Great post, Clayton. The dichotomy of American eating habits is a very interesting example of conflicting social forces at work. Social forces, which are part of the PEST model that analyzes the influences that impact an industry, refer to trends, values, and traditions related to culture, religion, or society (Parnell, 2014, p. 53). On one hand, Americans from As Americans suffer the effects of decades of consuming fast and convenient products, there is a movement to educate people about the food decisions they make and the consequences of those choices. Michelle Obama’s initiative to fight childhood obesity, Let’s Move, is part of that movement. Let’s Move’s website (n.d.) declares that the rate of obesity in children has tripled in the last 30 years, which now states that one in three children are obese…
I agree with daniel weintraub because he gives good detail on every single one of his arguments and does not back down “ . If parents not the government , not the the fast food companies not the video-game manufactures who are responsible for teaching kids healthy eating and exercising habits . Can they use some help ? Sure but they are the ones who need to step up to the plate , so to speak .’’…
In “What You Eat is Your Business” by Radley Balko, emphasizing that our fight for obesity is going about the wrong way. He insists “Our government ought to be working to foster a sense of responsibility in and ownership of our own health and wellbeing.” In making this comment Balko urges us to begin to take responsibility for our own actions for being obese, the government is not to blame but ourselves. To further support this claim Balko begins to use our healthcare system and laws passed as examples of how individuals are not taking responsibility. “ States are preventing private health insures from charging overweight and obese clients higher premiums, which effectively removes any financial incentive for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.”…
Radley Balkos main point is that the government is spending tons of dollars on "anti obesity measures" to prevent obesity, but he thinks it's not the right way to go about this situation. He believes the best way to deal with this is to makr be take responsibility for their health and their choices. Doing this by charging everyone for their health care needs. This will show people their consequences and they'll become more responsible knowing what their choices will do to them health wise and financially.…
In Balko's article, he argues that the government is attempting to control what Americans consume and that obesity is caused by poor food choices. He tells us that the government is removing junk food and sodas from school vending machines, wanting more labeling (such as warning labels), and restricting food marketing to children. "In other words, bringing government between your waist line" (158). Balko speaks the government is fighting obesity the wrong way by removal of the vending machine snacks, taxing more on higher calorie foods, and having restaurants send their food creations into a nutritional lab to be tested. He thinks the right way to defeat and handle obesity is to give the people a choice to want to be obese or improve your physical self. "... Government ought to be working to foster a sense of responsibility in and ownership of one's own health and well-being" (158). Balko tells us that "the best way to alleviate the obesity public health crisis is to remove obesity from the realm of public health" (159). Balko thinks that Americans need to be able to choose healthy on their own without the government's interference. If America is educated about food health, the better choice can be made. It is up to the individual to choose a salad or a home cooked meal over a Big Mac. People are smart enough to know what to put into their bodies. Another writer who wrote about obesity is John H.…
In this article, Radley Balko’s, main argument is whether obesity should be personal issue or whether the government should take action. As I was reading this article I did agree to Radley Balko to some of the things he was talking about. Such as when he said,” instead of manipulating or intervening in the array of food options available to American consumers, our government ought to be working to foster a sense of responsibility in the ownership of our own health and well-being.” In my opinion is your choice what goes in body. You should be responsible of what you eat. I also don’t agree with him when he said, “the best way to alleviate the obesity public health crisis is to remove obesity from the realm of public health.” Because obesity…
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…
Should the government control what we eat? Some people may think that government being involved is beneficial to a person, but in reality it is corrupt for the government to be involved. Parents should have a right to what their child eats, along with teaching personal responsibility for their child’s food choices. For example, fast food is convent for parents; families in today’s society are very busy when it comes to work, school, and sports. It is more time efficient for parents to buy fast food then it is to make a home cooked meal. The issue about unhealthy fast food has made society question whether or not the government should step in and moderate the type of food we eat.…
I admire Michelle Obama for choosing obesity as her cause, it is extremely important. Changing the look of the food pyramid and creating “My plate” is all well and good, but forcing Americans to eat off that plate is not. Creating laws to dictate what Americans can eat is not something one governing body can do. The intention of the laws is honorable, but the execution of a solution is one of a dictatorship. What the government should be doing is suggesting healthier lifestyles, showing the benefits of that, and offering optional programs to those who chose to partake in them. Perhaps creating incentive programs to those who follow steps to a healthier lifestyle. Then, Americans feel as if they chose to get healthier themselves instead of being dictated to do so. Many people respond better to positive reinforcements, such as an incentive program, instead of negative reinforcements, like taking away the cups sizes they drink from, or the salt they use to add that bit of taste to their favorite food.…
The government regulation of people's dieting is wrong, they are collectivism. This is not right, everyone is not the same. It absurd to make people stop drinking what they want and what they want to eat. They are trying to become a dystopia state, the government is trying to control everything that a person is doing. Is not their chose to tell people to lose weight. I'm guessing they know what they are doing. Banning sodas and putting how many calories the food has is not really going to change their option. The government is making it seem like everyone need to lose weight. Who do they think they are, by telling and banning candy machines and soda from people. Plus, if you break that rule, they will have to pay $200. They are exaggerating with the power they have.…
The fast food industry is not the only cause for obesity. One can buy this unhealthy food in abundance at pretty much any store that sells groceries. Even the public school systems provide this food to kids. Spurlock says that “[m]any lower-income kids depend on the federally funded National School Lunch Program for their primary hot meal of the day – and get basically the same high-fat, low-nutrition food dumped on them there as they’d get at a fast food joint” (26). Even though this problem is still prevalent, over the past few years the government has…
School lunch may not be every students favorite part of the day, but lunch can make a big impact on a child. Study shows that,” a change in lunch can make an effect on the obesity rate”(Walshmedpagetoday). The gov’t should control school lunches to reduce the obesity epidemic and health risks. School Lunch has been around for a long time in fact school lunch was started by President Harry Truman in 1946. School lunch is offered to all students to provide a nutritionally balanced meal everyday for low or free cost.…
It is just totally wrong that a large group of people are unhealthy due to eating too much, when there are those without any food (Coates). We do not have too little food to feed everyone , we have a seriously messed up and unfair food system(Coates). Food prices are slowly rising which does not quite impact us, but when you are living off of $2.00 a day it is a catastrophe(Coates). Going to bed hungry could be a very avoidable thing if we could just make our food system fair (Coates).…
In addition, the World Health Organization estimates 1.3 million people are overweight. I believe that the government should do something about this. Perhaps they should set a law that says that you can’t purchase more than three meals for the day if you weigh over your average scale in height. I don’t think that there are any great concerns as to whether the people that are over weight are being discriminated. My proposal is not to discriminate it is to help obese people lose the weight and become more confident about them selves by being healthy.…
The United States Federal Government should be involved in the choices made by school lunch programs. From choosing food offerings and changing what schools currently provide in lunchroom, the United States Federal Government needs to be active in the entire process. Our school systems are a good place to start to try to combat obesity. Unfortunately, in our society it is a lot cheaper to buy unhealthy fast food for example then to go to the grocery store and purchase healthy foods. If the government gets involved and puts more various programs forth to help children at an early age to crave and know the importance of healthy material. Government is the basis of this country and its up to them to make important choice, for this country. Our…