed down from generation to generation. The reason America has allowed this to happen is because of the way society portrays how to live and eat in this world, how Americans have adapted in a way where they heavily rely on fast food for convenience purposes, and the individual’s lack of effort in living a healthy lifestyle.

Every woman in America once in their lives has seen or bought a magazine. What do you see on the cover? A skinny, beautiful model or celebrity, and a tagline on how to lose more weight or how to eat healthier in order for you to look more like the picture. Everywhere you go society portrays a certain way woman should look that is acceptable in this world. I strongly believe that one of the reasons that obesity has struck America so negatively is because society has pushed the woman in this country over the edge on how they ‘should’ look. “For many women, compulsive eating and being fat have become one way to avoid being marketed or seen as the ideal woman: My fat says ‘screw you’ to all who want me to be the perfect mom, sweetheart, and maid. Take me for who I am, not for who I am supposed to be” (Orbach,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In David Zinczenko’s Don’t Blame the Eater article, he blames the fast-food industry for starting the rising obesity problem because of the failure of providing the facts and warnings labels about their high calorie junk food to the consumers. Zinczenko argues that kids are drawn by the cheap, high-calorie junk food that the fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or Pizza Hut are happy to supply because with lots of parents working all day, they do not have time to check what their children are eating. For Example, the author David Zinczenko states that when he was a little boy, his mother would always be away at work, so he would eat Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and at other places every day, and he ended up obese.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thompson addresses how “thin-ideal-internalization,” the internalization of society’s definition of attractiveness (not just thinness), gravely affects women in Western culture. Thompson explains how this glorification of an ideal body image is unhealthy and unachievable for most women. This definition of a desirable body, Thomas illustrates, is encouraged by social reinforcement or approval of this definition by family, peers, and media. Despite these body types serving as a distorted reality, Thompson elaborates on how women engage in extreme dieting in attempt to satisfy media’s perception of a desirable body. Thompson continues by showing how these attempts to attain the nearly unattainable result in eating disorders such as…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “More than one-third (36.5%) of U.S adults have obesity” (“Center” Internet). “At least thirty million people of all ages suffer from an eating disorder. Every sixty-two minutes at least one person dies as a direct result from an eating disorder”. As Americans, our nation suffer from many health issues related to food. America is high in obesity and eating disorders. Due to media and peer pressure, many people wants to have the “perfect” image. Fast food restaurants and media influence adults and young children to eat unhealthy food.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In today’s America we as citizens are faced with the ongoing crutch known as obesity. Obesity is defined as a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent of major health issues. I view obesity as a “crutch” because it is disease that will slow the American populous down. The topic on obesity has been debated over many years as to who would take the blame of America’s overweight problem and what that individual or group would do to prevent it. Many different state legislatures and school board committees have started to ban vending machines in school grounds. “Congress has considered a menu-labeling legislation that would force chain restaurants to list fat, sodium, and calories for each item” (Balko, 2004, p.522). Many individuals like me believe that this is definitely the most improper approach to preventing the obesity epidemic that has plagued the United States over the last twenty years. It is not the United State government’s place to tell American citizens what they can or cannot consume. Obesity has become more and more of a problem because American citizens are executing poor dietary techniques. The next influential factor to obesity is the influence of our biological need and genetics. These factors play a large part in the obesity epidemic but the key factor to obesity is the fact that Americans are drastically decreasing their urges for physical fitness and health. Data has…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    America’s obesity can be an argument that has many sides to it. The one that is the most straightforward and logical is that us as americans are bringing this upon ourselves. We know the kinds of foods that are good and healthy along with the foods that are bad, fattening, and unhealthy. We try to blame fast food restaurants and grocery stores for serving us foods that are unhealthy. In reality, we know. We try to blame those companies because we don’t want to blame ourselves. As much as we are told what is good and bad for our bodies, we tend to ignore that and keep eating those unhealthy products. America is blaming the fast food industry for obesity, when in reality, it comes down…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Don't Blame the Eater

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater” he focuses on the fast food industry and their role in the increasing health and obesity issues of our nation’s children, as well as these issues potentially becoming a serious problem that we will all have to deal with if we collectively don’t do something about it now. When it comes to the topic of fast food, most of us can agree that it is not the best source of nutrition. It is unhealthy and can be the cause of many serious health issues with our children such as obesity related Type 2 diabetes, stomach ulcers and even heart disease, high cholesterol, sleep apnea or even cancer. We can even agree that fast-food diets are a major contributing factor to the increasing rise in health care costs. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whose responsibility it is to keep us well informed of the contents of these foods and of their potential health hazards. Whereas, some are convinced it is the responsibility of the fast food industry and our government, and even as I sympathize with these fast food eaters, I maintain it is the responsibility of the parent to teach their children to eat healthy and provide the ways and means to do so.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Americas Obesity Epidemic

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Everyone wants to know a reason for the obesity epidemic, and now answers are appearing. Many reasons for this epidemic are due to present day generations, as well as American lifestyles. Fast food has not only come to dominate the American landscape, it has become the most visible American export around the globe (Down to Earth). Cheap and convenient food, busy work lives, and social lives, as well as a constant barrage from media sources have over-loaded Americans are all having a detrimental effect on people’s mental and physical health (Thompson). Due to busy lifestyles and laziness throughout America, people have found it easier to go through a drive-thru rather than take the time to go home and make a healthier meal for themselves. Weight gain and obesity are caused by consuming more calories than the body needs (“Obesity in America”). Genetic determinations, such as the way a body expends energy, hormones, which affect the way that calories are processed, and other organ systems in the body can all affect appetite (“Obesity in America”). Obesity is a disease that takes time to cure, but people will need to have determination to find a cure and also the understanding and knowing the cure will not come fast or easy. Thus, due to all these causes of obesity, America is in an epidemic that needs to be solved sooner than later.…

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dont Blame the Eater

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In his article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues that today’s fast food chains fill the nutritional void in children’s lives left by their overtaxed working parents. With many parents working long hours and unable to supervise what their children eat, Zinczenko claims, children today regularly turn to low-cost, calorie-laden foods that the fast food chains are too eager to supply. When Zinczenko himself was a young boy, for example, and his single mother was away at work, he ate at Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and other chains on a regular basis, and ended up overweight. Zinzenko’s hope is that with the new spate of lawsuits against the food industry, other children with working parents will have healthier choices available to them, and that they will not, like him, become obese.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When it comes to keeping the human body, nutrition is the most essential part of everyone’s life. If people do not have full control, it will affect the way they will be in the future. Any change to someone's diet will change their body in the long run, whether it be positive or negative. It is quite apparent, especially in America, that the common person’s nutrition has gone down hill. Since the 1980s, the rate of obesity has inflated double the amount for adults and triple for children (“Obesity” p. 1). Shockingly, America spends more on fast food than on college education, computers, software and cars combined. In fact, in 2005, Americans spent one hundred thirty four billion dollars on fast food alone. In the ‘70s, America only spent six billion (Schlosser p. 10). I am not one to blame McDonalds for the drastic rise of poor nutrition. There are obviously other reasons why. I mainly blame the misinformation and myths that the general public has been told. The reason why that people are more unhealthy now than in the past is…

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Outline for Speech

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Today I am going to talk about 4 main points that are essential in understanding why obesity is increasing in the U.S., particularly among our youth. First, we need to understand our environmental factors. Second, we need to have knowledge of our own lack of choosing nutritious meals. Third, we need to understand the “portion distortion” in the U.S. food industry, and lastly, we need to have knowledge of the role advertising media plays in all of this.…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nutrition and Obesity

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Americans are heavier than ever before and, according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million adults are obese, and 9 million adults are morbidly obese. Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties during sleep, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. It can be caused by many reasons. One obvious reason is the rise in fast food consumption that companies are so adamant on pushing the public to buy, especially children. With fast food chains creating more and more ways to entice the American public to eat their food, it is becoming harder and harder to stay in shape these days. The fast life of America is quickly taking its toll on the public with the silent enemy called obesity creeping up at an alarming rate. In fact, the rate of it overtaking our lives is so fast; the Surgeon General has called it an "epidemic". Now, the real question is- are fast food restaurants really the culprits at work here? In this essay I intend to compare two very different takes on fast food companies and their ways of making people fat as well as my stand on the matter.…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    America is beginning to become more dependent on fast food companies, because of the low prices, and a quick meal, many families are turning into the drive thru for a rapid fix to a late night meal. With fast foods’ growing popularity, obesity is also becoming a growing problem. Everyone blames each other for the obesity epidemic, but no one can take the blame and accept that it is possibly our faults.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Child Obesity

    • 2561 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Today I am going to talk about 4 main points that are essential in understanding why obesity is increasing in the U.S., particularly among our youth. First, we need to understand our environmental factors. Second, we need to have knowledge of our own lack of choosing nutritious meals. Third, we need to understand the “portion distortion” in the U.S. food industry, and lastly, we need to have knowledge of the role advertising media plays in all of this.…

    • 2561 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” first published on November 23, 2002 in the New York Times: Zinczenko argues that children have no other affordable choice to fast food which leads to health problems and health cost. Specifically, Zinczenko came from a split home, dad went his way and mom worked long hours, lunch and diner was a choice of numerous fast food restaurants where the affordable option. The author joined the Navy Reserves used a health magazine to learn to manage his diet. Zinczenko’s view is most won’t turn their lives around as he did and will have a lifetime of obesity. He elaborates the problem is just not the obese but…

    • 1982 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of many reasons childhood obesity has become an epidemic in America is due to the advertisement of fast food industries and its easy access. In a household today both parents work a 9 to 5 job or are too busy to come home and make a healthy meal so it is easier for them to drive to one of many fast food industries purchase a meal and feed it to their children at home. In addition they always ask if you want the larger meal or anything else with your order so making you open to the idea of getting more for yourself and child. They are just feeding families and children with countless calories and parents are unaware of unbalanced health issue…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics