Obesity in America

Oriana Corcino
Mrs. Terashima
Expository Writing 2
14 April 2014

Obesity in America Obesity, a medical condition in which excess body fat can grow to have a negative effect on the human body and cause long term health problems, affects more than 35 percent of adults along with 17 percent of adolescents (“How many people are affected by/at risk for obesity & overweight”). America is one of many obese countries all over the world. It is an enfeeble health condition that can lead to respiratory problems, Type two diabetes, Gallbladder disease, Stroke/heart attack, Osteoarthritis, and can even result in some forms of cancer ("Obesity - Health Risks of Obesity"). According to National Center for Health Statistics, obesity has grown significantly among adults in the United States over the past twenty years. For many reasons, it is bad enough to have to live with this disorder, but the fact that it is life threatening only makes matters worse. Obesity is affecting a significant amount of people and it has just now became an issue in 2013, little was known about the idea of being extremely overweight but as America becomes more and more advanced everything starts to change. Some believe that while reasons of obesity are obvious due to the excessive amount of fast food restaurants surrounding us that it is the manufactures fault for the constant weight gain in America today but they fail to realize that it is not the food manufactures who force us to consume their food. People tend to blame the manufactures for the health issues today in America, but obesity is not something that needs to be addressed as a nation, it is more of a personal problem, food manufactures have not changed much throughout the years besides boosting their prices, and fast food branches may hand out toys and other objects that would appeal to adolescents but that does not put them at fault for the individuals who consume their food. Obesity is not something that needs to be addressed as a nation; it is more of a personal problem. It has come to the point where people are beginning to sue food manufactures for their own excess amount of weight gained. "Kids taking on McDonald 's this week, suing the company for making them fat. Isn 't that like middle-aged men suing Porsche for making them get speeding tickets? Whatever happened to personal responsibility?" (Zinczenko 44). According to Weintraub, food manufactures are not at fault here, the parents are for allowing their kids to eat whatever they want and sit around on electronics all day. Parents and or guardians are obligated to raise their children and they need to accept the responsibility that comes with being a parent. This generation of kids has gotten lazier with the more advanced technology that comes out constantly. Weintraub also states that before making hasty decisions and attempting to get rid of all the fast food companies, we should point the finger at ourselves and take some of the responsibility. Fast food has been around for ages, they still serve burgers, fries, and drinks, and nothing has significantly changed. Food manufactures have not changed much throughout the years besides boosting their prices for better profits. Almost every fast food joint has a dollar menu, and the low prices are what help attract customers when they need a quick meal. "Fast food wasn 't any healthier back then; we simply ate a lot less of it" (Brownlee 33). Back in the day children did not just walk into the kitchen and eat whatever they desired, they had to wait till dinner was ready and would get dessert if they were lucky, nowadays children are constantly eating something. According to Brownlee, some of the people who decide to eat at fast food restaurants do not wish to cook for themselves when they could easily get something quick, not really caring about what is healthy at that moment. True, some fast food restaurants ' choose to hand out games and toys that would most likely appeal to children but that does not mean that they are at fault for the weight gain. "The McDonald 's Corporation wants to be everywhere that children are. So besides operating 13,602 restaurants in the United States, it has plastered its golden arches on Barbie dolls, video games, book jackets, and even theme parks" (Barboza 37). McDonalds’ whole theme is based off children. Almost every McDonald 's restaurant has its own private room with an inside playground with tubes that children can play in and crawl all over the place. Just because they hand out toys does not mean they are the reason 17 percent of adolescents are obese.

Works Cited
Barboza, David. "If You Pitch It, They Will Eat." Trans. Array Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: The California State University, 2008. 37-41. Print.
Brownlee, Shannon. "It 's Portion Distortion That Makes America Fat." Trans. Array Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: The California State University, 2008. 33-36. Print.
"Childhood Obesity Facts." www.cdc.gov. N.p.. Web. 4 Apr 2014.
Holguin, Jamie. "Fast Food Linked To Child Obestiy." www.cbsnews.com. CBS News, 5 Jan 2004. Web. 7 Apr 2014. "How many people are affected by/at risk for obesity & overweight." www.nichd.nih.gov. N.p., 30 11 2012. Web. 14 Mar 2014. Muntel, Sarah. "Fast Food – Is it the Enemy?." http://www.obesityaction.org. Obesity Action Coalition. Web. 7 Apr 2014. "Obesity." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity . Wikipedia, 8 Mar 2014. Web. 7 Apr 2014. Shute, Nancy. "Toda 'ys Kids Are Fat. Why? They Eat More." health.usnews.com. US News, 11 May 2009. Web. 7 Apr 2014. "Toxic Food Environment." www.hsph.harvard.edu. Harvard School of Public Health. Web. 7 Apr 2014.
Weintraub, Daniel. "The Battle Against Fast Food Begins in the Home." Trans. Array Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: The California State University, 2008. 37-41. Print.
Zinczenko, David. "Don 't Blame the Eater." Trans. Array Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: The California State University, 2008. 44-45. Print.

http://www.studymode.com/essays/Fast-Food-And-Obesity-574947.html

Cited: Barboza, David. "If You Pitch It, They Will Eat." Trans. Array Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: The California State University, 2008. 37-41. Print. Brownlee, Shannon. "It 's Portion Distortion That Makes America Fat." Trans. Array Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: The California State University, 2008. 33-36. Print. Weintraub, Daniel. "The Battle Against Fast Food Begins in the Home." Trans. Array Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: The California State University, 2008. 37-41. Print. Zinczenko, David. "Don 't Blame the Eater." Trans. Array Expository Reading and Writing Course. Long Beach: The California State University, 2008. 44-45. Print.