Paper

Katia Macklin

Professor Mike Russo

Rhetoric

10 April, 2012                    

                                                                                Tipping the Scales

                Instead of a sitting down at the table eating a home cooked meal, it's now looked upon as normal to end a at work day by sitting in the car waiting for a happy meal in the drive through. So it shouldn’t come to much of a surprise that all the convenient and affordable prices of fast food restaurants have lead to an increase in the number of overweight people everywhere. While there is no doubt that obese people face day to day challenges due to their “condition,” majority of obese people caused their alleged condition through their own bad behavior and lifestyle choices. Until now, the courts have normally rejected the notion of labeling obesity as a disability under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act and underweight Americans are the ones that will be paying the price.

            The rising number of Americans who are seriously overweight has triggered intense debate among scientists, advocacy groups, federal agencies, insurance companies and drug makers about whether should be declared a disease, a move that could open up insurance coverage to millions who need treatment for weight problems. A person that is about 180 pounds over a the ideal weight for their height is at risk to arthritis, increased blood pressure, a weakened heart and could soon need a walker just to get around. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, such a person could legally be labeled as disabled. In the United States alone 55 percent of adults are overweight according to international standards.  This inclination is also starting to spread to children as well, because one in every five American child is now considered overweight. Meaning for the first time in history, the number of overweight people surpass the number of underweight people. 

            Genes may play some role in childhood obesity. A parent's obesity doubles the risk that his/her child under the age of 10 will be obese as an adult, regardless of whether that child is overweight at the time. Although birth weight doesn't correlate with adult weight, obese three-year-olds already have a greater risk of adult obesity. Children are less active than they were 30 years ago. They are more likely to be driven to school rather than walk. Nonetheless, rendering obesity as a disability is completely foolish for instance; if obesity is designated as a disability, physicians can be sued or reprimanded for discrimination under the Americans with Disability Act if a patient takes offense at the physician discussing obesity. Besides the close to the door parking spots and disability checks, another special accommodation to add to the list that obese people receive is; airlines and baseball stadiums are considering making their seats bigger to accommodate larger people. Therefore the already expensive prices would have to increase and everyone, not just the morbidly obese, would be coming out of pocket for the price of someone else’s bad habits.

            Obese people should not be rewarded for being lazy. Lawsuits are getting so ridiculous that they want to sue fast-food companies for making the booths way to small. "Martin Kessman, 64, has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified financial damages against the fast-food chain, claiming that his local White Castle is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act because the seating cannot accommodate a customer of his size. A federal lawsuit filed last week claims that in April 2009, Kessman smacked his knee into a metal post while trying to wedge himself into the stationary seating at a White Castle in Nanuet, N.Y., near his home.” In no way is this directed to the morbidly obese people that put on weight due to a medical condition, but it’s more towards the obese Americans that consume large amounts of food, don’t exercise and expect to reap the benefits of a disability check. For example:

            “Caesar Barber, 56, a maintenance worker who weighs about 270 pounds and stands 5-foot-10, claims McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and KFC jeopardized his health with their greasy, salty fare. He filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday in the New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx on behalf of an unspecified number of other obese and ill New Yorkers who also feast on fast food. Barber's lawsuit is the first broad-based action taken against the fast food industry for allegedly contributing to obesity. He claims the fast food restaurants, where Barber says he used to eat four or five times a week even after suffering a heart attack, did not properly disclose the ingredients of  their food and the risks of eating too much.”

 In this case, that’s like a skinny person charging the gym for making receiving too many results. In no way does McDonalds force feed their customers, so each consumer is responsible for the amount they are consuming daily. Fast food restaurants have even went as far as putting the calorie, fat intake percentage etc on the back of their placemats and rappers just so everyone is aware of what is being eaten. However, just as tobacco use, obesity represents a very difficult condition that can only be changed by lifestyle choices and changes. According to globalissues.org “Obesity cost the United States 12 percent of the national health care budget in the late 1990’s, $118 billion, more than double the $47 billion attributable to smoking.”

            As a result, most obese people are waiting until their slightly overweight issues turn into a morbidly obese problem and that’s when it’s too late to fix themselves. Instead of them blaming themselves for their own bad habits, everyone else gets the blame, such as fast food restaurants, has to pay the price while they sit back, relax and reap the benefits and their problem just become worse and may eventually lead to an unfortunate and unhealthy death.

                                                            Work Cited

                Kolbe, Uwe. Abschiede: Und Andere Liebesgedichte. Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 1981. Print

                Looking Great, Feeling Great. Pleasantville, NY: Sunburst Communications, 1983.

                Fur Journal. New York, 1927. Print

                Is obesity a disease?." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 10 Nov. 2003. Web.

            Sealey, Geraldine. "Obese Man Sues Fast-Food Chains." ABC News. ABC News Network, 24 July 0000. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=91427>.