Analysis of The Theme of Fast Food and Obesity in The Article "Don’t Blame The Eater"

Does Fast-Food Equal Obesity?

It has been common for Americans today to eat whatever they like. Many assume that it is their own choice to decide where their meal comes from, whether it be fast-food, a home cooked meal, or a lavish dinner at a restaurant. However, should a person be accused of their own weight gain? Or should the easy access to fast-food rather be the culprit? David Zinczenko, the author of the article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, insists that children who consume fast-food should not be blamed for their obesity. In actuality, it should be possible for children to “launch lawsuits against the fast-food industry” for their weight gain. The fast-food companies should be held accountable for the present-day obesity epidemic. Zinczenko claims that fast-food companies use distorted nutrition labels on foods high in calories and take advantage of overworked parents. Many parents are too busy to manage their child’s eating habits, which leads to children making the decision on their own. Also, if proper calorie information on labels is provided by fast-food companies Zinczenko claims that “ [it] can be hard to understand”. In addition, Zinczenko supports his claims with quite a few statistics showing that there was an increase in diabetes in 1994. About five percent of diabetes in children were obesity-related before 1994, while today that number accounts for 30 percent in the U.S. Lastly, Zinczenko further provides support of his claims by indicating that a packet of dressing that a consumer will use on their salad is not one serving, but rather 2.5 servings. This means that the calorie counting is misleading because consumers are eating 620 calories instead of 280 calories. While I agree that it is justifiable for children to file a lawsuit against a fast-food chain for causing them to be overweight, fast-food alone is not to blame for obesity, but it is a huge contributor. I do not believe that society can blame obesity solely on one factor, genetics play a hand in contributing to obesity.

One factor that contributes to weight gain is the inheritance of obesity. The gene can be monogenic which means it is caused by one gene, or multifactorial, which implies that there are multiple interactions between genes that cause obesity (Public). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Studies have compared obese and non-obese people for variation in genes that could influence behaviors (such as a drive to overeat, or a tendency to be sedentary) or metabolism (such as a diminished capacity to use dietary fats as fuel, or an increased tendency to store body fat).” In other words, The CDC suggests that there are differences in behavior and metabolism in obese and non-obese people. The CDC’s observation succeeds in proving to me that fast-food chains are not the only contributor to obesity because these behaviors and tendencies are caused by internal forces, such as metabolism.

In short, Zinczenko’s argument was well formulated and gave an insight of what the fast-food industries are doing. He supported his claims with intriguing statistics from good sources and presented thought out evidence. While I rightly agree with Zinczenko that fast-food is a huge issue in the contribution of obesity in children, I do not believe that fast-food chains are the only ones to blame for obesity. Obesity can also be blamed on genetics through the factors of metabolism and internal tendencies. Although that is what I believe, change does need to happen in fast-food industries. Fast-food industries should refrain from having misleading calorie information and should work hard to make healthier food instead of taking advantage of minorities.