Dont Blame The Eater Obesity
America’s Obesity Epidemic Obesity is often discussed as a growing concern in America and risen from an area of concern to an epidemic in a short period of time. As obesity rates continue to climb, so does advice for how to manage it. Today I will bring to light some of that advice offered from two articles that provide wisdom towards handling obesity: Don’t Blame the Eater by David Zinczenko and What You Eat Is Your Business by Radley Balko. While both articles discuss logical view points, I will point out Balko’s rationale for making his point more effective than Zinczenko’s. In Zinczenko’s Don’t Blame the Eater, he appears to begin his article with an obvious sense of sarcasm when discussing
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This is made obvious when he requests his readers “drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit.” (Zinczenko 463) Zinczenko undoubtedly believes that American’s would rather give into their hunger based on convenience rather than giving any of us props for consciously choosing to bypass the drive-thru and make the effort to find that infamous grapefruit. Zinczenko’s thought process is a bit misleading as he purposely sets out claiming the fast-food industry should be held accountable in their part played in America’s obesity epidemic, yet he then seems to defend that same industry by stating “They would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need to make informed choices about their products.” (Zinczenko 464) There is confusion as to why the article begins in a manner of cynicism towards the industry that caused him to struggle with obesity as a young man, but ends in a manner of protecting the very poor dietary choices that made him that way. In contrast to Zinczenko, Radley Balko gives a valid stance in What You Eat Is Your Business, in part the title voices his entire tone in those 6 little words, as if it is crying out, ‘Hey, what you eat is your own …show more content…
As he continues to write, his passion for each individual to be responsible for their own health and well-being increases when he states that “We’re becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone else’s. Your heart attack drives up the cost of my premium and office visits. And if the government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication, what incentive is there for me to put down the cheeseburger?” (Balko 467) If there was ever a cause for doubt on Balko’s stance for each individual American taking responsibility for their own actions, this statement undoubtedly cleared that
This is made obvious when he requests his readers “drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit.” (Zinczenko 463) Zinczenko undoubtedly believes that American’s would rather give into their hunger based on convenience rather than giving any of us props for consciously choosing to bypass the drive-thru and make the effort to find that infamous grapefruit. Zinczenko’s thought process is a bit misleading as he purposely sets out claiming the fast-food industry should be held accountable in their part played in America’s obesity epidemic, yet he then seems to defend that same industry by stating “They would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need to make informed choices about their products.” (Zinczenko 464) There is confusion as to why the article begins in a manner of cynicism towards the industry that caused him to struggle with obesity as a young man, but ends in a manner of protecting the very poor dietary choices that made him that way. In contrast to Zinczenko, Radley Balko gives a valid stance in What You Eat Is Your Business, in part the title voices his entire tone in those 6 little words, as if it is crying out, ‘Hey, what you eat is your own …show more content…
As he continues to write, his passion for each individual to be responsible for their own health and well-being increases when he states that “We’re becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone else’s. Your heart attack drives up the cost of my premium and office visits. And if the government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication, what incentive is there for me to put down the cheeseburger?” (Balko 467) If there was ever a cause for doubt on Balko’s stance for each individual American taking responsibility for their own actions, this statement undoubtedly cleared that