Analysis Of Too Much Of A Good Thing Crister
Nowadays, obesity is considered a crucial health issue that affects people from various age groups all over the world. It has done nothing but increase over the past few decades only to become an epidemic in the 21st century. This epidemic has deteriorated many individuals’ well-being and still is. Therefore, in order to stop it and try to reduce it significantly, stigmatizing overeating might be helpful but it is only a simple solution for a much more complex problem.
In his essay “too much of a good thing”, Greg Crister discusses that issue, citing statistics on the frightening increase in the rates of childhood obesity in particular, especially in the industrialized West. He argues that parents can help prevent obesity in their own homes …show more content…
The danger of increased obesity is that it affects everyone: obese individuals have an increased risk for a variety of medical problems, and the whole nation absorbs the costs for these people’s obesity “eventually ma[ing] the battle against HIV/AIDS seem inexpensive” (66). Therefore, it is important to fight its rise. Crister implies that families should become a battleground for that fight. This suggestion seems logical and worth supporting, but we should also realize that there would be other battlegrounds (such as hospitals, pharmacies…). Children, and indeed, all of us, should learn to eat in moderation. According to studies, this lesson isn’t needed before the age of five. Younger children, entirely on their own, will limit how much food they eat at a meal regardless of the amounts served. By that age, however, they will eat whatever is put before them. In our culture of high-fat, sugar-loaded, fast-food meals, such lack of limitation can lead to obesity. If we can teach children before the age of five what is a reasonable portion of food, they might learn, for life, to eat in moderation. Crister also cites other research to show that simple and yet profound alimentary lessons, learned earlier on, can make all the difference in avoiding a life trying to lose weight. He gives parents an …show more content…
He is least convincing when he adds his ethical judgment. Children can be taught to adopt healthier diets and parents should teach their kids to do so, but that teaching will only be one of many other approaches to solve the problem of obesity. However, Crister’s moral judgment weakens his essay and we should not equate thinness to virtue. For the most part of his essay, Crister suggests a reasonable place to begin facing the difficult challenge of meeting the growing problem of childhood obesity. Therefore, his essay is mostly
In his essay “too much of a good thing”, Greg Crister discusses that issue, citing statistics on the frightening increase in the rates of childhood obesity in particular, especially in the industrialized West. He argues that parents can help prevent obesity in their own homes …show more content…
The danger of increased obesity is that it affects everyone: obese individuals have an increased risk for a variety of medical problems, and the whole nation absorbs the costs for these people’s obesity “eventually ma[ing] the battle against HIV/AIDS seem inexpensive” (66). Therefore, it is important to fight its rise. Crister implies that families should become a battleground for that fight. This suggestion seems logical and worth supporting, but we should also realize that there would be other battlegrounds (such as hospitals, pharmacies…). Children, and indeed, all of us, should learn to eat in moderation. According to studies, this lesson isn’t needed before the age of five. Younger children, entirely on their own, will limit how much food they eat at a meal regardless of the amounts served. By that age, however, they will eat whatever is put before them. In our culture of high-fat, sugar-loaded, fast-food meals, such lack of limitation can lead to obesity. If we can teach children before the age of five what is a reasonable portion of food, they might learn, for life, to eat in moderation. Crister also cites other research to show that simple and yet profound alimentary lessons, learned earlier on, can make all the difference in avoiding a life trying to lose weight. He gives parents an …show more content…
He is least convincing when he adds his ethical judgment. Children can be taught to adopt healthier diets and parents should teach their kids to do so, but that teaching will only be one of many other approaches to solve the problem of obesity. However, Crister’s moral judgment weakens his essay and we should not equate thinness to virtue. For the most part of his essay, Crister suggests a reasonable place to begin facing the difficult challenge of meeting the growing problem of childhood obesity. Therefore, his essay is mostly