Who is responsible for what we choose to eat?

twinmom1993

I AM RESPONSIBLE... EVERY MORSEL I ALLOW TO PASS MY LIPS IS A CONSCIOUS DECISION. I WILL NEVER BLAME ANOTHER FOR THE CHOICES I MAKE....

fishbarn

each of us

JennieAL

It's one of those things where... you can't separate the two in order to determine. And there's not a pure answer here because of that. The two are inextricably linked, and necessarily so. Animals in the wild... eat in the wild until they get their paws on McDonald's french fries. Humans... raised in the wild would do the same. We are social animals. We are going to be influenced by the industry, and it's designed to influence us greatly.

Now... who is ultimately responsible for what I put in my mouth... assuming I have perfect autonomy and means necessary to provide for myself that food? I am, of course.

And my means of providing said food, that will also come into play. McDonalds may be more accessible to lower income families, etc. Doesn't mean I can't work around that. Also, education (formal & self education) is my responsibility for myself as well. People who care what they put in their mouths... well, I don't think the gov or industry will have the ultimate say.

We are ultimately responsible. Not an industry or a gov. People create government. Not the other way around.

JennieAL

You can eat fast food all day every day and not gain weight as long as you do it sensibly.

It ain't optimal but it can be done.

Check out the movie Fat Head, it debunks Super Size Me nicely.

Fat Head = eat in a deficit, lose weight

Supersize Me = eat in a surplus gain weight

hardly rocket science

:flowerforyou:

to_the_surface

I feel that mostly, the goverment should stay out of peoples lives when it regards what they eat. (That's just me.) If a person wants to be unhealthy, then so be it.

Wish it would be that simple. Problem is the way the system works the individual choices affect others, so the argument "if they want to do it, let them" has consequences in your life and mine.

Example: Health insurance costs. Individual x decides to be unhealthy and goes down the Mclifestyle. By age 25 he's on high blood pressure medication and by 35 he's high risk, maybe already a stroke, and has to visit the doctor/hospital twice a month.
Health insurance companies would rack up individual x premiums but that cost increase would not be enough to cover the costs associated to individual X treatment. So they jack up everyone else's premiums as well because they need to make enough money to cover costs and generate a profit.
Add to that people who can't afford insurance but still use hospitals, ERs, etc. Basically health insurance companies have to increase premiums to collect the same amount of money from less people (insured), which makes it unaffordable for more people. Viscious circle.

Since everyone can understand a simple explanation as how the system works i think it is somewhat irresponsible from a person to use the "free choice" argument to make poor choices knowingly that everyone is getting screwed. It is a form of entitlement >> I am entitled to healthcare even when i knowingly decide to eat myself to illness.
Very little done in education/prevention. Food corporations do not have an incentive to educate people in choices that would likely decrease their revenue. Health corporations do not have an incentive of making people healthier (prevention), their revenue come from treating people already sick.

A tax on food products that are known and linked to certain diseases could actually work. Such tax would amortize the costs/treatments/premiums associated to such diseases. Something like a french fries tax that goes to amortize premiums of health insurance policies so at least when individual X makes his "free choice" and goes for his 3rd Mcmeal of the day he's paying a little extra that covers in part the extra costs consequence of his "free choice".

Healthy people do not get screwed with higher costs associated with supporting someone else's poor choices; unhealthy people are still happy because they have their poor choice available. Corporations are still in business (food corps still selling crap food, and health insurance corps still making a profit without being forced to increase premiums, or at least at a much slower pace), and government is out or everyone's lives. Sounds like a win win for everyone involved.

CynthiasChoice

It's the consumer 100% of time. YES the govt. should make it easier by lowering the costs of say organic foods, BUT It's cheaper to take out the healthy ingredients in foods than to leave them as they are. Isn't that crazy? It is actually cheaper to make white bread than to let it be as natural and as healthy as it comes. We have to remember we are never going to be a perfect world though. They do suck for making a cheeseburger which btw doesn't even contain REAL ingredients cheaper than a bag of apples at a grocery store.

Umm...does the government have the ability to lower the cost of organic foods? Could someone enlighten me on this?

Taxpayers are forced to pay for corn subsidies, which make processed foods and corn fed beef "cheaper" than real foods, and naturally raised beef. Because the government (taxpayers) shells out millions to corn growers, we get our "value meals" which, by the way, are chemically designed to be addictive.

But in the long run, processed foods and corn fed beef aren't really cheap. While we pay little for it at the burger joint, we pay more in taxes and for health care for those who over eat it. Not to mention all the resulting environmental toxins from industrial farming and feed lots, and the depletion of our water table due to our over-consumption of beef.

After all is said and done, processed foods and corn fed beef are costing us a ton.

Is obesity the government's fault? No, it's the individual's fault. But one could say that the government's policies are creating a food culture that promotes obesity.

JennieAL

Is obesity the government's fault? No, it's the individual's fault. But one could say that the government's policies are creating a food culture that promotes obesity.

I'll go along with that.

amy1612

I choose what I eat and I choose to educate myself about food: whats in it, and what I want in relattion to that fact. A lot of people may be ignorant to what is in foods, or the calorie count, etc, but thats their perogative, the information is out there for people if they want it.

I was raised in the UK by my single parent mother in what would be defined as 'poverty'. We NEVER had food like turkey dinosaurs or frozen meals. My mum made everything from scratch, and would get a vegetable box every week. We ate a lot of vegetables and lentils, and there were never biscuits in our house. Therefore for me, being poor is no excuse for eating crappy food.

Veganniee

The problem with posting that here, is we are all educated and aware of how to eat healthily. Whilst everyone is responsible for how we choose to eat, a lack of education about making good choices; manufacturers manipulating supermarkets and supermarkets manipulating us makes it extremely difficult for consumers.

BeckyRayJohnson

After watching BBC 2 the men who made us fat I was interested to find out who you feel should take responsibility for obesity. Is it us the consumer, food industry for selling unhealthy food or the government for not bringing in tougher regulations on the food industry?

Ultimately we're all responsible for our own choices. I, like many people, know that eating fast foods are not good for me, just like smoking or doing drugs.

That being said, there is still a level of blame to be held by people that mis-educate others which will inevitably lead them to a poor choice. I.e. if you know nothing about cars and I give you a bunch of kooky information that causes you to do damage to your car through a series of choices whose responsible?

I say that to say this....

Besides the obvious people that literally stuff themselves on bad foods, there are a lot of obese and sick people that have heard their entire adult life to eat things that are "light", "lite", "low cal", "fat free", and other labels that didn't realize how those foods were also unhealthy for them. They were actually making "educated" choices.

tadpole242

If you want to blame someone, you can blame you parents, they taught you your eating style. And your Siblings, they taught you your eating speed. And of course yourself, for you are the one who put it in your mouth

I am the youngest of a large family; we all ate at the table, we had no television. We all sat down together and mum put the food on our plates. Equal portions (eldest brother is 10 years older than me) so growing up I had large portions of food that I had to eat, as we were not allowed to leave the table until we’d cleared our plates. Mum would make enough for seconds, but you could not have any until your plates were clean. So I learnt to eat fast, or at least faster than my brothers and sisters.
Saying all that I am the one, who after leaving home at 15, who was still stuffing the food away.

Now I am the one buying, cooking, and serving, the food. I’m in control of the amount that is on the plate and in my mouth. I’m finally making better decisions for myself and my family. This includes how much food my daughter eats. I hope to break the cycle of large meals and poor diet for my family, and to teach my daughter to cook and eat sensibly.

The programme was very good at shifting the blame onto companies that from the start were out to make money, it’s not like they held a gun to anyone’s head and said eat cr@p. All they did was lie cheat, hide, fake, and pretend their stuff was healthy. Before labelling laws were in place we had no reason to doubt, now they are in place we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Think how long it took to stop pretending cigarettes were healthy/good for you/not bad for you, and you’ll see the model for the way we need the food industry to be cleaned up.

Look at the label and it is there for you to see. The Problem is most people just don’t bother or don’t want to look.
YMMV

BeckyRayJohnson

After watching BBC 2 the men who made us fat I was interested to find out who you feel should take responsibility for obesity. Is it us the consumer, food industry for selling unhealthy food or the government for not bringing in tougher regulations on the food industry?

Ultimately we're all responsible for our own choices. I, like many people, know that eating fast foods are not good for me, just like smoking or doing drugs.

That being said, there is still a level of blame to be held by people that mis-educate others which will inevitably lead them to a poor choice. I.e. if you know nothing about cars and I give you a bunch of kooky information that causes you to do damage to your car through a series of choices whose responsible?

I say that to say this....

Besides the obvious people that literally stuff themselves on bad foods, there are a lot of obese and sick people that have heard their entire adult life to eat things that are "light", "lite", "low cal", "fat free", and other labels that didn't realize how those foods were also unhealthy for them. They were actually making "educated" choices.

I did not know how to do this quote thing so forgive the blank reply. I agree here totally. I am one of those falsely taught people who until weight watchers and other programs began to learn more about the foods. Though now I dont agree with W. W.s I do appreciate some of the basic info I was given. And it has been kind of the industry to put the complete nutrition info on the packaging. I am still learning but I agree with this person that it is both ourselves and our false "teachers".

moonlightturk

I agree with your point but it is a lot deeper than that. For example Fatty foods being cheaper than healthier options. False marketing on food which aren't really healthy especially on food targeted towards children.

BINGO! Sure mickey d's doesn't stuff our face with fat but they are somewhat responsible for the obesity crisis in America. EVERYONE is held accountable, include myself for the choices I make.

Carfoodel

The problem with posting that here, is we are all educated and aware of how to eat healthily. Whilst everyone is responsible for how we choose to eat, a lack of education about making good choices; manufacturers manipulating supermarkets and supermarkets manipulating us makes it extremely difficult for consumers.

Exactly - we (MFP users) are more aware of how unhealthy some of the healthy choices are - I never thought about looking at the salt content until I started paying attention to my macros.

The tv programme in question as talking about high level meetings with people who wrote the reports and findings about obesity meeting with the senior management representatives of the food industry. The crux was that they actively want to work out how to make a profit from obesity -of course they are in business and there to make profit but for those less educated pushing one slightly healthy attribute of a product whilst downplaying the glaring flaw in another ingredient is sophisticated marketing - the majority of people using this site can easily say yeah we should read it - but people don't.

I made myself this size, noone forced me to eat all those takeaways, but the price of food is increasing at an alarming rate, it costs a fortune to feed a family and sometimes compromises have to be made. I would love to buy the extra lean beef or organic chicken - but it costs twice the price. Not everyone has the awareness to make the right compromises.

mmapags

The problem with posting that here, is we are all educated and aware of how to eat healthily. Whilst everyone is responsible for how we choose to eat, a lack of education about making good choices; manufacturers manipulating supermarkets and supermarkets manipulating us makes it extremely difficult for consumers.

And who is responsible for being educated and making good choices. I'm sorry but blaming manufacturers and supermarkets may make you feel better but you are lying to your self. It is not that difficult. Eat whole foods in right proportions. There is plenty of data available to help and it mopre easily available than before. Don't eat "manufactured" foods or highly processed foods. Take personal responsibility. The biggest issue most of us have is fork in mouth disease. That is why we are overweight not marketing or anything else.

wewon

I'm curious, to the people that lay 100% of the responsibility on the consumer,

Since being on MFP or otherwise doing your journey to a healthier you, have you learned anything new about nutrition that you were unaware of or totally misinformed about?

Personally, there are a lot of things that I've learned that only a few years ago I thought was very healthy, such as drinking fruit juice. I know better now, but I was taught that juice was good for me by my parents, teachers and everyone else in authority.

I imagine that a lot of overweight people fall into that catagory versus the 'lay on the couch eating cheetos' camp.

that's on you, me and the rest, too. we choose what to eat just as we choose how much we decide to educate ourselves about our choices. want to blindly follow and assume? fine. don't be mad if you don't get the results you were wanting or expecting. want to find out more ... to make sure your choices are, indeed, good for you? probably a better way to go.

but, again, no one wants to take responsibility for anything. everything that happens has got to be the fault of someone else.

Okay, so lets move away from the extreme of the guy laying on the couch eating cheetos. We know he's a slob, I think that we can agree there.

I'm speaking more of the people in the middle of the bell curve. The ones that think that they're eating healthy who have educated themselves on poor data like the Lipid hypothesis.

There is an entire generation of people out there that have been eating and living under a philosophy that has been manipulated and later discredited.

I think the ol' "stop shoveling food into your mouth" is a nice catchy phase that the Sean Hannity's of the world can sing to, but can you honestly say that being given poor information and acting on it is actually your own fault. There's a point when 'educating yourself' becomes impractical unless you yourself have access to a lab, research and several hundred volunteers for a study.

Think about it. How much of what you know on any subject actually came from first hand experience and how much of it came because you 'educated yourself' through reading, listening, and discuss the only information that you had available to you?

wewon

I've got nothing against personal responsibility, but I do see something wrong with blaming someone who is set up to fail for failing. There are so many factors working against people making healthful choices or even having the ability to follow through on those decisions. It's easy to get all high and mighty about people "refusing to take responsibility" but it is not nearly that simple an issue and it does not do anything positive for anyone to pretend that it is.

100% agree.

And for the record, people are throwing around the phrase, "educate yourselves" which is fine, but in my opinion, educating yourself goes beyond googling PF Changes nutritional value of their stir fried rice. Its having the basic understanding of what various nutrients do for your body and why.

The lack of education isn't limited to the 300lb guy that didn't know that pizza was bad, it extends to the 160 runner with high cholesterol that spent his entire life hearing the mantra 'fat is bad and will kill you'.

How many people here know the different types of fats and what they do for your body?

What makes a "bad" fat bad and what makes a "good" fat good?

How many here know that what the latest research on coconut oil is and how its changed over the last 10 years?

If you can't decisively answer those then you are barely one step ahead the guy eating a bag of doughnuts for breakfast.

CynthiasChoice

I'm curious, to the people that lay 100% of the responsibility on the consumer,

Since being on MFP or otherwise doing your journey to a healthier you, have you learned anything new about nutrition that you were unaware of or totally misinformed about?

Personally, there are a lot of things that I've learned that only a few years ago I thought was very healthy, such as drinking fruit juice. I know better now, but I was taught that juice was good for me by my parents, teachers and everyone else in authority.

I imagine that a lot of overweight people fall into that catagory versus the 'lay on the couch eating cheetos' camp.

that's on you, me and the rest, too. we choose what to eat just as we choose how much we decide to educate ourselves about our choices. want to blindly follow and assume? fine. don't be mad if you don't get the results you were wanting or expecting. want to find out more ... to make sure your choices are, indeed, good for you? probably a better way to go.

but, again, no one wants to take responsibility for anything. everything that happens has got to be the fault of someone else.

Okay, so lets move away from the extreme of the guy laying on the couch eating cheetos. We know he's a slob, I think that we can agree there.

I'm speaking more of the people in the middle of the bell curve. The ones that think that they're eating healthy who have educated themselves on poor data like the Lipid hypothesis.

There is an entire generation of people out there that have been eating and living under a philosophy that has been manipulated and later discredited.

I think the ol' "stop shoveling food into your mouth" is a nice catchy phase that the Sean Hannity's of the world can sing to, but can you honestly say that being given poor information and acting on it is actually your own fault. There's a point when 'educating yourself' becomes impractical unless you yourself have access to a lab, research and several hundred volunteers for a study.

Think about it. How much of what you know on any subject actually came from first hand experience and how much of it came because you 'educated yourself' through reading, listening, and discuss the only information that you had available to you?

There's a lot of truth in what you say. My mother is a good example. She passed away 7 years ago after managing type 1 diabetes for 52 years. She was extremely careful with her diet, and did nearly everything the experts told her. As she aged, though, she didn't keep up with the new advances in nutrition science, and clung to things that expert told her years before - like margerine is better for you than butter, and diet colas don't affect blood sugar. It can be very hard to accept the new science, when the old was presented as if it were gospel truth. The longer you live, the more you hear contradictions: coffee is good for you, coffee is bad, coffee is good, bad, good, bad. Is it really educating yourself to listen to the experts duke it out?

What I've finally concluded is that eating a diet of mostly whole plant foods and minimal animal products seems like what nature intended. In a few hundred years, maybe science will catch up to what our great grandparents naturally knew.