Arguing+a+position

Meagan Blanchette Arguing a position WRT 104 Portion Distortion

Can you describe the feeling of a full stomach? Restaurants and fast food chains have led us to false assumptions. Americans do not question the servings provided. Consumers do not know one restaurant serving could feed three grown adults. A typical meal plate should be of smaller size. The smaller plate gives the allusion of a plentiful serving. Portion control effects an individual's heart, lungs, and blood pressure. Over the past sixty years our portions have increased tremendously. Unfortunately so has the teen obesity epidemic.

Americans are always trying to extract the most out of a dollar. Does that mean the quality of the food should decrease as well? The local supermarkets goal is to get your business. They disregard that the consumer is being misled by unclearly marked labels. Signs are posted through the newspaper, television advertisements, and word of mouth about the bargains of particular supermarkets. Ten items for a dollar, two items for five. The quality of the food choices are below average. Canned items hold half of the nutritional value in comparison to the fresh product. Americans sacrifice their health to save a few pennies.

Change is a powerful thing when you enter a gas station. Drinks are sixty five cents. Many people take advantage of the thirty two ounce thirst quencher. Consumers choose from Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Fanta, Crush, Dr. Pepper, Pibb XX, and Sprite. Have you ever found yourself racing the truck driver to the machine to get another? The reason is because the drinks contain high fructose corn syrup and five to six table spoons of sugar per serving. Around five hundred calories are consumed per container. Ever so simply through a straw you take in one forth of your daily calories. In reality you should drink eight, eight ounce servings of water per day. About one out of twenty Americans actually drink the suggested serving of water.

Gas Stations, coffee shops, and restaurants can be found within a five mile radius from most homes. Convenience is an unspoken luxury. Americans who compare two coffee shops look for the obvious; The taste, location, and price. A majority never even consider the lack of healthy choices that strike them each time they arrive at the drive-thru window. A Starbucks coffee drink amounts to three hundred and thirty calories. Three hundred calories is also the suggested intake of a meal consumed throughout the day. Twenty years ago the older generation drank an eight ounce cup of coffee with cream and sugar. This amounted to only forty five calories. Many teens can not start their day without the daily brew they get from the drive thru. The coffees resemble the color of cream. Sadly teens do not know how much sugar actually goes into their coffee. People today do not realize the scams that occur outside their doorsteps. They sit back with a cup of coffee and take it all in.



Breakfast in the morning is about grab and go. Innovation is celebrated by mothers everywhere over one hundred calorie packs. These miniature sized packs of junk are eaten by millions every single day. The title attracts consumers. They think, what damage can one hundred calories do? The Oreo's come compacted, the Doritos, crumbs. Each time one four pack of snacks is purchased a consumer pays a two hundred and sixty three percent mark-up. Each day the lunch-aids watch children quickly devour the peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread. The sandwich gets washed down with a juice box. The students save their Oreos for last. The Oreos are covered in a shiny tin vacuum sealed bag. The bag resembles that of a silver pillow. The kids do not eat them. They trade them. In health class the students learn about the food pyramid. The students receive pamphlets and handouts. Once the forms are completed they quickly progress with the lesson plan. Health must start in the home and branch out. I am sure the fifth grader sitting in the desk listening to the teacher ramble on, will retain nothing. Therefore parents should take the course. After all the children do not go grocery shopping or pack their own lunches. Parents let their children buy lunch, due to being unprepared.

Too busy to plan? Today people do not plan weekly meals. Americans procrastinate. Carbohydrates solve any meal. Starches fill you up and are easy to prepare. It's just another meal. The quality of family dinners have rapidly decreased. This leaves everyone to help themselves. A twelve year old is handed a bowl for pasta. Instinctively they fill the bowl. They eat the last bite and ask what's for dessert? Children learn by example. In 2011 the money spent on jingles is ridiculous. They are for mind repetition. Cheap eating can be found nearly everywhere. Children learn to eat according to price over quality.

The quality of life has plummeted due to people who do not participate in leading a healthy life style. They always act dissatisfied. This causes people to react more to stress. They tackle this stress with food. Mindless eating has spread throughout America. Overeaiting is mindless, it involves no thought process. Regardless of your ignorance to the nutrition, your body knows the reality. There are four servings in one pint. Is the ice cream worth sacrificing your favorite jeans? Each day our portions are decided by others. Bagels doubled in size. Burgers have grown. Quite frankly you have two options. You can conform to society or become aware of the harmful effects that overeating creates. Any food can be consumed in moderation, and the key is to know when you are truly full.