All About the Eaters
In David Zinczenko Don’t Blame the Eater he talks about how fast food places are the cause of obesity and the little things they could do to help people from being obese. David know understands what teenagers have to go through when it comes to eating at fast food places because when he was growing up that is all he had to eat while is mother worked all the time. I have to agree with him when he says “My parents were split up, my dad off trying to rebuild his life, my mom working long hours to make monthly bills. Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. Then as now, these were the only available options for an American kid to get an affordable meal. By age 15, I had packed 212 pounds of torpid teenage tallow on my once lanky 5-foot-10 frame.” What he is pretty much saying is that kids do not get to eat at home very much because parents are busy at work. This means they are not getting the nutrition’s they need to live a healthy life and so they gain weight. I agree with him but disagree too. I agree with him on how hard it is for teenagers to eat healthy. The economy has gotten bad and so both parents have to work these days. Which means the kids will either have to cook themselves or go get something to eat. Well of course you know what the kids are going to do. Plus now that just about all fast food places have dollar menus it is cheaper for them to go out to eat. Another major thing is school lunches are not so healthy. Now they are trying to make them healthier but most of the time kids will eat the other unhealthy stuff just because it tastes better. What I disagree with is that fast food places are all kids have to choose from. Now this is more of an opinion but kids can cook if they wanted to. Me and my brother use to always cook our lunch when our parents were working. So kids do have a choice to eat healthier if they wanted to but then again like I said I understand why kids eat out a lot. David talks quite a bit about how diabetes and health care cost has changed over the years. He says “Before 1994, diabetes in children was generally caused by a genetic disorder—only about 5 percent of childhood cases were obesity-related, or Type 2, diabetes. Today, according to the National Institutes of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new child hood cases of diabetes in the country. Not surprisingly, money spent to treat diabetes has skyrocketed, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that diabetes accounted for $2.6 billion in health care costs in 1969. Today’s number is an unbelievable $100 billion a year.” What I believe he is saying is that diabetes and health care costs has gotten worse over the years. Like no one cares anymore about their health like they did back in the days. I agree with him on this because there are so many more fast food places to eat at these days. People just don’t eat at home with their families like they did back in the days. Today you always hear how people are way too busy to eat at home with the family. So, they end up going through a drive through and eating fast food. This means they are not eating healthy and most likely gain weight from it. Another thing, I think that if health care wouldn’t help obese people out so much by paying for their stuff they would be more worried about their weight. Meaning they would try to find healthier ways to eat and stay in good health. It would also help us out because then we would be able to save some of that money for better things. David talks about how it is hard for teenagers to find healthy things to eat. He says “But where, exactly, are consumer—particularly teenagers—supposed to find alternatives? Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,ooo McDonald’s restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit.” I