The Curing of an Epidemic
Lyle Jones
Dr. McCurry
English 1A
5 November 2012
The Curing of an Epidemic Our nation is overwhelmed with the side effects, ranging from diabetes to cancer, of the ever-growing trend of obesity. With the rise of cheap food that is not rich with the vital nutrients the body needs, our overall health has declined rapidly. Morgan Spurlock, writer and documentary filmmaker, uses his skills to increase awareness of this “epidemic” to the public. Even though there are numerous factors that contribute to the epidemic of obesity, there are always ways to overcome an epidemic. Over the last few generations, obesity has become more common than it has ever been. Spurlock states in Girth of a Nation that “[t]he obesity epidemic is truly nationwide, cutting across class, race, ethnicity and gender” (25). In the past the only group who was obese was the wealthy, due to the fact that the lower classes did not have enough money to buy food enough to make them obese. Nowadays, a lot of food items have been made cheap for everyone, but this food is not necessarily nutritious. Spurlock points out that the rise in obesity appears to coincide with the rise of fast food (31). Fast food gives everyone a chance to get a plethora of non-nutritious food “fast, cheap, and easy.” In addition to getting the food cheap, one can choose to “super-size” the meal making it twice as harmful to the body. The fast food industry is not the only cause for obesity. One can buy this unhealthy food in abundance at pretty much any store that sells groceries. Even the public school systems provide this food to kids. Spurlock says that “[m]any lower-income kids depend on the federally funded National School Lunch Program for their primary hot meal of the day – and get basically the same high-fat, low-nutrition food dumped on them there as they’d get at a fast food joint” (26). Even though this problem is still prevalent, over the past few years the government has
Dr. McCurry
English 1A
5 November 2012
The Curing of an Epidemic Our nation is overwhelmed with the side effects, ranging from diabetes to cancer, of the ever-growing trend of obesity. With the rise of cheap food that is not rich with the vital nutrients the body needs, our overall health has declined rapidly. Morgan Spurlock, writer and documentary filmmaker, uses his skills to increase awareness of this “epidemic” to the public. Even though there are numerous factors that contribute to the epidemic of obesity, there are always ways to overcome an epidemic. Over the last few generations, obesity has become more common than it has ever been. Spurlock states in Girth of a Nation that “[t]he obesity epidemic is truly nationwide, cutting across class, race, ethnicity and gender” (25). In the past the only group who was obese was the wealthy, due to the fact that the lower classes did not have enough money to buy food enough to make them obese. Nowadays, a lot of food items have been made cheap for everyone, but this food is not necessarily nutritious. Spurlock points out that the rise in obesity appears to coincide with the rise of fast food (31). Fast food gives everyone a chance to get a plethora of non-nutritious food “fast, cheap, and easy.” In addition to getting the food cheap, one can choose to “super-size” the meal making it twice as harmful to the body. The fast food industry is not the only cause for obesity. One can buy this unhealthy food in abundance at pretty much any store that sells groceries. Even the public school systems provide this food to kids. Spurlock says that “[m]any lower-income kids depend on the federally funded National School Lunch Program for their primary hot meal of the day – and get basically the same high-fat, low-nutrition food dumped on them there as they’d get at a fast food joint” (26). Even though this problem is still prevalent, over the past few years the government has
Cited: Spurlock, Morgan. “Girth of a Nation”. Mercury Reader. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. 23-36. Print.