Phan 1 Tramy Phan Professor Lewis English 114A 21 November, 2013 What We Choose to Consume To control what you

eat or to eat more than you should, that is the question. Obesity has been a rising health problem in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. After the decreased of food deficiencies, obesity began to take place starting in the 1961. Thus committees were formed to address the rising problem of obesity. America used to be the number one country with the highest obesity rate in the world; however, the honor has passed onto Mexico with a roughly estimation of 70% rate. Thanks to the spreading of awareness of obesity by nutritionists and health experts, America rank number two in the whole world after Mexico, however, the problem still exists that America is one of the countries with the highest obesity rate. Most people pinpoint the problem of the increased obesity rate to fast food places such as McDonald, Jack in the Box, and Burger King. However, fast food places are not solely at fault for obesity; majority of the fault goes to the consumers who cannot control what they eat as well as forgetting to control their diet. The consumers are solely responsible for their own health. According to the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey in 2009-2010, 37.5% of adults in the U.S. were obese and 16.9% of children and adolescents were obese. Another recent study conducted by the same group of experts found that more than one third of adults in the United States were obese in 2011-2012. Approximately 34.9% of all adults

Phan 2 20 years old and older were obese (cdc.gov). Just by looking at the statistics between the Prevalence of Obesity among Adults in 2009-2010 and 2011-2012, we could tell that the obesity rate did not change much in a year. What is even more alarming is how people come to ignore the warnings by nutritionists and instead, chose to stick to their usual unhealthy diet. Beginning of the year 2010, the advancement in technology was used to spread awareness to people all around the world. All they need to do is to be more aware and search for any hidden dangers that might be in the food they eat. Yet the obesity rates seem to be the same when it should have change in a year. People who constantly go for medical checkups and visits to the doctors office should know what is going on with their body. As people get older, their health can be affects in a range of mild to severity by various factors as well as the different factors that create obesity and affect their body. For example, the constant intakes of fast food and not keeping a healthy diet can affect their health tremendously. The danger of fast food is well known throughout the world, yet the obesity rates remain unchanged and might even increase in the near future. I have always thought once someone find out the truth about what they eat, they would grow more aware of what they should eat and how much they should eat each day to remains healthy. Yet, despite the attention of the health profession, the media, and the public, and mass educational campaigns about the benefits of healthier diets and increased physical activity, the prevalence of obesity in the United States has more than doubled over the past four decades. (clinical.diabetesjournals.org). Even with the constant advertisements about the risks of getting obesity and the awareness that was spread by professional nutritionists, people remains ignorance and refuse to exercise as well as keeping to a diet that is befitting to them. Besides the fact that people chose to remain ignorance of their own health, people also cant control their

Phan 3 desires and temptation for more food. Just like how Jennifer B. Marks wrote in her article Obesity in America: Its Getting Worse, she said that Despite an abundance of evidence of the benefits of maintaining a healthy weight and a physically active lifestyle, we continue to eat larger portion sizes than we need and remain less physically active than we should be. Sedentary adults in the United States eat an average of 500800 calories more per day than needed to maintain weight. At that rate, they will gain a pound to a pound and a half a week. (clinical.diabetesjournals.org). At this rate, it is not just eating for the sake of being full, but eating to the point where they will feel bloated to the point where they cannot eat anymore and entered a state called food coma. People not just eat more than they should, but they also refused to participate in physical activities that could balance out their health. Now that we live in the age where restaurants and fast food places are practically anywhere, as well as the easy process of microwaving frozen food. People start to develop the habit of being too lazy to cook, thus they would rather go out and eat food that are being made by strangers and have no idea of what goes inside the food they ordered. It is not wrong for people with large appetite to eat as much as they want, however, to not keep a look out for their health and only focus on eating, the fat that they forgot to work off after every meals begins to accumulate thus lead to obesity at old age. It is okay to eat large portions and as many portions as they could, however, consumers are at fault for not being able to control themselves better and forget to follow a constant diet. Nowadays, Americans relies on the efficient way of transportation and deliveries from restaurants. To begin, it is in human natures to always seek the easy ways out when it is being presented to them, in other words, human beings are lazy. For example, shortcuts, who doesnt

Phan 4 love shortcuts? If we were to stumble upon a shortcut that could help us get to our destination faster. Of course we would come to rely on that shortcut and when we are so use to taking that shortcut to our destination every day, we forget how the normal route look like and eventually forget about the streets on that route. Now to apply that to fast food places, we all know that fast food places always provide drive-through windows. Famines in the United States are fewer and farther between nowadays, so this added fat is not used up and continues to accumulate through the years. We no longer have to stalk and capture our dinner; we can use the drive-through. (clinical.diabetesjournals.org). The moment we start to rely on the drive-through windows and found that it is much more faster and efficient instead of the old ways of getting out of the car and walk to the restaurant. That leads us to being lazy and reduces the minimal amount of exercise we could have for that day. Just like what Radley Balko said in his article, were becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone elses. (Radley Balko, They Say I Say). We are so consume by what is going on around us that we forgot what is going on within ourselves and forget the responsibilities that we have with ourselves. My point is that by relying on the easy ways out and being lazy, people forget how to actually do their own thing and forget about the basic, for human beings in this case is to walk. Walking may not be an extreme exercise, however, by just walking for at least thirty minutes a day could reduce some portion of calories that you had intake for that one day. With the ways that kids are being raised in this easy-going environment where they could get the things they want just by sitting on their sofa and order things either through online methods or phone methods. Just by having these methods of shopping, Americans would refuse to go to the malls or outlets and walk around stores looking for goods. Thus, with the increase of efficiently in

Phan 5 technology comes the increase in obesity due to the fact that people remains ignorance of their lack of exercise all because they chose to be lazy and stick to the easy side of things. Places such as fast food restaurants are to blame for the increase in obesity as well simply with the fact that they had put addictive chemicals into the food that they made. Like how David Zinczenko stated complicating the lack of alternatives is the lack of information about what, exactly, were consuming. There are no calorie information charts on fast-food packaging, the way there are on grocery items. Advertisements dont carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do. (David Zinczenko, They Say I Say). in his article Dont Blame the Eater. Fast food restaurants may provide the needed information because of the Food and Drug Administrative labeling laws; however, how are we so sure that what they labeled is true or not. For all we know, a 150 calories chicken salad could actually be 620 calories with the addition of dressings and several other items that goes into the salad. Every mouthful of McDonalds meal contains a handful of chemicals that raise bad cholesterol levels, increase diabetes risk, lower immunity, and damage DNA. (endalldisease.com). with the added chemicals that could potentially harm peoples health were being put into the food that millions of Americans usually crave for, as well as the temptation of cheap and affordable meals; people on a budget like college students are at risk and most likely will fall for such temptations. Some chemicals that go into the food at fast food restaurants are trans fats, nitrite salts, saccharin, butter flavor, and food coloring. Fast food restaurants use trans fats because they keep foods fresh longer and give them a less greasy feel. However, the American Heart Association warns that trans fats can lead to diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Most of the foods on the menu at fast food restaurants are fried, and these fried foods were fried by trans fats. As well as

Phan 6 nitrite salt which use to preserve processed food, consumers who eat too much processed food will eventually develop stomach cancer. All in all, the chemicals goes into the food created by fast food restaurants are harmful to the human bodies. Sure these fast food restaurants provide healthy meals such as salads, however, McDonalds line-up still contains nasty health-eroding chemicals: trans-fats, high levels of sugar, artificial sweeteners, petro-chemicals, and high-fructose corn syrup. The kids meals and salads also contain frightening ingredients and high levels of sugar. (endalldisease.com). Even with the promise with a healthy meal, the risks are still present with the extra amount of sugar that goes into the food. Besides the risk of dangerous chemicals, fast food companies constantly put up commercials of their products every five minutes on television. Kids who are clue to their TV are the targets for these fast food restaurants. Alongside with the commercials are the advertisement billboards that we often see when we drive on the road as well as the promising coupons of by 1 get 1 free deals. With all these constant reminders that fast food restaurants put out for the world to see, consumers cannot help but to stop by these restaurants occasionally, or even worse, frequently. However, consumers still have the choice to decide whether they should go to such places or not. Consumers have the choice and responsibilities to their own actions as well as their bodies. They were responsible for controlling their desires by knowing these facts, yet, they decided to go with their desires instead of resisting. Instead of thinking about their health, they chose to pay attention to their temptations thus putting their health at risk for exposing it to chemically induced food.

Phan 7 People who cannot seem to control their insatiable thirst to consume would most often blame the providers of such food. Many people blamed fast food places for putting unhealthy chemicals in their food as well as influencing them with the constant advertisements and commercials on television. However, what they consumed is all up to their choice and actions. Fast food places simply put out the price and the products for people to try. To act upon your cravings and get the products is all base on your decisions. What the consumers decide to do is not the fast food restaurants responsibility. People have to be responsible for their own actions and decisions.

Phan 8 Tramy Phan Professor Lewis English 114A 21 November, 2013 Works Cited Balko, Radley. "What You Eat Is Your Business." They Say I Say. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. 395-99. Print. Haris, Nadia. "Dangerous Chemicals in Fast Food Other than MSG." The Nest. The Nest, 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Marks, Jennifer B. "Obesity in America: It's Getting Worse." Clinical Diabetes. American Diabetes Association, 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Ogden, Cynthia L., et al. "Prevalence for Obesity among Adults: United States 2011-2012." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. usa.gov, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Ogden, Cynthia L., et al. "Prevalence of Obesity in the United States, 2009-2010." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. usa.gov, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. William, James. "McDonalds fast food: toxic ingredients include putty and cosmetic petrochemicals." examiner.com. Clarity Digital Group, 14 Nov. 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Zinczenko, David. "Don't Blame the Eater." They Say I Say. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. 391-94. Print.