This whole "blaming fast food for obesity" thing really needs to stop.

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Senaro

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Jan 5, 2008
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This reminds me of a court case involving blaming tobacco companies for people dying from smoking cigarettes. The court ended up deciding that the tobacco company was only 55% responsible for what happened, and the smoker was 45% responsible. Don't know who their mathematician was for that, though.
 

Atticus89

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Nov 8, 2010
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Bags159 said:
It's obviously McDonald's fault for providing those three burgers for him to consume. Yes, fast food should not be blamed for obesity. The person consuming their food every day is responsible. McDonald's didn't make you fat, the spoon in your hand did.
Who eats hamburgers with spoons?
 

BodomBeachChild

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Nov 12, 2009
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I agree. I work in the restaurant industry and this subject comes up a lot. It's really amusing when in a regular sit-down place like I work in has a family come in with children (we don't get children a lot) and they order a kids burger no LTO... add bacon. Yeah, Little Timmy may be skinny now, but...

God I want a Baconator...
 
Jan 27, 2011
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lucky_sharm said:
Why can't people ever hold themselves accountable for anything?
*LE GASP!!* You mean you want people to actually have to THINK about what they do?!?!

How could you even propose such a thing? Asking those poor poor brains to actually do something other than ingest raw charlie sheen scandal news from the tv! You're one of those evil progressive people, aren't you! :mad:

*note to the 2 people whose sarcasm-meters are broken, this post is composed of 99% pure sarcasm. Would be 100%, but this little bit in between the stars isn't sarcasm!*
 

Kiju

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Fast food isn't to blame at all for the obesity thing.

It's for people who go to McDonalds or whatever, eat a Big Mac and fries, then come home and sit on their ass all day watching TV.

It doesn't matter at all what you eat. It's all about the exercise you do afterwards! Fat is just calories that your body is storing for later use due to them not being used in the first place. So if you keep doing didly squat for exercise, your body is going to keep accumulating more and more calories that it hasn't used.

So if you go to a fast food joint, do a little jog or something to get your blood pumping and to burn off some of the excess calories you just ate.
 

Stammer

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The Gnome King said:
And... your parents are upper-middle class white people who have health insurance for you, right?
Close... lower-middle-class white people who live in Canada (so we have free health care).

But, uh, what does this have to do with anything? lol
 

Unesh52

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Verlander said:
I'm not sure anyone seriously blames fast food places for obesity anymore.
It's my understanding that there are groups of legislators here in the US that want to regulate marketing from fast food joints because they target kids. The assumption is: McDonald's --> Obesity :: Cigarettes --> Lung Disease. Clearly they think fast food is to blame, rather than the eating habits. I think they're dead wrong, but with documentaries like "Supersize Me" around and the popular tendency to externalize blame and accountability, the support seems likely to fall to them.

Skullkid4187 said:
My question is, if people are all like "you're beautiful no matter what!" then why criticize obesity and fast food! CONTRADICTION!
I think the issue here is more about the health risks associated with obesity and malnutrition. Not that malnutrition is really an issue in first world countries.
 

Ploop

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May 2, 2010
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Im actually a nutritionist, so i have the unfortunate displeasure of having to deal with this most days.
I will admit the amount of excuses obese people use is unbelievable, my personal fave is "i have a slow metabolism".
Honestly, the number one reason the majority of people are obese because they chose to eat crap n not exercise, and thats it.
 

Ambi

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The Gnome King said:
Ambi said:
It is partially to blame. Simply by existing and selling tasty junk food they make they are part of the problem. Much of the time it is (but isn't necessarily, there will always be self-defeating fat people) a mixture of clever marketing and weak-willed "victims". Stressed out parents go there to buy a quick meal for their kids with the marketed "healthy options" or other such excuses at the back of their mind to appease their conscience. Then they buy a meal with a diet coke and think "oh what the hell, I may as well have a sundae, I deserve it".

It's not just fast food. If someone regularly eats regular McDonalds meals and lets themselves get fat, the odds are that they buy shitty supermarket food too. You know, stocking their trolley with fat free noodles, sugary tomato sauce, coke, hormone-fed cage chickens, "lite" ice-cream, falling for every health-related marketing gimmick even when they half know it's probably BS, and maybe throwing in a bag of frozen vegetables to make themselves feel better.

There are fast food restaurants here that actually sell vegetables, but you actually have to go look for them because they're not shoved in front of your face via corporate marketing campaigns, and perhaps *gasp* even step out of your car to buy it and maybe even persuade your children to eat that unfamiliar food that doesn't even have a toy or a colorful box or a sugary drink with it. I didn't even like McDonalds at first when I was a kid. I ate the fries, kept the toy, had like two bites of the burger, and coke tasted gross to me.
And if you're not American I assume your country offers health care.

Imagine how hard it is here when you don't even have that.

I'm a vegan who wouldn't eat at McDonalds to save my life but for chrissakes people... try to imagine yourself in the shoes of a poor, urban mother for a moment.

And if you're under 22 years old, nevermind that. Just go on thinking people choose to suffer in life.
What was I supposed to say? Of course I can't be exactly sure that everyone's situation allows them to make wise eating choices, especially in other countries. Nor can I blame someone for coming from a background where they weren't taught about biology, nutrition, and questioning advertisements. People have excuses that make their choices understandable. Of course there can be situations in which someone is completely stressed and exhausted and needs something quick to feed their kids who will refuse to eat anything healthy, I never said it's always easy and I could just breeze through life if I was in their shoes. They might be doing their personal best as far as their own knowledge and emotional and physical capacity goes; I don't think they're necessarily bad people. If I had their genetics and life experience I would be exactly the same.

However, I'm not going to say we shouldn't point out healthier alternatives because it could seem insensitive; not everyone who makes poor eating choices has no other options. I wrote about people who were buying things other than the bare necessities. I wrote about people buying sundaes, sauce, coke, and the like. Over here, one can buy a bag of carrots or a bottle of milk for approximately the price of a McDonalds sundae. I know that some people who aren't poor are simply fussy and must have something that tastes good, which to them means full of fat, sugar, salt, added flavorings, and what not. My mother knows people at work who get paid the same as her and don't even have to provide for any children, yet they still complain they don't have enough money while they munch on their overpriced junk food and coffee.
 

Evil Alpaca

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May 22, 2010
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Why can't both people and corporations be to blame? People have to take responsibility for their health and welfare but that does not absolve companies of their share of the blame for marketing certain foods as healthy.

Ex: Does anyone really think the big mac wrap is healthier than one on a bun. McDonalds knows that wraps are associated with health food and their product is counting on this for sales.
 

Bags159

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Atticus89 said:
Bags159 said:
It's obviously McDonald's fault for providing those three burgers for him to consume. Yes, fast food should not be blamed for obesity. The person consuming their food every day is responsible. McDonald's didn't make you fat, the spoon in your hand did.
Who eats hamburgers with spoons?
Civilized folk. My brother eats pizza and chicken fingers with a fork and knife, go figure. It's called finger food for a reason.

OT: People don't like to accept responsibility for their own actions so they look for a scapegoat. Simple as that.
 

The Gnome King

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Mar 27, 2011
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Stammer said:
The Gnome King said:
And... your parents are upper-middle class white people who have health insurance for you, right?
Close... lower-middle-class white people who live in Canada (so we have free health care).

But, uh, what does this have to do with anything? lol
If you have free health care? A lot.
 

General BrEeZy

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Jul 26, 2009
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its the lack of exercise and the will to better yourself thats becoming more lacking in our culture. eating a ton of grease doesn't make it any easier though. we need to get up and work for health. no one gets a good body by sitting. its a shame people want these miracle diets to take the hard stuff outta it, but it never will work like that. deal with it and go WORK for what you want.
and thats all i have to say about that!
 

scorptatious

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May 14, 2009
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I can definitely agree that it's the consumer that's to blame for becoming obese for the most part. As long as you eat fast food in moderation, and exercise often, you should be fine.

Of course that's not to say restaurants are completely innocent. Denny's has just created a menu in which everything on it has bacon.

EVERYTHING
 

lucky_sharm

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Aug 27, 2009
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The Gnome King said:
Stammer said:
The Gnome King said:
And... your parents are upper-middle class white people who have health insurance for you, right?
Close... lower-middle-class white people who live in Canada (so we have free health care).

But, uh, what does this have to do with anything? lol
If you have free health care? A lot.
Could you please elaborate on how health care factors in on a person's physique and fitness?
 

Ambi

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Oct 9, 2009
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The Gnome King said:
Wait wait let me guess... you have upper-middle class white parents and you're under 22.
Were you talking to me or that person who posted above me?

It's true that some people might not be able to empathise with people going through a hard time, but it doesn't mean they're wrong in saying some people may have other options available that they don't take for whatever reason.

The answer to the question "whose fault is it?" depends. You could look back at the chain of events and various factors that cause or enable someone to make a choice, and justifiably say it's not their fault. You could also simply look at the viable alternatives they might have (Is it possible to budget and buy ingredients for economical and easy meals? Cook a lot on your day off and freeze food? Eat raw vegetables? Choose a salad over a big mac?) and then justifiably say it is their fault. You seem to be looking at things from the former perspective.