Is Fast Food the Next Big Tobacco? Clint A Wilson. Huntington University             Author Note Clint A. Wilson, Huntington University Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Clint Wilson, Contact: clint@clintawilson.com Abstract The goal of this short essay is to attempt to show both sides of the argument that suggests Fast Food is the next big tobacco. In the end you will be able to understand the core arguments from both sides, along with my feelings on the subject. Then you can draw your own conclusion.   In the David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater” (Graff, Birkenstein, & Zinczenko), he draws direct correlations to the eating of fast food to the increased rate of diabetes. This theory is supported in an online article written by Kris Gunnars titled “Big Food is Much Worse Than Big Tobacco Ever Was” (Gunner, 2016). Gunnars goes on to include metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer’s and heart disease. Gunnars states “The cost of chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and unknown in non-industrial cultures, now amounts to over 75% of health care expenditures” (Gunner, 2016). A stunning statistic when you consider the amount of cancers, and other diseases that are treated every day. There is more than just health related problems, it is just the top of the iceberg. Just like big tobacco has done in the past, fast food “direct their marketing aggressively towards innocent children” (Gunner, 2016) These large corporations know the health risk associated with long term use of their products, but they do not care. They only see the bottom line, and that bottom line only gets better when kids are targeted. Just as in a drug dealer, they get the kids addicted at an early age and the addiction only gets stronger as they grow. Wait, fast food is not addictive like tobacco.  According to Gunnar “These foods are also engineered to be hyper rewarding to the brain, which makes them highly addictive” (Gunner, 2016). It is my opinion that these types of tactics make the fast food industry a bunch of predators. In another essay entitled “Fast Food is the Enemy” contains some startling statistics that ”since 1970, the amount of fast food restaurants in business doubled, which equates to about 300,000 establishments in the United States. Coincidentally, 33.8 percent of the U.S. population is affected by obesity and 19 percent of children and adolescents are also affected. Could there be a link between fast food and obesity?” (Muntel, n.d.) However, the article argues that our current environment may be the root cause of the epidemic of eating fast food more than in the past. Several decades ago, there was no box meals, all meals had to be planned ahead every day. Also back in this time obesity rates were much less than currently.  Most Americans are overscheduled and overcommitted. They run from activity to activity and do not make time to plan or prepare meals. So this argument seems to suggest that the cause of obesity and the health concerns associated with obesity are not directly related to fast food, but due to the way we are currently structuring our lives and not planning our meals properly. I find myself looking at this problem from both viewpoints. On one hand the fast food companies are actively targeting the kids of the world. Fast food companies make it very easy to get fed, as well as cheap. The problem is we as Americans tend to want to put the blame on everyone else and never take responsibilities for our own actions. This is the case in so many things in our society, from the simple things such as getting bad grades. I hear parents say, well the teacher doesn’t teach or this or that. To the complex such as gun violence, no matter what the case no one wants to take responsibility for their own actions. Fast food chains are only providing to the masses what they are wanting. Until society changes and takes responsibility then and only then will the fast food industry change its ways. There is some responsibility on the fast food industry, but they are no different from any other industry in this world. You see it every day on tv commercials. Pharmaceuticals being the worst in my opinion, but every corporation markets their products in a way that makes it the most appealing. I work daily with youth that have substance abuse addictions from marijuana to methamphetamine. When these kids come into the program they have zero responsibility for their actions and addiction, it is always someone else. This is the denial stage, soon though they realize they have to take responsibility and it is up to them to kick the addiction with our help. Fast food is no different from this, just a different type of addiction. In summary, yes, there are addictive qualities in most fast foods, but it is still our responsibility to avoid the food and have control over our intake. Yes, fast food markets to kids, but we as adults are the ones who are purchasing the foods for our kids. Yes, fast food is to contribute to the obesity epidemic in the US, but we are the ones that substitute a healthy meal for convenience and do not get any exercise anymore.     Bibliography Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., & Zinczenko, D. (n.d.). "They say / I say": the Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. Gunner, K. (2016, July 25). Big Food is Much Worse Than Big Tobacco Ever Was. Retrieved from Authority Nutrition: https://authoritynutrition.com/big-food-is-much-worse-than-big-tobacco/ Muntel, S. (n.d.). Fast Food – Is it the Enemy? Retrieved from Obesity Action Coalition: http://www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/nutrition/fast-food-is-it-the-enemy