Nutrition - Food Essay Example for Free

Nutrition Food EssayIn our todays society, especially Hesperian countries, the topic of quick nutrition seems to be at the top of e real health related debate. As these debates become more controversial, the question of who bears the responsibility remains un break uped. In his try, Dont Blame the eater, David Zinczenko attempts to answer this key question by placing the greater responsibility of Americas obesity and other close fare for thought related health issues on the ready food industries.Contrary to Zinczenkos melodic line, Raldy Balko, in his essay, What You Eat Is Your Business, states that, volume should take ownership of their health and well-being, and be therefore amenable for what and how they eat. Although both Zinczenko and Balko address the issue of responsibility, though with contrast, but valid arguments, Zinczenko seems to present a more convincing argument out-of-pocket to the regimen agency in which he explains the politics of food, the way in which our lifestyles ar altered by what we eat, and things we can do to change the way we see food and its usance in our lives.Although Zinczenko hold consumers responsible to an extent, he blames the fast-flying food industries for the rising rate of obesity and other health issues related to fast food due to their failure to provide labels for their products. Zinczenko convincingly supports his claim by noting statistical data that shows the rise in capital spent to treat diabetes. Before 1994, diabetes in children was generally caused by a genetic disorder only(prenominal) if 5 percent of childhood cases were obesity related, or font 2 diabetes.Today, according to the National Institutes of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in this state(Zinczenko 392). He argues that, if the fast food companies are regulated so that they are responsible for their food contents, by providing proper labels, than consumer s will make informed food choices. Contrary to Zinczenko, Balko argues that what one eats should be a matter of personal responsibility. To Balkos credit, I believe that people should take personal responsibility for their health by adding a sensible diet and exercise to their routines.Where I differ from Balko is when he says that government restrictions on food are a result of people making woeful food choices. According to Balko, a society where e reallyone is responsible for everyone elses well-being is a society more apt to accept government restrictions (397). I think Balkos argument in this regard, is a selfish one, and is an attempt to exempt the luxuriant from paying their fair share of taxes that would otherwise benefit the poor or some middle families who cannot founder the high cost of health insurance.Both Zinczenko and Balko seem to agree on the rising health be that are somehow a result of fast food, these two authors seem to differ on reasons. Zinczenko argues th at health care cost is on the rise because of diseases caused by fast food due to the failure of fast food companies to provide labels and that consumers should not be blame for it. However, Balko argues that it is so that, we allow the government to come in the midst of us and our waistline (396).Balko states that, the more the government continues to fund health issues that are direct attribute of poor food/health choices, the more people will continue to dine on fast food and engage not in an effective diet and exercise regimen. (398) The growth of the fast food intentness and the rate at which fast food is consumed is so fast, and its accompanying risks of obesity and related cardiovascular diseases feed become a societal epidemic. Zinczenko blames the fast food industries for the spring in the rate to which obesity get under ones skin grown in the United States.Even though Zinczenko is right or so the rising rate of obesity, and that the manipulation of fast food forms pa rt of its etiology, the thesis of his argument cannot be proven and therefore cannot form the al-Qaida for his claims against the fast food companies since there are other contributing pointors regarding the cause, onset, and progression of obesity. Obesity is also biologically linked. These biological attributors include genetics, hormones, enzymes, and vitamins and minerals. Some people adopt prolific in their genes that, no matter what they do, they are just fat.Others have issues with hormonal imbalances and or inadequate enzymatic actions that would aid in the adequate digestion and submergence of certain foods. debauched food is just one of the many environmental attributes associated with obesity. So Zinczenko can accurately make his case against the fast food industries for providing labels so as to enable consumers make informed food choices and not a case of obesity. Sometimes, people are too fast to pass judgment on others, especially people that are obese. I am equ ally guilty of the accusation myself.I twist as a nurse at a nursing home facility and, in approximately cases, when staff member comes to me complaining of headache, first thing I say to them is lets catch your blood pressure and, God forbid, the blood pressure is elevated, or if that person just look fat to me, my next comment is, it is because of all the junk you eat. My judgment, though may be incorrect, is based on the fact that most of these staff members are single parents, live in inner cities, and have a summarise commute time of two hours to and from work.Not to mention, some of them have more than one job. However, these people are being made to feel guilty intimately something that is totally out their control. In most instances, their remuneration arent even enough to meet up with their rents and utilities bills. Fast food comes handy in such instance where one can spend ten dollars and get ten cheeseburgers to feed a family of terzetto to five versus going to t he grocery store where each healthy ingredient is almost equivalent to the terms of the entire dinner comprising of fast food.People fall back on fast food because it is cheap. Zinczenko explains that his parents were offend up and that he had to live with his mother who worked long hours just to make the monthly bills. Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonalds, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. (Zinczenko 391). In Zinczenkos case, his lifestyle is altered because fast food is his only option since his family is dysfunctional. His single mother has to work very hard to pay bills and provide him a meal. It doesnt matter the kind of meal.A meal is a meal, especially for someone who doesnt have the time to prepare a home cooked meal. The people afflict with fast food related obesity are not to blame for what they eat because they have very little or no options regarding what they eat due to all of the above reasons. However, to Balkos point, while people may not have the option about what they eat, they have the option to control how they eat. Zinczenko states in his essay that fast food is the only available options for an American kid to get an affordable meal, and so, he urges his readers not to blame the Eater (392).But as with Zinczenko, we are well aware of the role fast food play in our lives. We understand that, though fast may be one, or the only available meal choice that we have, the way we eat can help us determine the role these foods play in our lives. Zinczenko supports his argument about the role food play in his life by giving information about his pre-college weight. By age 15, I had packed 212 pounds of torpid tallow on my at once lanky 5-foot-10 frame (392). Even Zinczenko believes that, consumers are as equally responsible for the way they eat.However, he maintains his argument that the fast food companies bare the greater responsibility. In conclusion, both the eater and the producer are responsible fo r fast food related obesity, but I believe that the fast industries should bare the greater responsibility. Fast food companies must provide their consumers with proper food labels that enable them to make inform decision about what they eat. Label should not be falsified or misleading, like in the example giving by Zinczenko about the misleading label on the chicken salad (393).He refers to the salad as not healthy and that it is a thermal death- trap aimed at eaters who will not suspect it. Although Balko makes some really good points, his objectives seem to me as a means to an end. Zinczenko cautions that there are few or no alternatives to what we eat and that things have to change. Balko cautions that allowing food regulations for labels means letting the government between you and your waistline. In either case, we as a people have a responsibility to consider what and how we eat.