1 Jacob Acton

Mrs. Love English 10 HN November 26, 2013 Investigation of the Problem Approximately one-third of Americans are obese (Wile). Obesity affects ones entire body and can lead to many diseases and problems within the body including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. The main reason why obesity is so prominent in the U.S. is mainly because much of the U.S. lives a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food is usually more accessible than healthier foods. For example a cheeseburger at McDonalds only cost about $1 and takes about 5 minutes to get, while a salad at Panera would cost upwards of $8 and take about 15 minutes to get. This combination of un-healthy eating habits and lack of exercise has led to massive weight gain and obesity in the U.S. One viewpoint of the issue of obesity is that getting unhealthy food, such as soda or fast food, is too easy to get, therefore we should make it harder to get. The movie Super-Size Me speaks that, Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visits a fast food restaurant.(Super-Size Me). Fast food is too easy to get therefore it should be made harder to get. One of the ways the government has tried to implement this ideal is by putting a tax on sodas or sugary drinks and banning restaurants to serve more than a certain amount of sugary-drinks. The opposition of this viewpoint is the viewpoint that taxing sodas would just make the people angry and wouldnt change anything. The authors of the article A Soda Tax Would Not

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Help Reduce Obesity from Opposingviewpoints.com state, the link between soda consumption and weight gain is not proven (Marlow & Shiers). The authors are stating that soda is not a main contributing factor to obesity therefore we shouldnt tax it. Another reason the authors give is that the soda tax will stop healthy people from enjoying a soda, even though it would not affect their health. Food Industries should be committed to giving clear, consistent, and honest product claims, (Verduin, Agarwal, Waltman). This quote shows one of the possible solutions to cure obesity is to have industries clearly label their foods and its nutritional value. Another solution to obesity is for the consumer to be more aware of what they eat and seek to eat more nutritious foods and eat the right amounts of foods. One more solution is to have people exercise and become physically active more throughout the day so that they can burn the calories that they eat. Works Cited Brownell, Kelly D. "A Soda Tax Would Help Reduce Obesity." Opposing Viewpoints. GALE, 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?fail OverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=v iew&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&u=mcle14741_e&c urrPage=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&zid=&search_wit hin_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE %7CEJ3010785216>.

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"Health Effects of Obesity." Stanford Hospital. Stanford University, 2009. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://stanfordhospital.org/clinicsmedServices/COE/surgicalServices/generalSurgery/ba riatricsurgery/obesity/effects.html>. Marlow, Michael L., and Alden F. Shiers. "A Soda Tax Would Not Help Reduce Obesity." Opposing Viewpoints. N.p., 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?fail OverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=v iew&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&u=mcle14741_e&c urrPage=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&zid=&search_wit hin_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE %7CEJ3010785217>. Spurlock, Morgan, dir. Super-Size Me. Samuel Goldwyn Films, 2004. Film. Valbrun, Marjorie. "Obesity." CQ Researcher. N.p., 15 June 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqr_ht_obesity_2013&type=h itlist&num=1>. Verduin, Patricia, Sanjiv Agarwal, and Susan Waltman. "Solutions to Obesity: Perspectives from the Food Industry." The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. American Society for Clinical Nutrition, July 2005. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/259S.full#sec-3>. Wile, Elise. "Why Did Obesity Increase so Much in America." Livestrong. Livestrong, 20 Dec. 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/339349-why-did-obesityincrease-so-much-in-america/>.

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A Modest Proposal to Cure Obesity The year is 2025 and nearly 90% of American citizens are overweight or obese. It has been said for many years that this issue needs to be solved, but nothing we have done has cured the issue. It seems the only way people will change is through fear. Therefore I decree that next year will be the First Annual Obesity Games. In these games we will take the 2 people from each state who are considered the unhealthiest citizens of their state and make them tribute. The 100 tributes will train for two weeks, and will be taught healthy habits and good nutrition, and then be sent to an arena to see who can lose the most weight by exercising or making healthy food choices. The fifty tributes who lose the most weight will be spared while the other fifty we will have fight to death by starving them for twelve days and then placing one big-mac into the arena. The tributes will kill each other to eat the burger. The lone victor, whoever eats the burger, will be left out of the Obesity Games for the rest of their life as a reward for their bravery. These games will cure obesity because it will instill a fear in the citizens of the nation. To be chosen as tribute will make the tribute feel humiliated and scared for their life. Therefore with this fear people will become healthier to avoid being chosen as tribute. These games will also provide a way to educate citizens on how to become healthier. The training of the tributes will be viewed by the entire nation therefore the healthy tips given to the tribute can also be seen and used by the citizens of America. The games will also create an example on how to lose weight by having tributes lose weight giving examples of how losing

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weight is done. The 51 victors of the Obesity games will serve as role-models and examples for America to look up to. Many of the citizens of America may think this solution is too grotesque, but no one has offered any other more clean realistic solutions. Their improbable solutions such as making healthy food more available and giving people more opportunities to exercise and become physically active are just simply impossible and un-realistic. Therefore since no one can offer a better solution to Americas obesity problem, this solution is the only and best solution possible. These games will continue for a minimum of fifteen years once a year. If after these fifteen years the percentage of obese people has gone below 50% then the games will stop. If they are to go back above 75% the games will begin again. These rules will provide a drive for American citizens to become healthier because if they do they will stop people from being killed. It will also prevent the citizens from regaining their weight, in fear that the games may begin again. Our nation needs to take drastic measures to solve this obesity epidemic, if we want our nation to be alive and well. Obesity is a killer and if we dont solve the problem this nation and its people will surely perish. If we dont follow through with these games the people of America will have no motivation to become healthy and nothing may ever change. The Obesity Games will save America and prevent this nation from reaching a bitter demise. Happy Obesity Games, and may your weight be ever in your favor.

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Reflection I chose obesity as my societal problem because I hate how this issue is neglected by people even though it is a huge issue that affects more than half of America. Obesity is a huge problem and it needs to get addressed or it will cause major problems. The obesity issue has one clear solution, make food healthier and exercise more, but it is very hard to get people motivated to change their normal cycles to a healthier one. The government has imposed many restricting laws to try to get people to eat healthier, but their restrictions are simply too harsh. I chose to write my own modest proposal because I wanted to act as the government and make one of the harsh laws made to reduce obesity. I feel this form was best because it showed how ridiculous some of the governments restrictions have been. It also shows how huge of a problem Obesity, by having the government willing to sacrifice people in order to cure it. My interpretation satirizes the issue by introducing a ridiculous proposal made by the government as the best option to expose the ridiculousness of the government. The ridiculous proposal I made could very likely happen in the next twelve years. I also used parody, The Hunger Games, to show that our society in twelve years may look the same as the horrible society portrayed in The Hunger Games novels.