Paije Willis

English 1000
Dr. Anthony
Nov 5,2016
McDonalds Obesity
Everyone is familiar with the golden arches and the food that involved with it.
McDonalds is not just a local restaurant, its global. McDonalds is one of the most popular
restaurants in the world. They provide a variety of food choices but the problem is the nutrition
of the food. Some may say McDonalds is one of the unhealthiest restaurants while others may
argue that its not. The debate about obesity and McDonalds go hand and hand. In the article
Reframing the Obesity Debate: McDonalds Role May Surprise You by Catherine Adams, the
author is explaining what makes McDonalds healthy and how McDonalds doesnt contribute to
obesity. In the article Food Industry Promises to Address Childhood Obesity by Alexandra
Lewin, Lauren Lindstrom, and Marion Nestle is about the health factors of McDonalds and how
it does contribute to obesity. In my view, McDonalds is popular but its not healthy and it does
contribute to obesity.
In the article Reframing the Obesity Debate, Adam is conveying the message that
McDonalds is healthy. The food McDonalds serves provide essential dietary nutrients, and the
truth is, it tastes good (Pg. 155). Adam feels that McDonalds doesnt contribute to obesity
because its all about choices. Customers tell us that they want choice and variety and we have
responded by adding more choices and variety to our menu than ever before (Pg. 154). Adam
feels that since McDonalds does have healthy options, that people that choose to eat hamburgers,
fries, and chicken are choosing to be unhealthy. Also, Adam is telling the reader that if you are

active and exercise then it shouldnt matter what you eat. We bring this concept to life in a brief
and personally engaging message-Its what I eat and what I do(pg.157). I feel McDonalds
does have healthy choices but a lot of it is still high in calories which still makes it unhealthy.
McDonalds is still a fast food restaurant regardless of the little healthy choices they serve.
In the article Food Industry Promises to Address Childhood Obesity, the authors talk
about how McDonalds said they will improve things on their menu to stop the progression of
obesity but they havent lived up to this promise. They did keep some promises like remove
Supersize portions and introduce healthier food options(Pg.330). McDonalds did not make
promises to reduce calories or sugars in their products. This is significant because them not
reducing calories or sugars in their products support Adams reasoning on why McDonald
contributes to obesity.
Both articles discuss McDonalds menu choices. In the article Reframing the Obesity
Debate, Adam says I wonder if anyone believed that McDonalds would one day serve more
salads than anyone else in the world or that McDonalds would be the number one buyer of
apples in the United States or that McDonalds would serve more than 3.7 billion servings of
fruit and vegetables in just one year(pg.154). Adam is saying that McDonalds does have
healthy menu options other than the hamburgers and chickens they sell. But in the article Food
Industry promises to Address Childhood Obesity, the authors mention that McDonalds prices
healthier items higher than other items and Uses Dollar menu mostly to sell less healthful
food(pg.332). People will most likely lean towards the unhealthy meal choices than the healthy
meal choices because they are cheaper. Of course, if a hamburger is a dollar and a salad is six
dollars, youre going to buy that burger. Although its not healthy, people will look for whatever

causes them to spend the least amount of money. By McDonalds doing this, they are forcing
people to choose the unhealthy meal because its less money.
These articles both discuss the foods served at McDonalds. Another statement that was
said in the article Reframing the Obesity Debate is McDonalds has always served safe and
high quality food (pg.154). But in the article Food Industry Promises to Address Childhood
Obesity, the authors said McDonalds continues to use trans-fat in frying oils and new
chicken sandwiches high in calories, fat and sodium(pg.332). This doesnt sound safe to me.
Trans fat foods can lead to clogged arteries. Since McDonalds are cooking food with this
unhealthy substance, they are putting customers at risk for health issues. Also, food thats high in
calories, fat, and sodium can lead to many issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, and weight
gain which all can lead to obesity.
In the article Reframing the Obesity Debate Adam mentions the purpose of a Happy
Meal. Our happy meals were originally designed to provide portion sizes suitable for young
children (Pg.156). Even though, in article Food Industry Promises to Address Childhood
Obesity, the authors say McDonalds created Might Kids Meals (a supersized version of happy
meal)(pg.332). McDonalds is contradicting the idea of a happy meal by making a supersized
version of an happy meal since the plan was to provide a good portion sizes. It is encouraging
children to eat more because of the up size of this product. These mighty meals contain much
more calories and food than a regular happy meal so, it increases the chance of obesity for young
children.
Another topic that both the articles discuss is the information that appears on McDonalds
packaging. In the article Reframing from the Obesity Debate, Adam talks about how they
began printing nutrition information (pg.156) on their packaging. In addition to printing

Nutrition Information, McDonalds began printing other things on packaging also. The article
Food Industry Promises to Address Childhood Obesity mentions that McDonalds also
Advertises codes found on Big Macs, Large Fries, and Large Drinks for a chance to win
prizes(pg.332). So even though McDonalds is printing this information about nutrition so
customers can know what their putting in their bodies, they are still making it tempting to
purchase unhealthy foods because they offer prizes. Who doesnt like free prizes?
McDonalds may try to convince people that their food is healthy but if you consider
looking at all the information about the food, you will find that the food is damaging. Yes, they
have healthy things but what good is it if its more expensive than everything else. They
encourage people to eat their food thats full of calories and fat. They also provide a form of
bribes by attaching prize offerings on unhealthy food. Overall, McDonalds or any fast food
restaurant is not good for your health. You should think about what youre doing to your body
before purchasing a meal from McDonalds.

Work Cited

Adams, Catherine. Reframing the obesity debate: McDonalds Role May Surprise You.
Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics. Spring 2007. Pp. 154-157.
Lewin, Alexandra. Lindstrom, Lauren. Nestle, Marion. Food Industry Promises to Address
Childhood Obesity: Preliminary Evaluation. Journal of Public Health Policy. Vol.27. Issue 4.
2006. Pp. 330-333

Reflection
I feel like this was one of the hardest papers I had to write in this class because it was a
lot of information for me to intake and write about. I began my writing process by reading each
article and determining their arguments. Once I realized that the article was completely opposite
from one another, I got the idea that I could talk about the differences between the articles. I feel
like my essay turned out good because I explained my position clearly. I made sure my readers
would know my side and the position Im arguing. This essay also taught me things about
McDonalds that I never knew that was quite shocking. I feel that this is an interesting essay to
read and it will inform the readers on things.