UNIT 3: Ethical Essay

ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES- Ethical Essay

As you are driving down the highway what billboard sign is most common? A picture promoting food such as a gigantic hamburger cooked to perfection; or a picture of an individual swimming in crystal blue water, promoting physical exercise. To me they both so pretty good, but in today's society our marketing focuses on the empty calorie foods most of us do not need. If there were more billboards promoting physical activity such as joggers, bikers, weight lifters, and walkers do you think individuals would be more motivated to exercise? It's a tough question to answer because many individuals in our society are accustom to feeding our bodies with the horrific amounts of sugars and fats, leaving physical activity as a last resort. The following is what I will base my essay off of, many individuals in our society are failing to keep a healthy/productive lifestyle. Unfortunately, obesity continues climbing as individuals dive into the marketing world. Doesn't it make sense to keep physically active to help prevent unnecessary weight gain? Is Marketing a growing problem at influencing many individuals into the good-tasting, high fat, and sugar products? Below is a brief opinionated view of the above questions.

Research has shown that "our environment promotes weight gain and increases obesity rates in the population"(enponline article). The same article explains how our communities play a big part in an individuals lack of exercise. What restaurant or Walgreen's doesn't have a drive through window? This little example shows how our communities are built around individuals who feel they don't need to walk a few extra steps. If drive throughs were taken away, do you really think that would decrease the obesity rate? I would say no because there would be other reasons why someone wouldn't want to walk the extra mile! The empty calorie foods many obese individuals consume are beyond plentiful. If the billboards of foods were taken down, do you think this would help lower obesity rates? Maybe for some individuals, but their habit of eating may be more than seeing a sign along side of the road. These obese individuals need to learn to commit themselves to a physical routine and eliminate the high empty calorie intake. I feel if a person enjoys eating, they most likely will not change their habits even though they know it is unhealthy. This health concern is just like smoking, drinking, and drugs. If the individual is not ready to stop their habit, it usually means they will not even try.

There are many benefits in staying physically active. Within the past few years, many communities have tried different routes at promoting exercise, some have been successful. An article talks about the 'Fun in Seven' which promotes people to stay active. The pyramid above is their goal, to try and do each activity every day. It also states, "Our bodies are made for action" (genesis article). The book also describes the importance of exercise, but all of us are aware of the benefits. Maybe by promoting fun activities our communities provide, rather than the restaurants, would increase individuals moods to be more active. As we are driving down highway 69 and see a billboard for ice skating at the events center, maybe more individuals would try this activity rather than sitting at a movie. How about a billboard near Granite Dells, promoting water activities or hiking? Even though we know these activities around, when we are trying to think of something to do for the evening, many of us think of sedentary activities. Even though we all know exercise promotes a healthier lifestyle, there are individuals that are not inspired by being physically active. How would our society help encourage them to stay active?

Beginning this essay I talked about the different billboard signs along the road side. Marketing tends to be an increasing reason why so many people give into the foods they advertise. The flashing signs grabs an individuals attention, especially if it is at a affordable price. "We are a consumer-driven society" (enponline article). In today's society, companies need to be competitive in order to stay in business. Therefore, many of them try and grab the customers attention by supporting the foods we do not need. Increase consumption of foods will always be a problem in our society because of technology and the options available are unlimited. While reading the first article I found it funny when it talked about finding ways to prevent obesity. One of the ideas was to have restaurants have information stating why a person should choose a healthy alternative. This type of information is too repetitive, I think most people know they should have fresh vegetables rather than french fries. I feel the main reason there are so many individuals ending up with obesity is due to the manufacturers producing the unlimited and endless possibilities of good tasting foods. If there were more healthy foods at a lower cost, maybe there would be less overweight individuals.

In conclusion there are many questions to be answered as to how to help prevent obesity. I personally feel eating is a habit just like smoking, drinking and drugs. In articles I've read, eating could be a pleasure seeking habit. Researchers are also well aware of the manufacturer's need of promoting their product; to grab the consumers attention in order to keep their business alive. The over consumption of high sugar and fat foods will be endless options since technology in today's world is amazing in itself. Finding ways to keep people physically active can be a challenge, especially if an individual has no desire to be active. Many communities are structured for these type. Hopefully obesity will decrease in the future and our society will focus on keeping active rather than the supply us with the endless food possibilities.

works cited:

http://genesis.bch.cuhk.edu.hk/fns/fun-in-seven/english/about_us.htmlwww.enponline.org/docs/2005/7812/7812.html