Obesity is an epidemic, and a disease that a vast majority of people take lightly. In addition, obesity can result in death, and unfortunately, many American people are obese. This illness is increasingly affecting more people, and yet, people underestimate the severity of this disease. Based on how society is now, the views on obesity, the excessive amounts of fast food restaurants, advances in technology, the rise in obesity through the years is no surprise. To begin with, society views obesity as a sensitive topic because obese people tend to be victims of negative comments. For example, a research showed that children are more susceptible to bullying when the child is obese (Harding). As a result, our society is leaning more into the belief
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Starting with Radley Balko, who specializes in investigative writing on civil liberties and criminal justice issues, Balko wrote an article called “What You Eat is Your Business.” In Balko 's article, he believes that people are more willing to make “better choices about diet, exercise, and personal health when someone else is not paying for the consequences of those choices” (Balko qtd. in Graff 398). In other words, since people, like the government, insurance and health companies, are offering assistance to those who are obese, they are in fact, supporting the growth of the obese population, rather than stopping it. In the end, people are less concerned for their health, knowing that others will take care of them. As a result, Balko argues that it should be the consumer 's fault that they are obese. Moreover, the government should “foster a sense of responsibility in and ownership of one 's own health” (Balko qtd. in Graff 396), instead of manipulating and intervening in people 's food options. If people feel more responsible for their own health, then they are more likely to take care of their own body, especially if they cannot depend on others for help. On the other hand, Judith Warner, a successful writer and a correspondent for Newsweek in Paris, argues that to address the obesity problem in America, a “cultural change is what offers the best hope for transforming how and what America eat” (Warner qtd. in Graff 403). Simply put, society, as a whole, needs to understand and come to a consensus on what is a healthy diet. There needs to be a switch in society 's attitude towards a healthy diet, not a shift in laws and
Starting with Radley Balko, who specializes in investigative writing on civil liberties and criminal justice issues, Balko wrote an article called “What You Eat is Your Business.” In Balko 's article, he believes that people are more willing to make “better choices about diet, exercise, and personal health when someone else is not paying for the consequences of those choices” (Balko qtd. in Graff 398). In other words, since people, like the government, insurance and health companies, are offering assistance to those who are obese, they are in fact, supporting the growth of the obese population, rather than stopping it. In the end, people are less concerned for their health, knowing that others will take care of them. As a result, Balko argues that it should be the consumer 's fault that they are obese. Moreover, the government should “foster a sense of responsibility in and ownership of one 's own health” (Balko qtd. in Graff 396), instead of manipulating and intervening in people 's food options. If people feel more responsible for their own health, then they are more likely to take care of their own body, especially if they cannot depend on others for help. On the other hand, Judith Warner, a successful writer and a correspondent for Newsweek in Paris, argues that to address the obesity problem in America, a “cultural change is what offers the best hope for transforming how and what America eat” (Warner qtd. in Graff 403). Simply put, society, as a whole, needs to understand and come to a consensus on what is a healthy diet. There needs to be a switch in society 's attitude towards a healthy diet, not a shift in laws and