Who's to blame?

Introduction

Today, the number of children suffering from childhood obesity is at all time highs, with as much as 25% of all children being obese between the ages of 6 and 19. This does not include the staggering 37% of children that are considered overweight, but not obese. And this condition of society, places millions of children at risk for diseases that used to be prevalent only in older adults (Latnerm, 452-456).

Thesis Statement

This paper will be highlighting the Western diets issue and will provide answer to this question. “who's to blame, the industry or parents?”.

Discussion

There is a lot of press these days about the negative effects of the typical Western Diet. The diet and low fat craze has been around for quite awhile yet many people still don't understand some of the main problems with the Western Diet. This article will help define some of the specific issues and clear up some others.

I want to tell you that a certain amount of fat is good for you…it is actually very necessary for your health. Yet is also important to distinguish good fats and bad fats. Most fast food and processed food is filled with bad fats, as well as sugar and chemicals. Unfortunately many mainstream vegetable oils, including canola oil, are also questionable as they have been heated during their processing causing them to change their chemical composition. If you are using oils to cook food, cold pressed, expeller pressed and organic oils are a much better choice. Olive Oil and Organic Coconut Oil are two examples of very good oils as they contain nutrients and good fats.

As a society, most people blame childhood obesity on the transitioning sedentary lifestyle. Sadly, the truth about who is to blame for childhood obesity has been misplaced on fast food restaurants, food distributors and makers, internet marketing, video game developers and the inability of people to understand the often 'confusing' labels on food. The ideals of a healthy diet and lifestyle have not changed over the past 50 years. If anything, our access to information about how to keep our children healthy has only increased. Even schools are on board and only allowed to provide specific foods that meet NDA guidelines to students. Labels are clearer than ever, and if you have never heard of a nitrate or Trans fat, it is easy to decide that unnatural, salt, fatty foods that ...