Abdoliseisan 1 Parisa Abdoliseisan Professor: Charlotte Howe English 1010 April 26, 2014 Lifes Secret: The Way

of Wholesome Living According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2006, 72 million of United States adults were obese and about 67% of the US population were either overweight or obese (ProCon.org). Many people struggle with high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, gallstones, and infertility that mostly are the result of their inappropriate eating habits (Medical). Therefore, some authors and scholars started to be concerned about this issue. They suggest some useful ways to overcome these problems and also create a healthful life for everyone. Although Judith Warner did not clearly mention her view about eating habits, she pointed out that if we need any changes, we should change our cultural habits too. Otherwise, change will not be accomplished. Judith Warner in Junking Junk Food argues that the government is trying to help people to adjust their eating habits, but she believes that this attempt will be unsuccessful unless they work on cultural change too. She points out, You cant change specific eating behavior without addressing that way of life- without changing our cultural of food (Warner 402). Warner affirms that government should not expect people to change their eating habits without changing their cultural habits. Another example of Warners was food rationing during World War II to show the governments influence to change peoples old habits. People with the governments help rationed their food to show their patriotism towards their nation and soldiers. They did not think about adjusting their diet before, but at that moment, because of their nations

Abdoliseisan 2 need they were able to adjust their habits. In this way, they showed their participation in the war effort. She points out that this population did a good job during World War II in the rationing program, but after the war, they went back to their previous habits. Additionally, Warner cites David Kesslers ideas to show a government program that changed behaviors. She affirms that in the beginning, most smokers thought that smoking was cool and fashionable but after a period of time they realized that quitting or reducing their cigarettes was the only key to stay healthy. They chose their healthy life style by quitting cigarettes on their own, not because of being forced by some companies or someone else. Lastly, she emphasizes her claimchange is not easyby asking us can we make field greens and strawberries as comforting, satisfying, and heartwarmingly American as apple pie? (Warner 404). Warner is telling us that even though changing and replacing our eating behavior is very hard; we can change to the healthiest habits. At the end, she concludes that they were able to put into practice psychological, not cultural change, which does not happen easily. While I agree with Warner that government will only be successful in fighting obesity by changing cultural habits and this change will not be easy, I think she does not go far enough in stressing the importance of change in this area of our lives. Even though I believe that Americans changing habits will not happen immediately, I insist that this action is fundamental to all of our nations health. I agree with Warners WWII rationing example. This instance clearly shows us that if any of us come across specific situations in our life that require our habits to change, many of us may do it if we have this desire to change. This shows us that even though it is hard and may take a long time, it is possible to change our habits.

Abdoliseisan 3 Warner is surely right when she says, It was a shift in culture attitude, not laws or regulations that led Americans to quit smoking (Warner 404). I agree with Warners point, because I believe that everyone likes freedom of choice. My own experience has shown that people will do better and the result will be more successful if we let them make their own choices rather than forcing them to quit their specific habits. It is understood that if we force people to quit their habits they will still continue their action even in secret. As a result, we will see the opposite of what we expected. Clear evidence of this is the uneducated childs reaction toward our demand when we force him or her to not play with knives or scissors. In this step, they will be more curious toward our insistence and they will find a covert place to play with their beloved but dangerous tools. From this example, we realize that we should give them time to explore the tool by themselves instead of forcing what they do, as the example of smokers in Warners shows. Warners example about homeowners who make cookies shows people may want and try to stop their cultural habits, but it will take a very long time to change their previous ways of thinking. Their actions may be the continuation of their parents' or relatives ways. They saw their parents were successful in this way of living, and they think that they will be successful, too. In short, this is a process that is passed down. They probably gave up this attitude because they wanted to be more logical and leave their old relatives superstitious thinking. Moreover, getting more education and learning other useful and beneficial methods for being healthy may be another reason that they change their behavior. Some people may like and prefer to have a healthier life by changing old habits, but as Warner affirms this change is not an easy task. For example, I used to eat my mothers baked goods from the time I was very young. When I am eating them, I feel as if I am in my country

Abdoliseisan 4 and all of them bring my old memories of my family, relatives, and friends. As everyone else, I prefer to live healthier and replace the unhealthy food for the healthiest food in my diet, because I know eating more of these baked goods may bring me some problems such as obesity and heart disease in the future. In reality, ignoring my appetite is really hard, and I can relate Warners claim that changing habits is not an easy task. I believe that this change may not happen overnight, but I will attempt to make it because I am passionate about having a healthier life than when I was young. Warner is right about the difficulty of changing cultural habits; however she failed to mention the significance of these changes. Each one of us should be aware of our eating habits and should take effort to change them to the most wholesome ways of eating. Nowadays, many of us are consuming fried and toasted foods with more calories. Unconsciously, we erased green vegetables, fruits, milk, and even water in our diets. Usually, we are consuming these fast foods with leisure while watching TV, playing games, and having parties, etc. On the other hand, usually we do not set regular activities or exercises to burn our bodys earned calories. As a result, in a few years we will witness many different kinds of diseases caused by our eating choices. Yet some readers may challenge my view by insisting that changing cultural habits is not necessary. For example, in What You Eat Is Your Business, Radley Balko does not think it is necessary to change cultural habits for having a healthful life. Instead, he believes that everyone should have their own responsibility of earning health and that the government or other organizations should stay away from peoples decisions. He says, Instead of manipulating or intervening in the array of food options available to American consumers, our government ought to be working to foster a scene of responsibly in, and ownership of, our own health and well-

Abdoliseisan 5 being (Balko 396). He believes that in this way, they will care about their own health and well being more. If people know that they are supported by someone else such as government, they will not care about the consequences of their eating habits, however if they pay their own expenses they will be more careful of their diets. I disagree with Balkos claim that the government should stay away from peoples lives. I believe that the government can prevent people from many different eating disorders and diseases by regulating the cost and the availability of healthy foods. In my opinion, the major reasons that many people are obese or have eating disorders are because of costs and lack of enough available healthy restaurants. Many people may wish and prefer to eat healthier foods but they cannot afford them, because usually organic and healthy foods are more expensive than fast foods. Not enough healthy restaurants are another reason that many people choose fast foods. Overall, comparing fast foods to healthy foods, fast foods are more convenient and easier to access by many people. On almost every street corner, we see different 24 hour fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys and Subways, etc. In contrast, we do not see healthy restaurants as often as fast foods. So, people who do not have much time to seek for these few healthful places will get frustrated and in desperation will choose any open fast food restaurant with the cheapest prices. In my opinion, government can take multiple actions to help us to make these changes by putting some regulations about how many fast food places can be built, putting labels on the fast foods menus, helping to reduce the price of healthy foods in some ways or even advertising and putting healthy food billboards on the street or in the public places that people can see them easily. This way more people may be convinced to replace their fast unwholesome habits for healthy food.

Abdoliseisan 6 In short, are the 72 million obese people in the United States not enough for our nation to become aware and see the results of our eating choices? Many of us are eating where our appetite leads us without paying attention to the consequences of our decision. Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and heart disease are the most painful and expensive consequences of our choices (Medical). As Warner argues, even though it is not easy, we can change our habits to healthy food. We should replace our unhealthy habits in favor of a healthy life style. While making this change, we should not get discouraged with the gradual process of these changes. Reaching the healthiest American life-style is only achievable if government can convince and encourage us.

Abdoliseisan 7 Works Cited Balko, Radley. "What You Eat Is Your Business." They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. 395-98. Print. "Medical Weight Loss Resources." Top 10 Obesity-Related Diseases The Truth About Being Obese. N.p., 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. ProCon.org. "Obesity ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 5 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. Warner, Judith. "Junking Junk Food." New York Times. 25 Nov. 2010. Print.