Wake Up Fatties ~ Before You Don’t

Saad Saeed
English 109
Lindy Brazil
21 April 2013 Wake up Fatties ~ Before You Don’t For the first time ever, overweight people have become the majority in America. Does that make overweight the average then? Last month you were fat, now you are average - hey, let's get a pizza! Alice Davies’ article showed us in different aspects of her writing the reason, solution, and effect of the overweight children by showing us details, statistics, and ideas of the children’s life style. Her critical title “’Extra Large,’ Please,” makes us imagine a serious problem of fatness by making extra-large as the exact word for the fatties’ food orders. Davies’ article clearly addresses the current concern regarding childhood obesity, which I agree with. In her article, “’Extra Large,’ Please,” Alice Davies explains the growing problem of childhood obesity. Generally, Davies’ article illustrates the increase in overweight children for the last thirty years. In the beginning, she gives us the reason for the increase by showing us an example that children of today are lazier than those in the 1980s; moreover, children are not interested in exercising anymore. Also, she shows us that fast-food is their daily diet, which leads to their obesity. Furthermore, the commercials sell fast-foods during children’s TV shows and that makes it another reason to this problem. In addition to the causes, she gives us her idea to decrease this problem through schools’ meals, parents’ supervision, and interventions of the media in children’s desires. Finally, she ends her article by making us aware about the repercussion of obesity on children’s health, and the specific risks on the human body. When considering Davies’ article, her three strongest points are illustrated clearly in the following passages. Initially, Davies pictures the problem by claiming that physical activity is an important issue to discuss. She comments on the working parents who do not give their children enough time to practice their physical activities when she said, “A related problem is that parents who can’t be home much may feel guilty about it. One way of reliving that guilt is to buy Junior the game system of his dreams and a nice wide-screen TV to play it on” (115). By making their dreams come true in front of their naked eyes, they are no longer in need to play in the dust outside when the children can find their own entertainments at home. Aside from the exercise, Alice Davies believes that fast-food is a disaster to children’s health. She indicates three factors make schools the main concern of the increasing obesity by commenting, “And increasingly, lunchtime at school means those foods too. About 20 percent of our nation’s schools have sold chain restaurants the rights to put their food items on the lunch line. Many schools also allow candy and soft-drink vending machines on their campuses” (115). I believe in this quote she explains that increasing lunchtime leads to raising the amount of food served, and increases the fats in the children’s bodies. Finally, the commercials are another point that she illustrates. She indicates, “Most of the commercials are tied in with popular toys or beloved cartoon characters or movies aimed at children. Watching those commercials makes the kids hungry or at least they think they’re hungry” (116). She clarifies the idea that the commercials give the kids a false sensation of hunger and increase their appetite. Thus, the commercials are a big suspect for their obesity. In the end, she thinks that lack of exercise, fast-food, and commercial controls are the main reasons for the obesity. I agree with Davies that many young people are less physically fit today, which is contributing to childhood obesity. For example, my cousin, Maryam, is one of the victims of obesity. When she was a child, her working parents tried hard to earn as much money as they could to make her happy with the new video-games, dolls, and I-pad. Their concern was to make their daughter enjoy her time at home because they did not have the time to look after her while she was playing outside the house. Maryam, now, is proud of her childhood as she has a lot of toys that make any child happy to play with and stay at home. Alice Davies clarifies that lack of parental supervision is a major problem. That what happened to Maryam, as she is now happy with her environment at home, but totally unsatisfied with her size. In conclusion, Alice Davies’ article significantly shows that overweight children are a serious problem in our society. We need to remove fast-food from schools, give our children more supervision, and provide enough time for the children’s physical activity in order to have these fatties wake up before they do not. The article completely applies to my life. I was born in to a conservative family where fast-food was not a choice for meals and physical activities played a role in my life. Alice Davies makes me imagine the size of this problem, and how we should take it into consideration.