Essay on Greg Cristers quot;Too Much of a Good Thingquot;

Critique of Greg Cristers Too much of a Good Thing Greg Crister, the author of the op-ed essay that was featured in the Los Angeles Times, Too Much of a Good Thing, argues that in order to stop obesity, we should stigmatize overeating. Crister states that we should place shame on overeating due to the rising obesity epidemic that faces the world today. The U.N. proclaims that obesity is a dominant unmet global health issue, with Westernized countries topping the list. Crister states that twenty five percent of all Americans under the age of nineteen are either obese or overweight. Children are becoming more obese, and more out of hand with their weight, and something needs to be done to try and solve the obesity epidemic. In†¦show more content†¦Research has been conducted in four randomized experiments that children who were on a supervised low-saturated-fat and low-cholesterol diet showed no significant negative influence in their growth during the first three years of their life. This implies that children can be pla ced on a diet, without stunting growth. Crister also writes that parents are the leaders of the much strained American families; however, he clearly emphasizes that he does not want to blame parents for childhood obesity. He states that it is not necessarily the parents fault for the lack of dietary restriction, but that parents are convinced of the generalization that confronting children about unhealthy eating will only create tension and therefore increase the likelihood of disastrous eating behaviors. The purpose of Cristers essay is to stigmatize the activity of overeating, but not to stigmatize the person or people. Crister, in turn, blames the media for a large part of the countrys obesity problem. Crister states that todays bounty of cheap unhealthy food gives inconvenience in healthy food decisions. Crister believes that children should be supervised by adults when eating meals, and all portions should be moderate, with `seconds a rare treat. Lastly, Crister states that eating too much food is a bad thing and that stigmatizing overeating can only help our obese country. Crister