Whats on the Menu? Essay -- Health, Obesity, Food Industry

Title Muffin tops, Weight Watchers, Atkins, these are all among the jargon designated for the horizontally challenged today. These words and others are the runoff of a much larger problem, obesity. Americans today have made being inactive and feasting on junk food acceptable, thereby greatly increase the percentage of the population that is extremely overweight. Excessive eating is not the lone source for this disproportionate problem of obesity, there are a myriad of causes and as many solutions (Manson 1). No matter what the cause of obesity, the liberty to alter or wallow in their condition should remain the individual’s rather than the government’s. Obesity reduces the quality of people’s lives, consequently the government is concerned by this threatening issue. However, instead of limiting people’s food choice the government should foster a goal of health in all their citizens (Balko 1). The government currently vouches for responsible decision making, mo re exercising, and maintaining a wholesome diet (Manson 1). This cheerleading role that the government currently plays is most beneficial to its citizens. Given choices people decide what they want, and act upon it, but often a government regulation only cripples their resolve. People’s basic liberties give them the right to preside over their own health. A government has the duty to instill in its citizens a sense of responsibility for maintaining their health, rather than to regulate what they eat, because in most cases people can be more successful in creating a healthy lifestyle through self-discipline than through adherence to laws. Creating and enforcing public policy is a basic function of any government, however; public policy is not an all-encompassing category,... ...nment realizes that they cannot afford to ignore obesity. A couple hundred years ago Americans labored from sunrise to sunset farming, cooking, cleaning, and working. These Americans had no choice but to be fit, they had to work the land for the food they ate. These Americans knew how to appreciate and fully use their bodies. These men and women set a standard for the American work ethic. As society progressed, innovations allowed for more leisure time, and less hard physical labor. America looked to her past for a role of how to live, how to work, and somehow the proud work ethic survived a little over a century. Now America has the opportunity to re-inspire herself through the legacy of her past, or stomp on the hard work of her forebearers. Each American can choose to reclaim and maintain their proud physique, through their daily individual healthy choices.