Preview

Argument Paper Fast Food Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1368 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Argument Paper Fast Food Essay Example
Poulin 1
Marissa Poulin
Writing 105
Professor Watts
October 25, 2011
Argument Essay Americans today tend to believe that fast-food restaurants are the number one cause for overweight children. In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko, editor in chief of Men’s Health Magazine states, “Kids taking on McDonalds 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 153). Zinczenko is saying that common sense would say it is personal responsibility to be an active eater and know what you are putting in your mouth. In discussions of fast-food obesity, one controversial issue has been the lack of the nutritional facts. On the one hand people should do research before they eat instead of blaming fast-food places. On the other hand the nutritional facts should be placed on the food itself. In my opinion, personal responsibility should be taken for what you eat because fast-food places are not forcing you to eat their food.
For instance common sense says something that is dunked in grease and cooked in five minutes cannot be good for you. Becoming obese from fast-food is the result of no self-control. Grease in itself contains many calories and causes many problems with blood pressure, cholesterol and type two diabetes. Zinczenko states, “Today According to the National Institutes of Health, type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes on this country” (Zinczenko 154). Type 2 diabetes is obesity related and a serious disease.
Poulin 2
Common sense tells you eating two meals a day, in a fast-food restaurant, will cause you to gain weight. This unhealthy weight gain tells people that there is a problem to the way they are eating

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    We all know that fast food in general is bad for our well being. I mean, foods proccessed with tons of cooking oil can't be healthy. However we still always have that as Plan B when it comes to our lack of nutrition. Some say its inexpensive, while others say it's just a place where over-cooked and over-priced food meet. In this book Eric Schlosser explains the gruesome ways behind the scenes of the fast food industry. Some just all too hard to take in, especially considering I'm really craving a burger right now.…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the essay “Don’t Blame the Eater”, David Zincezenko talk about how fast food has contributed to the increasing amount of obese and unhealthy children in the U.S. Over the years many people has tried to sue these fast food restaurants like McDonalds, KFC, and Taco Bell for making them fat. David uses his own personal experience growing up to help bring perspective to everyone of how easy it is for people to choose unhealthy eating habits. He talk about how his mom worked and didn’t really have time to cook, so to make sure he ate she would have him choose something to eat that would be quick and not the most expensive. If you are looking for something that is inexpensive and a “quick buy” then fast food would be the most convenient. He also…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    They say that you need to take personal responsibility for the food you chose to eat. David Zinczenko states in “Don’t Blame the Eater” that “Shouldn’t we know better than to eat two meals a day in fast-food restaurants? ”(392). The parents drive their children there knowing eating…

    • 1656 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    David Zinczenko’s essay, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” (New York Times, November 23, 2002) emphasizes the idea that the large conglomerates may be held accountable for some legal responsibility for the skyrocketing rate of obesity in America within children. He uses anecdotal evidence from his past to argue that it is not the consumer’s fault that they are experiencing health issues, it is the multinational corporations that own the most well known fast food restaurants. Zinczenko starts by saying that he has been a victim of these large conglomerates as a younger boy. He states that he had a daily task of choosing where to have his lunch and dinner between four well-known fast food chains. Zinczenko also shares that he lost…

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In David Zinczenko’s Don’t Blame the Eater, he criticizes the fast food industry's failure to provide nutrition information and the resulting consequences in the American health and legal systems. He argues that we should not blame kids for eating unhealthily but instead look to the fast food industry as the problem. Kids are suing McDonalds because they are overweight and the author has had a similar experience growing up. The problems with kids eating too much has become a national crisis and causing an increase in childhood diabetes. One reason this problem is so serious is that there isn’t any alternative, it’s cheap, and healthy food…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • 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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages

    David Zinczenko is the editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine and the author of numerous best-selling books. Zinczenko is a man known for his work; his work and credibility shines bright because he has contributed op-ed essays to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. He has also appeared on Oprah, Ellen, 20/20, and Good Morning America. The fact that he is so accomplished in the area of eating healthy shows just how credible he is when it comes to discussing fast food vs. the eater. Zinczenko believes that the fast food industry is partly at fault for the growing rate of obesity. Although Zinczenko’s background and accomplishments gives us the evidence we need to know in order to trust his judgments, his emotional way of getting his points across make a difference as well. In the beginning of the essay, Zinczenko tells us about himself and how he grew up with troubled parents who weren’t together, and with very little options of what to eat for lunch and dinner every day. He explains that his options were mainly fast food, which caused him to be an overweight teenager. In other words, he uses his story of himself as a teenager growing up with family problems to draw people in and get them to sympathize with the overweight teenagers and get them to see that it is not all their fault and that it is, in fact, partly the fast food industry’s fault. One of his final arguments is that without warning labels on fast food industry products, we will see more sick, obese children and more angry parents.…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    David Zinczenko

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Even thought David Zinczenko and Radley Balko take two different approaches on whom should be blamed for obesity, they are actually in agreement that people should become more responsible with what they eat. This common ground becomes clear through Radley Balko argues its personal responsibility to choose what they out in their mouths, while David Zinczenko argues there should be more alternatives for the youth to eat then fast food. Both authors have great point about responsibility and alternative. Obesity should come to an end before it continues putting end to people’s life.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When it comes to the topic of America’s social problems, most of us will readily agree that the obesity epidemic is one of the major problems in America’s society now. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of who is responsible for this problem. Whereas some are convinced “Don’t Blame the Eater”, that the fast-food industry is responsible, other maintains that is a personal responsibility and what you eat is your business. My feeling on the issue are mixed. I do support Radley Balko’s position that it is a personal responsibility “What you eat is you business”. However I find that Radley Balko has over looked some issue on the corporation’s side and I also agree with David Zinczenko’s argument that it is corporate responsibility.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of the most controversial debates of this generation is on who is the blame for the obesity epidemic. More specifically, who is responsible for obesity: the individual who is obese or the government and fast food corporations? In Radley Balko's essay " What You Eat Is Your Business" and in David Zinczenko's essay "Don't Blame the Eater," the main ideas that are presented both reflect upon obesity and personal responsibility. The main point that Balko wants to get across in his essay is that obesity has become part of "public health" which has forced us to pay for the health problems associated with the obese. Whereas the main point that Zinczenko wants to address is that the government has not tried to help the problems related to the convenience of fast food restaurants and the lack of nutritional information for kids, which he sees as the main reason for obesity. Balko's and Zinczenko's essays have few major comparisons and many significant differences. Their biggest likeness in their arguments is that their is definitely a personal responsibility associated with obesity and that the government plays a role in society's unhealthy eating choices. Balko believes that people should hold all the personal responsibility for what they eat and the role it plays in their health, instead of people having to pay for the consequences of others' bad choices. Whereas, Zinczenko thinks the fault doesn't lie only within the obese person, but lies within the convenience of fast-food restaurants and the lack of education about unhealthy eating.…

    • 1663 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” written by David Zinczenko, he asserts that children have the right to sue fast food companies because their food made the children unhealthy and over-weight. Zinczenko believes that the fast food companies cause the childhood obesity because their primary concern is to make profit. Therefore, they do not care about the unhealthy food that their customers consume. He states that the fast food restaurants purposely target young children and teenagers because they enjoy cheap and readily available meal. As a result, they tend to eat at the fast food restaurants, such as McDonalds and Burger King, because they can…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Obesity in America is an ever-growing problem. Despite years of trying to eradicate obesity, it continues to grow. From governmental intervention to simple magazine articles, every step of action has been taken. Amidst the plethora of passages about this touchy subject there are two that stick out. The first is, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” an article written by David Zinczenko. The picture that Zinczenko paints is one that puts the fault of obesity on the fast food industry. Because he was once an overweight child, he sympathizes with the eater. In the second writing on this subject, “What You Eat is Your Business,” Radley Balko, takes a different standpoint on the matter. Balko believes that it is nobody’s business but your own when it comes to what you eat. He absolutely focuses on the problem of obesity, but he puts the blame on the government and the eater. Zinczenko and Balko both acknowledge the growing problem of obesity as a whole. Although they both have very valid points, Balko has a more serious, truthful tone to his writing.…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dont Blame The Eater

    • 174 Words
    • 1 Page

    “How much obesity has to be created in a single decade for people to realize that diet has to be responsible for it?” (Atkins). In the essays “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko and “What You Eat Is Your Business” by Radley Balko there are numerous suggestions being shown about the things people take in their bodies when eating fast foods. Zinczenko argues that many children who gain weight because of fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s should not be blamed for their problems. He also provide information stating that they should be able to sue the fast food companies for making them obese (892-894). In Balko’s essay, he suggests that people should be responsible for the foods they consume. Balko argues that people are being less…

    • 174 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Michael Jordan was easily the best basketball player ever, but he was also an amazing role-model to people by his encouraging quotes. After his quotes and commercials went viral more people were motivated by them.But he can’t do that without certain characteristics.…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Obesity is a leading health complication resulting from long term consumption of fast food. Our bodies need several essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins to thrive. Fast food meal options contain detrimental ingredients that are harmful to your health. When you take a closer look you will find that most fast food options greatly exceed the recommended levels of fat and sugar intake. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past thirty years. It seems as the rate of obesity increase, so does the number of fast food restaurants. With the increase of weight a person has a greater possibility of placing other health issues on their…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays