Too Much Of A Good Thing

Gluttony can be defined as greedy or excessive indulgence. This term is the main concern of Greg Critser's article, "Too Much of a Good Thing." Many children faced with obesity today are labeled gluttonous. According to Critser, the epidemic of childhood obesity will come to a halt once parents enforce portion control and teach their children healthy eating habits.

Obesity affects children all over the world, however, in the U.S. 25% of children younger then 19 years old top the scales at increasingly unhealthy weights (485). Critser suggests that parents everywhere have been misinformed about what and what not to feed their children, causing unnecessary growth in childhood obesity. In the past, parents allowed for children to monitor their food intake. This dietary method was stress free for adults and allowed kids freedom to eat what they enjoyed. Portion control was shunned by experts, who claimed that in the future this would cause children to eat unhealthily. Later, references proved this nutritious myth to be untrue. Desperate measures are called for when pertaining to adolescent eating habits.

Stigmatizing gluttony, although seemingly harsh, is more beneficial to an individual then the alternative. By recognizing poor eating habits, piers of the obese can help them reach their full potential. Critser claims, "In both the campaign against unsafe sex and the campaign against smoking, stigmatizing such behaviors proved highly effective in reducing risk and harm," (485). Discouraging overeating should not be confused with mocking an obese individual or their lifestyle.

Young children are in fact, able to use portion control when it comes to meal sizes. Studies have proven that children, age five and older, eat anything served to them. Specifically, Pennsylvania State University concluded that oversized portions induce exaggerated eating in youngsters (486). When taught early on the importance of healthy eating, kids benefited from the knowledge, becoming less