Genny Gardner

Jamie Kay
English 1010
15 November 2015

Obesity: The War Against Fast Food and Personal Responsibility.

One should eat to live, not live to eat said Moliere a French Playwright as well as an
actor, from his play The Miser. Unfortunately, this is what is happening in todays world,
people are eating to eat and blaming their obesity on fast food instead of taking personal
responsibility. Although some might disagree and argue that fast food companies target peoples
weaknesses, it is their overall decision as to what they put in their bodies. There are
consequences to every choice that is made, whether its good or bad, but the result of one
choosing to eat fast food instead of something healthy is often left with an unhealthy outcome.
The risks of becoming obese is a personal responsibility but can be minimized by
eliminating fast food from ones daily meals. Fast food can be replaced with eating healthier
meals on a regular daily basis. These meals can include fruits and vegetables, as well as
proportioned meat, dairy, and wheat products. Eating healthier meals includes minimizing salts
and sugars, and increasing healthy nutrients. For example eating a home cooked meal can reduce
the intake of unhealthy substances compared to eating fast food. Looking into the ingredients of
food products can also help eliminate the unhealthy food that is being consumed. Labels on
canned or packaged foods arent always the healthiest. By eliminating fast food it allows people
to make sure that all the food groups are personally being taken care of. It allows people to track
what is really going into their bodies instead of eating Artificial chemicals that are in fast food
products. Making good choices that benefit the body is another great way to try and avoid
obesity. We choose what to put in our bodies, and we can choose what to keep out. For example
choosing to drink more water and avoiding the unhealthy beverages will benefit the body in
many ways. Kelly D. Brownell the founding director of the Rudd Center for Obesity and Food
Policy at Yale University talks about causes and preventions of obesity in his article Personal
Responsibility And Obesity: A Constructive Approach To A Controversial Issue. Brownell

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promotes the idea to tax food, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages as they play a big role in
obesity. His hopes are to reduce consumption of sugared beverages which would result in an
increase of ones health.
One of the problems that appears with obesity is that no one ever wants to take the blame
for it. One of the reasons for that is that people are in denial or are uncomfortable about it being
their fault. People would rather blame fast food than themselves because it attributes a cause to
their weight that they can then use as an excuse. Often times people will feel insecure,
humiliated, and uncomfortable with their body and eating habits, and this is also why it is so easy
for some to blame the fast food industry. For those that are uncomfortable with their weight it is
easier for them to become obese than to stay fit because it doesnt require a lot of work. Others
who eat fast food constantly dont think that it will affect them a lot and are in denial about the
consequences. Exercise plays another main role in the blame for obesity. In todays world, time
for physical fitness gets pushed aside for other daily matters making the blame of obesity an easy
target. There are many ways exercise can be incorporated into daily activities, whether they are
big or small. Exercising can be as small as taking an afternoon walk, or as big as participating in
an intense sport or activity. As long as it is a constant priority it doesnt need to be a huge
workout. Also changing small things can end up making a difference in the long run, like taking
the stairs instead of the elevator when possible. The last main excuse that people use is that Fast
Food chains victimize the uneducated and poor populations. In Marta Hummels article Report
shifts fault to the fat local health officials agree that its up to individuals to eat better and
exercise, she talks about how college-educated people accounted for most of the growth in
Body Mass Index which means that they are targeting everyone or that it doesnt matter who is
targeted it just matters who buys the product. People are blaming education levels and wealth but
in all reality everyone has access to fast food and they can decide if they want to eat it or not.
The choice is personal for everyone but as a result the consequences whether they are good or
bad will follow no matter what.
Of course some people may challenge my view by stating that fast food companies are at
fault for making and providing the unhealthy food in the first place. Fast food companies make
their products look easy, cheap, and tasty without showing the overall repercussions. For
example they use marketing to target all age groups into buying their food, whether its on a

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billboard, T.V., or a computer. They offer toys with the kids meal, market an easy dinner out
for the family, and they offer deals while major sport activities are going on like the Super
Bowl for example.

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These charts from the article Explicating the Moral Responsibility of the Advertiser: Tares as an
Ethical Model for Fast Food Advertising by Seow Ting Lee the head deputy of the Department
of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore and Hoang Lien
Nguyen who works at the National University of Singapore as well, both show how advertising
targets certain groups of people who are more vulnerable. Fast food is also made to be
convenient for those with little time to spare. There are so many fast food options with a variety
of food, close and easy to access from most work places. Its fast so people can easily leave, get
the food, and come back all on a quick lunch break. Its non-time consuming unlike restaurants
or having to go home and make a meal, because its already made when the customers get there.
Fast food companies are also the cause of obesity because they are deceiving and dont always
advertise the unhealthy ingredients. In the article Eric Schlossers Fast Food Nation: Why the
Fries Taste Good (Excerpt) by Eric Schlosser, an investigative journalist, and correspondent for
The Atlantic Monthly, he talks about how many fast food companies use man-made (fake)
chemicals to provide flavor and color to food products. The Food and Drug Administration does
not require flavor companies to disclose the ingredients of their additives, so long as all the
chemicals are considered by the agency to be Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS). This allows
fast food companies to use Artificial and Natural flavors in their products without having to
disclose all of the called for ingredients. Fast food companies use this to their advantage by

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advertising one healthy ingredient to improve the health of that product, but then using another
unhealthy product to replace it to maintain the tasty flavor of the food. They also dont show how
many calories, sugars, or salt is in each product so what is being consumed isnt always known.
Sometimes a product will be more than one serving size but there is no way of telling which
products those include.
Fast food companies deliberately target human weak spots knowing that they will be
more vulnerable and susceptible to buying the intended product. Cost is a huge factor when
customers buy fast food products because they know it is cheap compared to restaurants and
store bought food, and they know it will save them money. Its easier for those who are having
financial troubles and for bigger families to buy fast food because they arent having to spend a
lot on their meals and they can put their money towards other needed items. Fast food companies
also make the healthier products more expensive than the unhealthy products making it hard for
people to select the healthy choice because of the cost. Ellen Ruppel Shell, a professor and codirector of the Knight Center for Science and Medical Journalism at Boston University, refers to
a study conducted about food choices in her article Whose Fault Is It Really? Shell talks about
how Finlands government sponsored a program to provide free salads in restaurants and the
result was that there was a dramatic increase in vegetable consumption and a decrease in fat
intake in the general population. This study showed that when people were offered a real choice
to eat healthy food over other food they will often make the healthy choice, and that the cost of
salads do have an effect on peoples choices. Another weakness fast food companies target is the
environment that people are in. People are surrounded by fast food advertisements everywhere
they go which makes hard for them to think about a healthy meal instead. There are also more
available fast food places nearby compared to places that sell fresh healthy food. In todays
world there isnt a lot of time to make a healthy meal because people are in a rush to get back to
work or other important matters. Finally fast food contains addictive qualities which arent good
for the health of a human being and fast food industries know that, yet they proceed to market
their businesses anyways. They know that a lot of people have very limited time and access to
exercise appropriately. Fraziers study with rats demonstrated that fast food contains more sugar
and fat compared to regular food, making it more addictive. The rats went through withdrawal
and longed for the fatty food comparing it to a smoking addiction showing that fast food is
addictive. Since fast food is addictive, people return to get more of the unhealthy food which can

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then lead to obesity. In the Health Risks Linked to Obesity reviewed by Varnada KarriemNorwood an MD and associate medical director for multiple departments at Grady Memorial
Hospital in Atlanta, it states a few of the many health risks caused by obesity, such as heart
disease, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, some cancers, breathing problems, and
diabetes.
The blame for personal overweight issues should not be thrown onto the plates of others
because in the end there was a choice as to what was consumed as well as the outcome. Fast food
companies target general audiences but they do not cover all age aspects. The fast food
companies dont target babies, athletes, or the elderly yet they all have access to the food. Many
other products are advertised, not only fast food but not all people choose to purchase these
particular items. For example, cars, jewelry, and concerts are advertised everywhere but it
doesnt mean one is going to go and spend money on these products.

This graph from the article 100 Leading National Advertisers from the Advertising Age
DataCenter shows that many other companies advertise just as much as fast food places if not
more. Next, people can always choose other convenient ways and sources to get a healthy meal.
Not everyone has short lunchbreaks but if so, then there is the option to bring a home lunch
which could then be very healthy. There are also a lot of delis and salad bars in stores downtown
close enough to work sites and they are just as easy to access as a fast food place. If there is no
time to go inside somewhere to purchase food there is still the option to go to a fast food place

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and get a salad and consume a healthy meal. Finally we can use common knowledge as to
whether a product is healthy or not. For example a salad is healthy to consume, while a burger
and fries is usually not. Although it is agreed that fast food places can be deceiving about their
ingredients, some fast food places actually have calorie charts or information listed next to their
menus which are accessible to the public.
People use fast food as an excuse for their weaknesses but the health of an individual is
generally controlled by themselves. Fast food can be cheap but only depending on what and how
much food is ordered. If a group or big family is being fed then the fast food can actually be
more expensive. Stores can have cheaper salads and vegetables available that can be eaten over a
period of time instead of in a single meal. Not everyone that buys fast food is going to have
financial problems; therefore, they can afford a salad. People dont need to rely on their simplest
surroundings as an excuse to eat fast food. There is the option to find somewhere close and
healthy to eat ahead of time as well as to make a meal from home if time is an issue. To remain
healthy by not eating fast food, its going to take more effort than just finding a quick, cheap
place to eat. Although there are advertisements everywhere, like on buses or trains, they arent
applicable to everyones wants or needs. Although Fraziers study showed experiments relating
to fast food on rats, there was no actual evidence of addictive chemicals in fast food. The results
of the study may have been accurate, but the study was never tested on actual human beings so
there is no official proven evidence. Also, the study of unhealthy food was compared to smoking
and drugs which shows that fast food is not good for the body.
Personal responsibility is the cause for obesity since what we consume can be controlled.
However I do agree that the cost and environment of fast food can take a toll on the decision for
lunch. Ellen Ruppel Shells example of the study in Finland where free salads were provided in
restaurants sponsored by the government was a project that could be beneficial to every country.
If the food study that Shell referred to earlier could be incorporated into restaurants and fast food
places, then we could see an improvement in health and vegetable consumptions. Nevertheless,
obesity can be prevented or decreased by avoiding unhealthy food products or as Brownell
suggested, avoiding the intake of unhealthy, sugared beverages. Everyone can make a positive
change that will benefit their bodies if they put a little more effort into the meal choices they
encounter.

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Works Cited

100 Leading National Advertisers. Advertising Age DATACENTER. 25 June 2007. Web. 10
Nov. 2015. http://adage.com/images/random/lna2007.pdf This marketing chart was one
of several charts showing many different advertisements for different products and
companies. The different amounts of costs that each company was willing to spend
reflected the amount of success of the company. For example the Coke Company was
willing to spend millions of dollars to advertise their product to ensure their success.
These charts also show the differences between marketing and internet spending. This
proves that businesses are willing to advertise in multiple places for all sorts of products,
not just fast food. This will help my essay by showing that fast food places arent the only
companies willing to advertising a lot.
Brownell, Kelly D. Personal Responsibility And Obesity: A Constructive Approach to a
Controversial Issue. Health Affairs March 2010 29:3 Web. 27 Oct. 2015. http://co
ntent.healthaffairs.org/content/29/3/379.full?%3f Brownell is the founding director of the
Rudd Center for Obesity and Food policy at Yale University. He focuses on prevention
and treatment for Obesity. Hes worked on many studies to try to treat obesity but ended
up sticking to obesity prevention. He is currently slowly trying to change policys
dealing with food to try to improve health for those dealing with obesity. Brownell goes
into depth with each view of obesity and touches on a lot of the major problems, causes,
and effects of obesity. He addresses ways to slowly change and try to prevent sugars from
entering the body. One of which is taxing all sugary drinks which can slowly get people
to not drink as many unhealthy beverages. He provides many sources with his article
which can back up his statements. He introduces views about the governments role and
how it shouldnt just be a personal responsibility and how more should be done to
decrease the obesity rates.
Frazier, Dustin A. The Link Between Fast Food and the Obesity Epidemic. Health Matrix:
Journal of Law-Medicine Spring 2007. 17. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. http://eds.b.ebscoho
st.com.libprox1.slcc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=bdc8a442-8a17-4439-a03d7a9cd0d32168%40sessionmgr112&vid=22&hid=108 Although Dustin A. Frazier
couldnt be located on the internet to check his credibility, the Health Matrix: Journal of
Law-Medicine is a reliable source. They are professional and have many studies and
sources to back up their experiments. They also have input from medical professionals
that make their information credible. In this article it describes what addiction is and how
it is applicable to fast food. They performed studies with rats that resembled similarities
to a smoking addiction, but with food. It goes into depth about how the rats reacted to the
withdrawal of the food, and how they longed for the fatty food. It also talked
specifically about how the fast food may contain addictive qualities to cause the
withdrawal. These include the sugars, salts, and fats that are included in fast food

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products. These are what enhance the flavor making the product taste good. This is a
great source for the obesity topic because it defends fast food in a great way by showing
that it has addictive qualities to the food. It also supports that fast food adds more sugar
and fat compared to non-fast food, food. It also shows how this eating disorder (obesity)
affects society as a whole, cost wise. On the other hand it hasnt been proven on humans.
Its not connected with drugs and smoking in the same way.

Hummel, Marta. Report Shifts Fault to the Fat: Local Health Officials Agree that its up to
Individuals to Eat Better and Exercise. Medills News Service York Daily Record 03 July,
2003: C03. Proquest Web. 27 Oct. 2015. http://search.proquest.com.dbprox.
slcc.edu/docview/274363360/BC9A6BEC37AB47D0PQ/3?accountid=28671##
Hummel was a former columnist for The Baltimore Sun and The Frederick News-Post.
She also won the 2007 Maryland, Delaware, D.C. Press Associations award. Hummel
holds a masters in journalism from Northwestern University as well as a B.A. in English
from the University of Virginia. This article touches on a rebuttal that many critics said
the fast food chains victimize poorer populations with little education which isnt the
case. This article states that college-educated students accounted for most of the growth
in BMI. Which means that it doesnt matter what age group is targeted, because anyone
can access it, especially the educated. It also talks about how many people are making
the choices to eat fast food and not making time to exercise and keep their bodies in good
shape. If people make exercising a priority and increase their eating habits in a positive
way then they can decrease the risk of obesity. Although fast food isnt the only
contributor in obesity, its a big part of it. The environment and the lack of selfmotivation to exercise are contributors. If one exercises but eats fast food constantly it
will make it harder to achieve a heathy lifestyle and decrease the obesity risks. This
supports that it is peoples own personal responsibility to take care of themselves and its
their fault if they choose to continue to eat fast food.
Karriem-Norwood, Varnada. Health Risks Linked To Obesity. Webmd.com Jan. 2014. Web. 06
Nov. 2015. http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/obesity-health-risks Karriem-Norwood
is an attending Physician at the Dekalb Medical Center in Atlanta. She is trained and
certified in both internal medicine as well as emergency medicine. While in Atlanta she
served as the associate medical director for the emergency department, the medical
director for the Chest Pain Center, and developed the first Care Management Unit at the
Grady Memorial Hospital. This website in general talks about medical related issues and
definitions. For my essay it helps list and define the many risks of obesity, such as, heart
attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure, that can happen and how they affect the human
body.

Lee, Seow Ting, and Hoang Lien Nguyen. Explicating The Moral Responsibility of the
Advertiser: Tares as an Ethical Model For Fast Food Advertising. Taylor and Francis

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Group, Routledge. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libprox1.slcc.e

du/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=bdc8a442-8a17-4439-a03d-7a9cd0d32168%40sessionm
gr112&vid=6&hid=108 Lee is the head deputy of the Department of Communications
and New Media at the National University of Singapore. She focuses on public relations
and health communications. She has her M.A. and PhD. From the University of Missouri
School of Journalism. She has participated and published many journals having to do
with health and science. Couldnt determine/ find Hoang Lien Nguyen, but assuming he
works along the same line of work as Lee. This is an amazing source because it talks
about the standards for advertising and how fast food companies manipulate their
advertisements to attract the desired attention. This article also provides charts to support
the studies of advertisements. For example fast food places will offer toys with the kids
meals in order to persuade young children to eat their food. This is bad because children
are eating fast food constantly which is increasing their weight and their chances of
health problems like diabetes. It shows how much influence fast food places have on
humans these days. These charts also show the authenticity and truthfulness of the fast
food companies. For example the charts show how they specifically target families,
lifestyles, and Money Value. These companies target specific audiences to ensure their
continued success.
Moliere Jean Baptiste Poquelin. The Miser 3:5. Web. 11 Nov. 2015. http://www.onlineliterature.com/moliere/the-miser/3/ This quote helps introduce my topic.
Schlosser, Eric. Eric Schlossers Fast Food Nation: Why the Fries Taste Good (Excerpt) Food
Product Design. POV. 1995-2015. American Documentary, Inc. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
http://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/fastfoodnation_03.php Schlosser is an investigative
journalist, a best-selling author, playwright, and correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly.
His two-part article on the fast food industry turned into the book Fast Food Nation:
The Dark Side of the All American Meal.
Shell, Ellen Ruppel. Whose Fault Is It Really? Newsday Combined Editions 20 July 2003:
A28. Proquest Web. 27 Oct. 2015. http://search.proquest.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/docvie
w/279635732/CA930299E738430CPQ/6?accountid=28671#center Shell is a professor
and co-director of the Knight Center for science and Medical Journalism at Boston
University. She also corresponds and contributes her writing with national publications
such as the Washington Post, Smithsonian, New York Times, Seed, Audubon, and
Discover. She is known for writing about issues from science and public policy. Shell is
also the author of three books one of them being The Hungry Gene: The science of Fat
and the Future of Thin which touches on the spreading obesity pandemic. This a great
article because it touches on both views for the cause of obesity which are: personal
responsibility and fast food. In the defense of obesity being a personal responsibility
Shell talks about how if humans changed their food environment and choices then the
result could be a decrease in obesity and un-healthy humans. Shell talks about another
great support example which was a study in Finland. Their government sponsored a
program to provide free salads in restaurants and the result was that there was a dramatic
increase in vegetable consumption and a decrease in fat intake in the general population.

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This showed that when people are offered a real choice they will often make the healthy
choice. It also showed that money was a factor in this study but it shows that if people
are willing to pay a little more than they can avoid the road to obesity. Also, not all
healthy food is expensive so either way healthy food is accessible to those who want it.
On the other hand in Fast Foods defense Shell talks about how some people are
biologically inclined to overeat and it can depend on the environment that they are in.
Children today are growing up in an environment that bombards them with junk-food
advertisements, and fast easy-access food places that are pleasing to the eye as well as
cheap. Shell does a great job on explaining how it is our personal responsibility but by
touching on both subjects to explain that she recognizes both sides to the argument which
will help with my essay.