“Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko

In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” written by David Zinczenko, he asserts that children have the right to sue fast food companies because their food made the children unhealthy and over-weight. Zinczenko believes that the fast food companies cause the childhood obesity because their primary concern is to make profit. Therefore, they do not care about the unhealthy food that their customers consume. He states that the fast food restaurants purposely target young children and teenagers because they enjoy cheap and readily available meal. As a result, they tend to eat at the fast food restaurants, such as McDonalds and Burger King, because they can get inexpensive meals. He also emphasizes the fact that it is hard to avoid for children from going to these places because they are placed in numerous places and are very easy to find from anywhere. He states, “Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants.”

Furthermore, Zinczenko claims that the fast food industries try to hide the drawbacks of their food. A calorie chart is very hard to find in some restaurants. Zinczenko also stated, “Advertisements don’t carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do.” The fast food industries are serving food that is high in calorie, cholesterol, and trans-fat. Unfortunately, many children and teenagers do not know the negative effects of consuming these meals that they can affect their bodies. Therefore, there is not only simply a lack of alternative food choices, but rather a lack of readily available information on what kids are eating at fast food restaurants. Although I concede that many fast food restaurants do not provide enough nutrition fact information on their products, I still insist that placing a lawsuit on the company seems little bit extreme. For many people, it is commonly known that eating fast food is not a good choice for the health and that it should not be a daily routine for everyday meal.

Even though people do not see the specific nutrition fact labels in the restaurants, people already know that these meals from fast food restaurants are high in calories. Moreover, the children cannot prevent themselves from consuming these meals even if the restaurants provided the nutrition facts to them in the package because, unlike adults, most children cannot understand the information that is on the nutrition fact chart. Furthermore, even if they do understand, they do not realize the poor effect on their body from consuming exceeding calories daily. Therefore, the people who are most responsible are the children’s parents. Since the children are just young and, the parents are responsible for their child’s overweight because they decide what is good or bad for their children. They should control their kids from eating unhealthy food from the beginning. For example, they can cook their meals at home that are healthier with ingredients that contain good nutrition, and they also take their children to better restaurants that offer healthy meals.

Although the fast food may be unhealthy, it is affordable, convenient, and quickly prepared. Therefore, people who are busy and short in money may need these fast food restaurants. Nowadays, people cannot go to a store and buy something filling with a dollar, whereas McDonald’s offers a dollar menu, which is very cheap. This is why I believe people would still buy and continue eating fast foods. Not only the children, but some adults are careless on what they are eating. People already know how bad fast food is for their health without physically seeing the nutrition fact because they learn it from newspapers, television, and internet.

However, people still buy fast food, which they are already aware of the nutrition facts it contains. For Instance, when we go to the grocery store, we still buy a bag of donuts which we are already aware of how many calories we are consuming, from a calorie count on the bag. Today, there are numerous alternatives to fast food meals that are healthier and contain less fat, such as Subway. I believe that the fast food companies are not forcing people to eat their product, but it is people’s own decision that forces them to eat fast food.

Work Cited

Zinczenko, Daniel. “Don’t Blame the Eater.” New York Times 23 November 2002. Reprinted in They Say/ I Say. New York: Norton, 2010. 195-197. Print