Childhood Obesity In David Zinczenko's Don T Blame The Eater

The debate over who is at fault for the rise in childhood obesity in America has come to many different conclusions time and time again. However, the most widely accepted consensus is that the "victim" or family of the victims of obesity are at fault to some extent in most cases of childhood obesity. In contrast to the idea that the fault lies with those suffering from obesity, in his article "Don't Blame the Eater," David Zinczenko expresses that it is not the fault of the children suffering from obesity, but the fault of the food industry and agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The overall purpose of Zinczenko's work, "Don't Blame the Eater," is to convey his views on the issue of childhood obesity and try to convince …show more content…
He believes that one of the reasons that more children and teenagers are consuming fast food at record rates is due to the food industry's lack of healthy and cheap alternatives. Zinczenko enforces this idea of affordability when he writes, "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, 2015, p. 264). This quote emphasizes his purpose further by expressing the lack of affordability and availability of healthy food for children in …show more content…
Many do not agree with this argument as Obesity is often described as being "brought on by voluntary behavior" (Kramer, 2016). However, that is not always the case, which is what Zinczenko is trying to argue with his contrast. One way that Zinczenko displays this contrast is through statistical evidence on the rise in childhood obesity over the past decade. Zinczenko states that prior to 1994, "only 5% of cases (of diabetes) were obesity-related, or Type 2, diabetes" (Zinczenko, 2015, p. 264). Zinczenko then goes on to reveal that "today, according to National Institutes of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in the country" (Zinczenko, 2015, p. 264). This information is as of 2002. While this argument that corporations rather than the victims of obesity are at fault for their condition is not widely accepted and somewhat outrageous the evidence presented in support of this evidence makes this contrast credible and shows that there are many different views on the issue of childhood obesity.
Also, the use of rhetorical questions throughout the essay aid Zinczenko in addressing the opposing arguments while calling the validity of the arguments into questions.