Is Fast food the new tobacco ? should the obesity issue be government regulated or remain personal responsibility

    When thinking about the question "is fast food the new tobacco?", it gets harder and harder for me to say no to that question. To some extent, fast food has indeed become the new tobacco. It is now advertised everywhere we go, at home on out TVs, we see ads on billboards, ads on youtube etc, just the same way tobacco is advertised. These two products are also similar to each other as both have long term health hazards. Cigarettes and nicotine can cause cancer and consuming a lot of fast food results in health hazards like obesity, heart disease etc. When cigarettes first started to be advertised, they had no warnings about how it caused cancer or other health hazards, it was after the damage had been done that these companies decided to put warning labels. 

    Many fast food companies today advertise their products without telling us the health hazards in them, of course they don't want to lose their customers. In the article "don't blame the eater", the author complains about a lack of alternatives for kids when it comes to eating. He said "drive down any thoroughfare in America, and i guarantee you'll see one of our country's more than 13,000 McDonalds restaurants. Now drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit". Most parents nowadays work full-time and don't really have the time to cook for their kids, so their only options are to get food from outside (usually fast food) or maybe eat at a friends house. Fast food has become the best option for them because it looks good, tastes good and of course it's cheap and very affordable. 

    I believe it is very important for fast food companies to provide the health information about their products, that way people know what they're getting into. In the article "Don't Blame the Eater" the author states “Fast-food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health haz­ards and no warning labels.” He then says “They would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need to make informed choices about their products.”. This to me is where the government should get involved in. They should require fast food companies to provide the necessary information in order for people to decide for themselves whether or not to consume their products. But sadly i don't think that would be the case because in some ways the government is profiting from their sales. 

    Should the obesity issue be government regulated or remain a personal responsibility? The government cannot tell we the citizens what to eat and what not to eat. I don't believe they can even do it if they tried. It will forever remain a personal responsibility to eat healthy, but the government can help with eating healthy without having to regulate fast food and whatnot. In the article "What you eat is your business" the author states "Instead of manipu­lating or intervening in the array of food options available to American consumers, our government ought to be working to foster a sense of responsibility in and ownership of our own health and well-being". The government should encourage a healthy lifestyle to the public by advertising it and making schools give kids healthier meals. 

    In some ways the government is responsible for unhealthy eating habits. The government pays the insurance for some people so they don't care what they eat, they eat whatever they want and if they get sick they don't pay any money. Maybe if they had to pay their medical bills themselves, they would think twice about their health.