Is Fast Food The New Tabacco? Should the obesity issue be government regulated or remain personal responsibility?- Antonio Hallenbeck

 

            "Should the obesity issue be government regulated or remain personal responsibility?" is a question that can be argued against vast amounts of people, some may think it should be government regulated since it could be easily controlled, and others think people should live how they see fit. Personally I believe that the obesity issue should remain a personal responsibility and people should be able to live the life they want to live. Imagine one day a law is passed where all unhealthy foods from every restaurant is taken off the menu simply because the government believe there are too many obese people, it becomes unfair to those who don't have that issue but really love the foods from their local restaurant that are considered "unhealthy" by the government. In the article "What You Eat Is Your Business" by Radley Balko he states "Instead of manipulating or intervening in the array of food options available to American consumers, our government ought to be working to foster a sense of responsibility in and ownership of our own health and well-being" (Balko 396), which is a statement I completely agree with because if the government tries to regulate obesity then it is possible that many people will become angry and cause an uproar for having to suffer for someone else's actions. Nobody should have control over anyone else's life it's unfair and no one should pay the consequences of someone else's actions either everyone should have complete control over their lives and what they eat, if they decide to eat unhealthy foods than I believe they should be allowed to if that's what makes them happy eventually they will learn of the damage they are causing to their own bodies and they can make a change for themselves when they are ready and committed to do so.   

        In the article "Don't Blame the Eater" by David Zinczenko he states "But most of the teenagers who live, like I once did on a fast-food diet won't turn their lives around" (Zinczenko 392), which to me is a perfect argument because he uses the word "won't" meaning they could do so if they choose to and he also says 'like I once did" indicating that he had the same struggle with obesity like other people do but he was able to change his life around on his own so why couldn't anybody else do so without government regulations? Everybody has the ability to change their lives around for the better, all the materials they need to fix their obesity issue is basically being handed to them because we have gyms everywhere and many people such as the person stated in the article have found ways to better their health with their own diets instead of the government forcing all of the unhealthy foods out of the market places. Regulating the foods of everyone will only cause split reactions and a lot of angry people who don't believe they need to suffer for another persons actions. So personally I believe that the issue of obesity should remain a personal responsibility because it will cause an uproar of angry people who feel it is unfair for them to suffer the consequences of another persons actions, and if it remains a personal responsibility the ones who do take action and better their health will feel way better about themselves knowing that they themselves had the strength to overcome a hardship in their lives leaving their moral permanently boosted from their own actions.