Dan Wolfgram Alternative Position Paper Although I am arguing that mental issues stemming from different events play

an important role in the development of obesity, there are alternatives positions that challenge my position. The present day environment humans live in has a huge impact on the recent increase in obesity worldwide. People are so on the move and busy working these days that there is less and less time being made for eating uality foods. With this fast paced lifestyle, people turn to fast food restaurants for their meals now more than ever. !effery"s study revealed a positive association between how close a fast food restaurant is and how many children are in a home, with the fre uency of visiting fast food restaurants and #$I. People with higher #$I did tend to have more fast food places near them and to have more children than those surveyed with lower #$I. People are so busy these days, that after a long day at work and commuting, the last thing they want to do is to have to cook a healthy meal for their children. With fast food restaurant on practically every corner, there should be no surprise that people have turned to them to fill their food necessities. %owever the problem focused on should not be the mass uantities of fast food places in today"s world, it should be that the food they serve is severely unhealthy and that most people are uneducated about &ust how bad these foods are for a person to eat. To most people the convenience outweighs the negative nutrition every time. 'ouple the fast food problem with the fact that humans have entered the technological era and this is where there begins to be trouble. People have started to replace for e(ample, playing outside, with playing video games or watching television. )ources, such as '#), have stated that T* ratings company +ielsen reported numbers up to ,- hours a week of watching television in the year ,./,. People drive cars everywhere, they call someone on their iPhone instead of getting up and walking over to talk to them, and instead of playing outside and being active many people instead prefer to sit and play video games or watch countless hours of television shows on +etfli(. Why0 #ecause it is so easy and entertaining. This is a problem because this environment does not encourage the activity or movement needed to help burn calories and stay fit and avoid weight gain. The turn to fast food for providing more meals than ever, together with an age of technology where la1iness and lack of physical activity is norm, more people than ever before are gaining an unhealthy amount of weight and becoming obese. 2besity is a huge problem because of the health risks associated with it. There has shown to be an increase in diabetes, liver and gall bladder disease, and hypertension in obese people. These health risks are very serious and will shorten lives unless something is changed so that more people are in an environment that promotes losing weight and becoming healthy. People have to decide for themselves whether their health is important enough

to stop going to the fast food restaurants so often and to put down the video game controller to go for a walk or run outside.

Works Cited #ray, 3eorge A. 4The !ournal of 'linical 5ndocrinology 6 $etabolism.4 Medical Consequences of Obesity. The 5ndocrine )ociety, / !une ,..-. Web. ,7 $ar. ,./8. De9usha, !ason. 43ood :uestion; %ow $uch T* Do 2ur <ids Watch04 CBS Minnesota. +.p., /= >eb. ,./8. Web. /= Apr. ,./8. !effrey, 9obert W. 4Are >ast >ood 9estaurants an 5nvironmental 9isk >actor for 2besity04International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 8 ?,..7@; n. pag. #io$ed 'entral Atd. Web. // Apr. ,./8.