The Government Should Stay Neutral on Obesity

The Government Should Stay Neutral on Obesity

    When we focus on the topic at hand, the subject of obesity, we must not only look at personal responsibility and government responsibility but the options that are given to us as citizens, to begin with. Now more than ever has the US society become lazy. With countless options like fast food restaurants, takeout, and delivery becoming more prominent in the average U.S. citizen's diet, the lack of proper diet decisions has become more evident in the past decade. Because of convenience, we have swapped out homemade meals for fast food with ingredients that we have never heard of and could be detrimental to our health.

People should have the right to do what they want, but they should be responsible for the consequences of their own actions, and they shouldn’t have to pay higher health care costs to cover the irresponsibility of other people. Although focusing on the topic of obesity, this holds true for many things. Such as auto insurance, welfare, and most importantly healthcare. On the other hand, it is not always black and white. Did my father get cancer from smoking, processed food, or tainted water in his elementary school, or was it a genetic condition he had no control over? Focusing on healthcare and obesity, those that are at the most risk are the ones being marketed to. As ­­­­­ David Zinczenko (2012) says in his article, Don’t Blame the Eater, children are at the most risk when it comes to fast food marketing, “Fast-food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels.” (p. 393) For decades, fast-food companies have been taking advantage of younger children because of their inability to make choices regarding their health when it comes to food. Companies like these are what fosters a sense of bad decision-making and allow children to start on a path of no return. In addition, the lack of personal accountability of guardians and/or parents for these younger children is unjustifiable and should not cause issues for others when they are the ones allowing and making bad decisions.

I don’t want the government making every decision on what’s good for me, or what’s good for every other person in every little nuance of our lives. Where do you draw the line on the government’s intrusion? The problem is that everyone’s circumstances are different, yet not all people take equal responsibility for their actions. Some people turn to the government to bail them out of every poor decision they’ve made, while others make choices (and sometimes sacrifices) to not put themselves in that position, to begin with, yet bad things still happen to them anyway. It’s a conundrum, but I don’t think more government intrusion into our lives is the answer. People must live with the choices they make, and although incentives might be a good way to encourage people to make better choices, the cost of those incentives often gets passed on to the average taxpayers like you and me, which leaves the problem right where we started.