Summary of Zinczenko's argument on personal responsibility and eating habits

¶ … Blame the Eater

Zinczenko (2002) discusses the challenges of the pervasive fast food industry. He begins with a personal story of his own childhood and how he gained a considerable amount of weight, as a child of single parents often left to fend for himself at fast food restaurants. He cites statistics that show an increase in Type 2 diabetes related to obesity. Where diabetes in 1969 was the cause of $2.6 billion in health care costs, by 2002, that number had skyrocketed to $100 billion.

Even supposedly "healthy" choices, Zinczenko (2002) argues, aren't healthy. One fast food establishment offers a 150-calorie chicken salad. However, the almonds and noodles that are listed separately are another 190 calories. Still a healthy choice, until you include the 700 calories in the dressing packet that comes with the salad. Add a super-size soda and the lunch comes to more than half the recommended daily calorie intake. However, Zinczenko fails to recognize the truly healthy options people looking for quick-service have, all at a reasonable price for which fast food restaurants are known.

Today there are numerous fast food options for children, teens and busy adults. Subway is one of the leading fast food restaurants that offer healthy, low-calorie options for diners. They offer seven salads, eight six-inch sub-sandwiches, one flatbread sandwich, and four mini subs all under six grams of fat and all under 350 calories. Even the high calorie salad Zinczenko (2002) can be a healthy meal alternative, if the diner uses some discretion with their eating. Simply using the correct portion size of the dressing provided eliminates 420 calories from the meal. Replace the sugar Coke with a bottle of water or a Diet Coke and the meal becomes a healthy, low-calorie, and low-fat alternative.

Zinczenko (2002) fails to recognize the personal responsibility diners have to take not only for their nutritional choices but also their nutritional education. Most people understand that greasy fast food hamburgers are fat laden, high calorie, poor nutritional choices. Most people understand that soda is a high-calorie, sugary unhealthy drink choice. Using this basic knowledge, coupled with a little investigation in the company's posted nutritional information, diners can find a wide variety of fast food choices that are low calorie and healthier options than the traditional fast food fare.

Don't Blame the Eater

Zinczenko (2002) highlights the plight of American eaters who often turn to fast food options, without understanding the truly unhealthy choices they're making. This distressing situation is not only described by Zinczenko's own personal experience with weight gain as a kid, but also with the disturbing statistics that reveal a negative health trend in America. The incidence of childhood Type 2 diabetes is becoming more and more related to obesity. In today's increasingly busy world, fast food dining is option a 'go to' meal for many diners, because not only is it quick and easy, but it's also relatively inexpensive.

Not only are these fast food restaurants filled with high-calorie menu choices, but they also disguise high-calorie choices as healthy options. Zinczenko (2002) gives an example of how a seemingly healthy choice, like a chicken salad, is actually more than half of a person's daily calorie intake that's recommended. Although the salad starts off at 150 calories, by the time the almonds and noodles are added, the salad reaches 340 calories. Although this is still a healthy option, when diners add the dressing packet that's included with the salad, the 'healthy' salad skyrockets to 1,040 calories.

Not only do diners have little to no healthy dining options at fast food establishments, but the lack of nutritional information available means diners are making uninformed dining choices. Zinczenko (2002) notes that prepared foods don't require the same nutritional labeling as packaged foods. Although nutritional information is often found on company websites, or available upon request, Zinczenko surmises that this information is sometimes difficult to read. With the given example of the chicken salad, the almonds and noodles are labeled separately, which may lead some diners to think the 150 calories includes these high calorie add-ons. In addition, the dressing is labeled as having 280 calories. However, the dressing packet, that many would assume is for the one salad it's served with, actually contains two and a half servings, making it a full 700 calories alone. This misleading nutritional labeling, plus the lack of labeling on prepared food has contributed to the increasing obesity rates and the associated diseases.