The Obesity Scapegoats

Over the last twenty years, the average American waistline has expanded to widths not previously known. Both men and women, young and old alike, are getting bigger, rounder. Recently, the US Dept. of Health stated (and I'm paraphrasing here) that we are in the midst of an obesity epidemic, the likes of which this country has never seen.

As has gotten popular over the same twenty years, the average American is looking for a scapegoat to blame for their gluttony, or at the very least, their poor dietary choices. Lawyers have been entrenched here or there, going after this or that industry. People are actually suing restaurants like McDonalds for making them fat.

The basic problem here is what I have already alluded to...people looking for a scapegoat. Rather than facing the REAL issue, consumers are turning to a less painful path--that of blame. It's so easy to blame this or that. It's convenient to label people into easily identifiable demographic groups so as to squarely place blame here or there.

My problem with all of this is (or should be, at least) highly apparent: Where is the PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY in this entire argument? No one made the Average American eat an endless list of foods at a particular restaurant. No one told them to chow down thousands of grams of saturated fat every day. These people ACTUALLY CHOSE to take in the foods they ate. Their very own personal choices led to their historic weight gains.

Sure the advertising of various foods blitzes everyone day after day. The smells can be almost intoxicating. But the real issue here is still personal choice. Yet, the government, lawyers, and [a large] number of individuals are trying (and succeeding) to blame the fast food industry for the extraordinary weight problem besetting this country.

(A little soap boxing here) I've got news for everyone who falls in this category...YOU MADE THE CHOICES THAT LED TO YOUR WEIGHT! NO ONE ELSE ATE THAT FOOD FOR YOU! NO ONE DEMANDED YOU INGEST ALL THAT FAT, AND ALL THOSE CALORIES! YOU CHOSE TO PUT THESE THINGS IN YOUR BODY, SO STOP BLAMING OTHERS FOR YOUR CHOICES!!!

Do you see my point? People are simply looking for excuses to justify the choices they made which led to the weight gain and subsequent health related issues. Personal accountability is completely lost. When we teach children as they grow, they learn the natural consequences of poor decisions. As adults, those same children are learning that they don't have to be held responsible for choosing things which are a detriment to themselves.

It's far easier to place blame and go after a monetary award than it is to take a good look at yourself and admit that you haven't made the best choices when it comes to food. Personally, I think its a very sad statement about us as individuals, that we are allowing others to pay (both literally and figuratively) for the choices we have been making all along; for allowing others to pay for our mistakes and poor judgement.