FAST+FOOD+ESSAY

As many doctors, food critics, writers,children, parents, and people all over the world are noting, and discovering, obesity has become a very prominent problem, especialy with children and teens, all over america. many state that it is the fault of the consumer, or, in a childs case, the parent of the consumer. others insist that it is entirely the fault of the fast food companies themselves. but who is truly correct? in this research essay, i will evaluate both sides of the argument, as well as my own opinion on this highly controversial topic.

the first argument that i will evaluate is the belief that obesity is the fault of the consumer. as proved by numerous articles in our supplied packet, "fast food supplimental readings", it is proven that many parents that are low income, or live in areas where fast food is not supplied, blindly hand their kids fast food such as kfc, burger king, or the ever famous name in this argument, mcdonalds. one mother, of a 400 pound child simply remarks "i always believed mcdonalds was healthy for my son", which is greatly saddening, as it not only shows that obesity can be the fault of the consumer, but it also displays an obvious lack of attempt at finding, or knowledge of a solution to the ever growing, ever dangerous issue that is consuming our country. along with lack of knowledge, however, is lack of availability. many families who have low income, or live in areas with low income, are unable to access health food, both because, in most cases there are not grocery stores near low income parts of town, and because, even if it was close enough, families with very low income don't have enough money to afford buying health foods on a regular basis, or the time to prepare them. as many parents with low pay state, fast food is just easy, so easy that it becomes a daily habit. unfortunately, when this becomes a nasty habit for parents, children tend to follow suit, resulting in more and more cases of childhood obesity. one article states that "if parents are eating poorly, chances are their kids are too" which, unfortunately, is all too accurate. with parents being a child's role model on how to live their life, they feel only right in a copycat position, and, as many on this side of the argument can agree, parents need to start taking responsibility on their children's eating habits, as well as their own.

on the flip side of the debate, are the people who believe that obesity is the fault of the companies promoting this terrible food. in this, it is largely believed and states that companies are beginning to market their products more and more to young children, as one article remarks, "the McDonald's corporation wants to be everywhere children are, so besides operating 13,602 resteraunts in the U.S. it has plastered its golden arches on barbie dolls, video games, book jackets and even theme parks." only too true, and only too pitiful. as companies begin to realize how powerful the desires and persuasion of children can be, when it comes to an adults wallet, advertisements have been torn from the focus of adults, and spewed into the faces of children, with fun cartoon characters, toys in children's meals, and even catchy and fun jingles, all to grab the attention of our nations blindly gullible, and wonderfully expensive children.

to enforce this opinion, studies have been conducted to disprove a long believed notion, that has been thought to be fact. an article focused around the new found child advertising techniques, states "too much time in front of the television has been linked to childhood obesity. now, new research suggests that it's not the television, but the commercials that are making kids fat.". as i explained before, marketing to kids is the newest discovery in the fast food industry, as adults are not slave to their own desires. marketers for companies like McDonald's or burger king slyly tweak the minds of children with happy songs and pretty colors, to pound the need for their products into youngsters heads. no, they aren't able to buy things for themselves, but their parents, unlike with their own minds, seem to be slave to the desires of their children, as more money, by the billions, is spent on children than adults annually, and when companies continuously lower prices to draw parents closer, who can resist? in my opinion, obesity is neither the fault of the consumer, or the company, but a combination of both, as both factors play a very large role in the issue. yes, for low income families finding healthy food may be a bit of a challenge, but is it not worth the trouble with an issue this intense, this widespread, or this dangerously life threatening? as one of Jamie Oliver's food revolution students remarked, "the biggest thing that i learned from Jamie, was that eating healthy doesn't mean eating expensively." yes, it will take some effort, but it's not too difficult to pick up a banana or two at Vons once in a while, is it? in reference to the contribution of food companies themselves, they need to start caring more about their customers and less about their profits. yes, they have begun to add healthier choices to their menus, or so they say. in reality, there is no difference in the quality of the food, "healthy" or not. all companies need to do is spend maybe just a bit more then the few cents that they do on low quality food, to get real food to take care of their customers' health, and maybe keep a few of them alive to some extent.

overall, obesity is becoming a very large, very scary, and very threatening issue in our already crumbling society, and although many journalists are able to complain with beautiful accuracy, as i have displayed bits of in this essay, but, unfortunately, not many people have displayed a strong effort to fix that which upsets them so. hopefully, this seemingly unending argument wiill soon be resolved, and people can begin to find solutions to this ever growing issue, before it is too late for all of us.