Proposal Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposal Argument - Essay Example Indeed, such a twist of events has already been witnessed in Ohio in 2011 when a boy weighing two hundred pounds was taken away from his parental care and put in a rehabilitation home. Cleveland Weight authorities claimed the mother of the boy was putting the health of the boy at risk. The crucial question is whether parents should be held responsible for obese children. It is indisputable that the debate underlying the topic pertains to the question of nurture versus nature. Thus, in deciding whether parents should be held responsible for obese children, one should give considerations to the causes of obesity, questioning how large is the role of parents in making children obese. It is worth acknowledging that obesity is largely caused by dieting, among other factors that are informed by poor parental choices such as limited instillation for physical exercises in children lifestyles. Arguably, diet and lack of exercises are the major causes of obesity among children. Of all the abov e-mentioned factors, non-healthy eating is cited as the main cause of obesity, this is accounted for by the following reasons. According to Hellmich (56), people consume food without giving consideration to the number of calories in it. MacDonald’s meals comprise high amounts of calories that could, no doubt, result to obesity. For instance, Big Mac contains as significant as 500 calories, as well as 33 grams fat (Munger 1456). Even intriguing is the fact a large population of people are now consuming these kinds of foodstuffs. According to Hellmich (60), as significant as 80 percent of youths are overlooking the impact calories can have on their health by underestimating the amount of calories in their meals. This trend is attributable to the fact that many people prefer foodstuff with much sugar, fat and salt (Peta 34). During free times, many people would still opt to taking cookies and snacks. Besides that, most people watch television while eating these snacks. This crea tes a worrying situation since watching television fosters overeating. However, those opposed to the fact that parents should be held responsible for obesity of their children have asserted that there are various factors that cause obesity and which parents have no control over. This is particularly in reference to genetics. Indeed, according to Green and Hayakawa (503) genetic characteristics are considered to play an important role in triggering obesity incidences. Characteristics, such as high human appetite and slow rate at which a body carries out metabolic activities, are all determined by genes and as well as can be inherited. Under condition of food sufficiency, these two would work together and result in perfect obese conditions. Individuals found to consist of a gene associated with fat mass are considered more susceptible to obesity risks than those without the gene. Furthermore, obesity is associated with various syndromes, which are linked to genetic variations. These s yndromes include Prader Willi syndrome, Cohen Syndrome, Bardiet-Biedl Syndrome and MOMO syndromes. Of the People who experience obesity in their early ages, especially below ten, about seven percent contained one point of mutations in DNA. Studies have also pointed out that over eighty percent of children born to obese parents risked obesity by about 80 percent (Allison and Hayakawa, 506). Moreover, the hypothesis of the thrifty gene presupposes that