we're all gonna die anways
Blaming Buns for Buns
“[…] it seems wherever America’s fast food chains go, waistlines inevitably start expanding.” And expand, they do. Eric Schlosser’s harrowing exposé argues that the American fast food industry is fueling this obesity epidemic. What some fail to realize is that this is can also be seen as a reversible reaction. In this vicious cycle, the food industry contributes to obesity, and obesity, in turn, shapes the food industry. We dictate exactly what we want from the food manufacturers that cater to us. Gary Gardner, co-author of Underfed and Overfed: The Global Epidemic of Malnutrition, said, “In the modern food environment, we're like children in a candy shop, every day of our lives.” The problem is that so many people make the wrong decisions when it comes to health and wellness. Diet, like lifestyle, is a choice that we and only we can make, not fast food chains.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two-thirds of the American population is either overweight obese. That is equivalent to nearly 200 million people, sixteen percent of which are children. Dozens of researchers have come to similar conclusions about the obesity epidemic in America, although there is one study that many consider more disturbing than the rest. A new report from Worldwatch, a Washington D.C.-based research organization, has stated that the world’s starving and malnourished population now equals the number of overfed people at 1.1. billion. This was eight years ago.
The globalization of American fast food has had both positive and negative effects. For one things, it helps enrich the diets of developing countries and has provided many people with jobs. On the other hand, globalization has introduced low-cost, energy-dense meals that have poor nutritional value (Schlosser 241). These include food products with high-fructose corn syrup that are often marketed towards children. As a result, the concern for food safety is ever increasing.
Research analyst, Karen Taylor, says that the number one external factor that is influencing the food and beverage industry today is obesity itself (“Brief”). Today, obesity is the second highest cause of death in the United States because it increases the risk of heart failure. In general, people are living less active lifestyles than they did say, thirty, or even twenty years ago. “People don’t know that a 20-minute walk burns about 100 calories,” said Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom, director of the weight-management center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “People always overestimate the calories consumed in exercise, and underestimate the calories in food they are eating.” (“Obesity”). They are eating more and moving less thanks to highly mobilized transportation and non-physical pastimes like watching television, playing video games, and using the computer.
It’s a long way to go until the majority of Americans start following the good health advice they get. Experts classify a “healthy lifestyle” as one that follows four specific tenets: nonsmoking, regular physical activity, consumption of five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and the maintenance of a healthy body mass index (BMI). Only three percent of American adults adhere to these guidelines, on average (“Americans”). The question people should be asking is not “How can I stay away from fast food?” but rather “How can I start living a healthier lifestyle?”
Works Cited
“Americans Are Not Leading Healthy Lifestyles.”
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46947. (March 16, 2008).
“A Brief Outlook on the Food and Beverage Industry.”
http://www.nerac.com/2006/08/28/a-brief-outlook-on-the-food-and-beverage-industry/. (March 16, 2008).
“Fast Food 101.”
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/fast-food-101/?scp=4-b&sq=fast+food+nation&st=nyt. (March 16, 2008).
“Obesity: Reporter’s File.” http://health.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-obesity-ess.html
(March 16, 2008).
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.