People go on a diet for many reasons. To look better or to stay healthy. However, despite the efforts that people put in, in 2020 40 percent of Americans are suffering from obesity, being the highest recorded. According to the Trust for America’s Health article, with COVID-19, the insecurity of food put more Americans at risk for obesity. What caused these high rates of obesity in the US? Is it the fast-food company’s fault for selling unhealthy products? Does one’s surroundings or environment have any impact on their food diet? Through several articles, we will see different perspectives and arguments regarding this issue.
Most cities have scarce access to cheap and healthy food due to large grocery stores being miles away from neighborhoods. So people often find convenience stores to get food quickly. Olga Khazan, author of ‘Why Don’t Convenience Stores Sell Better Food?’, argues that one’s environment has an impact on their food diet. Khazan talks about the connections between obesity and the lack of affordable, easy, and healthy food that people in cities face.
“According to the D.C. Central Kitchen’s calculations, 88 percent of food retailers in the District sell mostly junk food or processed food”. Most small convenience stores and corner stores don’t stock many fruits and vegetables because of the high cost of delivery and refrigeration. So a program called The Healthy Corners, organized by The D.C. Central Kitchen, helped these small convenience stores deliver fresh products with a fleet of trucks they owned. The D.C. Central Kitchen mostly helped stores that didn’t have a full-service grocery store nearby. Through this program, 67 Healthy Corners were in low-income neighborhoods.
However, although these changes were made, overweight and obesity rates weren’t going down. Khazan mentions a study in Health Affairs that was similar to this situation. A new grocery store opened in Philadelphia. While people were consuming more fruits and vegetables, obesity rates were higher than before. Turns out that people were still relying on corner shops for quick snacks and food. The author comes to the conclusion that the goal shouldn’t be reducing obesity, but to give people the option to choose a healthy diet.
What this article highlight is how people don’t have the chance to choose their diet. Olga Khazan first criticized convenience stores for the lack of healthy food available. With the study from Health Affairs, Khazan finds out that reducing obesity shouldn’t be the main focus. People will still look for quick, affordable, and unhealthy food despite having more fruits and vegetables to choose from. What’s important is giving people the opportunity to choose a healthy diet. This article believes that one’s surrounding, such as convenience stores and far way grocery stores, have an impact on the increasing obesity rate. What Olga Khazan further emphasizes is the importance of choice.
The second article called ‘Don’t Blame the Eater’ also doesn’t find the cause in the eaters but the environment and the fast-food companies. David Zinczenko opens his argument with his personal experience. He used to live on a fast-food diet because that was the only affordable meal he could get during that time. His parents split and they were both working long hours. Zinczenko then asks what other alternatives are there for teens. With the high number of fast-food restaurants available and low prices, it is natural for teens to eat fast food frequently.
In addition, Zinczenko points out that there is a lack of information on fast food packaging. Since fast foods aren’t covered under the Food and Drug Administration labeling law, most packaging doesn’t have any information about the calories we are consuming. The author uses a specific chicken salad as an example which states that it is only 150 calories, excluding the information about the addition of 190 calories for the almonds, 560 calories for a packet of dressing containing 2.5 servings, and 450 for coke. This additional information was either listed separately or in small letters at the back of the packaging. People are
This article also believes that one’s surroundings, fast food companies, have an impact on the increasing obesity rate. Zinczenko believes that obesity rates increased since the only food options are the fast-food restaurants that are available around every corner. Through this statement, the author argues that it is not the eater’s fault but how the surrounding factors have led to obesity. Zinczenko also finds another problem with the fast-food restaurants, packaging. What this article highlights is that the eaters are not to blame. It is natural for them to be overweighted because people and their surroundings have led them to be this way.
In the year 2020, a new virus called COVID-19 was found. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has taken lives and changed people’s lifestyle. People are in quarantine and avoiding contact. With this new environment an article by the Trust for America’s Health saw connections with obesity and found results that show with the pandemic obesity has increased.
The article first states how obesity may impact on health including COVID-19 risks. According to the State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America, the adult obesity rate has increased to 42.4 percent. “Obesity is one of the underlying health conditions associated with the most serious consequences of COVID infection, including hospitalization and death.” This means that 42.4 percents who are obese are at the risk of health impacts from COVID-19. Child obesity are also increasing with 19.3 percent of US young people, ages 2-19, have obesity. In addition, 12 states have adult obesity rate above 35 percent. Also the article states that food insecurity is closely related to obesity. There were high levels of food insecurity during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and COVID-19. According to IS Census Bureau survey, “25 percent of all respondents and 30 percent of respondents with children, reported experiencing food insecurity between April and June of this year.”
What this article shows are statistics and facts from studies and researches. This article shows how the COVID-19, our new environment, has changed our lifestyle along with the rates of obesity. With the data provided it clearly shows that with the increase in spread of COVID-19, obesity rates have increased. These numbers show that this change in environment has made people change their lifestyle and eventually led to higher obesity rates.
The final article called ‘Sedentary lockdowns put kids at risk for obesity. Here’s how to help them stay moving‘ talks about how COVID-19 has made an impact on child obesity. With the spread of COVID-19, schools moved online and more children were stuck at home. Using an observational study as evidence, it has shown that due to the lockdown there is a higher chance of child obesity. The study observed 41 children in Italy and found that they were eating an extra meal per day than usual. Also the hours sitting in front of the computer has increased, reducing any physical activity. The author, Ryan Prior, believes that with the quarantine, it is important for family members to help and keep a healthy and active lifestyle.
This article also deals with the relation between COVID-19 and obesity. Ryan Prior specifically mentions the lockdown that the COVID-19 has led to. Through this lockdown, people were eating more and moving less. Ryan Prior believes that the increasing obesity rate that recent studies show is due to the new lifestyle that COVID-19,a new environment, made.
The first two articles argues that convenience stores and fast-food restaurants have caused an increase in obesity by not giving people a healthy food option. The other two articles talk about obesity and its relation to COVID-19. What these four arguments have in common is that they all find the cause of one’s surround and environment for obesity and not the eater. With different perspectives, these four articles express different values on the same conversation, how does the environment and one’s surroundings affect obesity.
Cosner Rhetoric 