America offers a culturally diverse diet. With restaurants serving Chinese, Italian and Mexican dishes to fast food chains such as McDonald's, Panda Express and Taco Bell. This is just a small example of the wide selection of restaurants, stores, and fast food chains that the average American may encounter every day, and these choices are freely available in most cities, states, and some street corners. With this kind of freedom to enjoy a diverse diet, it's no secret that America loves fast food because it's cheap, quick, and easily accessible. Fast food fits easily into the busy lives people lead every day and fast food now makes up "eleven percent" (FFS) of the average American diet and "forty-four percent" (FFS) reported having ate fast food at least once. per week. These high-calorie meals contribute to the increase in obesity among adults, adolescents and children. The CDC states that "more than one-third of American adults (or thirty-five and a half percent) are obese" and that "about seventeen percent (or twelve and a half million) of children and adolescents aged two at nineteen are obese.” obese”, these shocking statistics have caused many people to rethink their daily diet. The news has even reported countries like New York attempting to impose a high "sugar tax", also known as a "fat tax", to combat the growing obesity epidemic in limiting the sugar consumption of New York consumers. The fat tax heavily taxes those who choose to consume sugary drinks, sweets, and other unhealthy products, with the potential for government intervention to remove, limit, or even tax the places where these “unhealthy foods” are consumed. Even with obesity on the rise, should government have a say in the United States...... middle of paper ...... if the freedom to make important and personal decisions is taken away, history indicates that there is a possibility of obesity epidemic becoming even more out of control. This is why, as a free country, the public cannot support the government deciding to control the important individual choices that are made every day, even if they are not the healthiest. The best way to fight obesity is to equip the public with the best possible weapon. Arm them with the weapon of knowledge, so that instead of controlling what consumers buy, give them the knowledge to consume more intelligently. There is an old saying "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." The government could replace all McDonald's with a My Fit Foods, but would that really make the public prefer an apple over a hamburger. As a country, we the people should accept nothing less than freedom.