Essay On Fast Food

718 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of advertising on consumer behaviour

In 2002 two girls sued McDonalds because they claimed that it was making them fat. Many people in America blame the fast food industry for making them fat. Nutritional information is available for most fast food restaurants and one is forced to eat there. Even though the food is unhealthy, the fast food industry should not be held responsible for obesity in the United States. Many Americans have busy lives and do not have time to cook for themselves, so eating out seems to be easier and more convenient. It is often said that eating out is less expensive than cooking a meal at home (Muntel 1). People buy fast food to get food fast (Ervin 1). Fast food restaurants are located virtually everywhere making it an easy option. Fast food is cheap, and usually a person can get a great deal for just a dollar. Many people treat themselves to a fast food dessert, because it is easy and usually tastes better than making it at home, but it is also more unhealthy (Muntel 1). Many children want to get a fatty kids meal so they can get a toy. Some kids crave a high calorie kids meal, because their favorite games online are owned by the fast food chain that sells them (Phillips 3). In the United States over one-third of adults are obese (Ervin 1). People aged 20-39 eat the most fast food (5). 84% of parents take their children to eat fast food weekly. Every week 40% of children ask their parents to take them to a fast food restaurant (Tracy 2). Research suggests that fast food is consumed five times more than in 1970 (Holguin 1). People who weigh more eat the most fast food (Ervin 4). About 15% of children in the United states are obese (2). In the United States one-third of people aged 4-19 eat fast food daily (1). Older people tend to eat out l... ... middle of paper ... ... their food healthier. The fast food industry decides what they put on their menu, but they do not decide what their customers choose to eat (7). Whoever chooses what a customer eats is responsible for the weight gained from that meal (1). Many large fast food chains are determined to help fight obesity in children (Tracy 1). Food has not been proven to be addictive (Phillips 5). When eating out, eliminate sauces, avoid fries, consume low calorie drink, choose grilled, and limit portions (Muntel 2). The fast food food industry is not responsible for obesity in America. They are not responsible for what is consumed, therefore they should not be responsible for weight gained from meals. The people of America need to realize that they they are the cause of their own weight gain, and need to take responsibility for their own actions and not blame the fast food industry.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Fast Food And Obesity

    2105 Words  | 5 Pages

    The American diet has changed dramatically in the past couple centuries and so has the restaurant industry. The result of this change in Americans actions and diets is a rising obesity rate among children. In the 1970s, the childhood obesity rate was five percent of children (2-19 years old). The obesity rates doubled in the 1980s and by 2008 16.9% of children were obese (Grossklavs and Marvlesin). The percentage of obese children has more than tripled in the last 40 years. The growing epidemic is dangerous and alarming. There are many factors that contribute to the dramatic rise of obesity children. As obesity has grown, so has the fast food industry. “Between 1977 and 1995, the percentage of meals and snacks eaten at fast food restaurants doubled,” (...

    Read More

  • Obesity In Don T Blame The Eater By David Zinczenko

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. Everywhere you turn you can see a fast food restaurant. An industry that modestly began with very few hot dog and hamburger vendors now has become a multi-international industry selling its products to paying customers. Fast food can be found anywhere imaginable. Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive-through, at stadiums, airports, schools all over the nation. Surprisingly fast food can even be found at hospital cafeterias. In the past, people in the United States used to eat healthier and prepared food with their families. Today, many young people prefer to eat fast food such as high fat hamburgers, French-fries, fried chicken, or pizza in fast

    Read More

  • Morgan Spurlock?s Super Size Me

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    The obesity problem in this country has gotten worse, a lot worse, and the surge in obesity can be tied directly to fast food. I was appalled by the fact that since 1980 the number of people either fat of obese has doubled, and in that time frame there are twice as many overweight children and three times as many overweight adolescents. Looking strictly at the numbers, it is very easy to find a direct correlation between the number of overweight or obese individuals and the number of fast food establishments. However these fast food outlets are not created in a vacuum, they are servicing a demand. Each day one in four Americans visits a fast food restaurant. Our culture has evolved to one of immediate gratification, we want it convenient, and we want it now. The fast food industry has simply seized that cultural demand and has taken advantage of it all the way to the bank. I think we have a cultural weakness that looks for someone to blame for our problems and McDonalds certainly makes a nice target.

    Read More

  • Fast Food Industry: Culprit or Scapegoat?

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fast foods have been around for a long time. Each day, more a more people turn to it for a quick meal, whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner. As fast foods begin to progress and expand throughout the world, people, especially in the United States, have started to blame fast foods for their obesity and/or health problems. But is it really the fast food companies ' fault or the customers who consume their food? David Zinczenko wrote “Don’t Blame the Eater”, which states that fast food companies should be held responsible for giving all these people unhealthy food with them not really knowing what they are eating. I absolutely agree with this article, because these companies drag customers in by making the food fast, cheap, and a mystery. Fast food restaurants should be held accountable for

    Read More

  • Satire About Obesity

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    Obesity is an epidemic in America. Fast food can be compared to the same type of mindless addiction as cigarettes, and can be equally as dangerous. Not only is there a problem with fast food restaurants, but the food industry as a whole. Slaughterhouses that control 80% of the market produce meat in such a way that is not healthy for consumption, in turn the products are doused in harmful chemicals and still served to the public. No wonder the obesity rate in America is 69% and rising. Obesity is a true problem in our country- people are neglecting their health and quite literally eating themselves to death.

    Read More

  • The Cause of Obesity in the United States

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eating habits have become a cause of obesity because most people in America decide to take the fast route. Fast food has become so prevalent in the day to day lives of so many families and individuals. The cost and convenience of fast food has led to an increase in consumption, which does not help our cause. According to Carey Polis’ article in The Huffington Post, fast food is about $550 cheaper per year than choosing the healthy option. That means people are more likely to choose a cheeseburger from McDonald’s over fresh fruit and vegetables from the produce section at the grocery store. Along with how cheap it is to get our hands on fast food, the convenience makes it even more difficult to resist. With a fast food restaurant on every corner of every block in town, it makes it much easier for someone to pick up on a meal on their daily commute rather than actually trying to cook something healthy. Choosing fast food is not the most nutritious way to go either. Fast food is filled with sugar, fats, salts, and calories. It is usually low in nutrition and high in what are considered to be “empty” calories. By definition obesity is caused by the excess in...

    Read More

  • Fast Food Chains Have Brainwashed Children and Parents

    1990 Words  | 4 Pages

    in three of [American children] eat fast food every single day!” (109). Evidently, the fast food

    Read More

  • Anna Mae Obesity In America

    1838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Obesity is a largely spread issue throughout America. Did you know that 35.7% of Americans are considered to be obese? Not only that, but 1 in 20 are considered to be extremely obese (The State of Obesity). These seem to be some pretty high numbers, and in many peoples lives the label of “overweight” or “obese” can cause many other issues throughout their life. Just as Anna Mae is addicted to McDonalds in the play “French Fries”, many Americans have addictions to things such as fast food chains. Are restaurants, such as McDonalds to blame for issues such as obesity in Americans? Many would argue yes.

    Read More

  • Fast Food Restaurants and the Decline of American's Health

    1943 Words  | 4 Pages

    One out of every three Americans is obese, and the majority of these obese people in the United States have eaten regularly at fast food restaurants. As the obesity rate increases, the number of fast food restaurants goes up as well. Although it is not certain, many believe that obesity in the United States is correlated to eating fast food. Since the United States has the highest obesity rate out of any country, it is important for Americans to monitor the fast food industry that may be causing obesity. With the pressure to get things done in a timely manner, fast food has become a big necessity.

    Read More

  • Who Is The Blame For Obesity?

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    Put that burger down? Obesity is a public epidemic because it is rising by the day. Some people are so quick to blame the fast food industry like McDonalds, Burger King, and other firms claiming that these industry aide in creating a society in which it is encouraged to eat unhealthy food. So who really is to blame? While we are busy pointing our sticky finger at restaurants, grocery stores, farmers, or government policies, we need to focus on our individual self as the main cause of this increasing epidemic.

    Read More

  • Obesity: Fat People Lack Self-Control

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...but that does not prove that fast food franchises are the culprit. I believe the people are to blame for their own obesity. A single person can single out themselves to buy the food from a restaurant knowing the proper nutrition will not be in the food. It all comes down to common knowledge and self control. Many Americans lack both of these and it has resulted in a obesity epidemic.

    Read More

  • The Epidemic Of Fast Food

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    In psychological studies, “Researchers believe that the same brain mechanisms that cause people to become addicted… are responsible for the compulsion many people feel to binge on high-calorie, high-fat foods” (Scripps 1). Binge eating comfort food has been the go-to source for some people wanting to relive stress or cope after an emotional event or a social fight. Doing this for a long period of time can lead to addiction to high-calorie intake episodes. Consumers can eat fast food without being unhealthy, the main key is self-control. Consumers who have thrown control out the window or simply don't care are under threat, “Because of its heavy reliance on products that are high in sugar, fat, and calories, the fast food industry is a major force behind skyrocketing health problems and obesity in humans”(Tyre 1). Companies have denied that they are the underlying cause of obesity, as said before, they blame consumers inability to control themselves, “Fast-food makers call the obesity lawsuits "absurd," and the junk-food industry is battling any efforts to curb its sales”(Thompson 1). Fast food chains will do anything to keep the profit rolling in. Blaming consumers self-control isn't an answer since high-calorie foods are becoming the newest addiction in America. Fast food chains are responsible for the calories that are in their meals and every

    Read More

  • Is Fast Food to Blame for Obesity?

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is fast food to blame for the growing obesity in America? Obesity affects more than half of the population. With so many Americans gaining weight and so many health problems the matter has to be addressed. There is no one would argue that obesity, especially the children is considered a problem. In any case the cause of childhood obesity is fought about daily. Many people will say that fast food restaurants are to blame. In my research, I will explain the argument that who is to blame for the obesity in America: fast food restaurants or common laziness from the obese society.

    Read More

  • Fast Food Companies Are NOT Responsible For Obesity

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today, many people eat fast food instead of home made food. The reason is that fast food is fast, cheap and convenient. However, at the same time, fast food is contributing to a big social problem in the U.S., which is obesity, and recently some people are beginning to sue the fast food companies for causing their obesity. Should the fast food companies have responsibility for American's obesity? My answer for this argument is "No". I think that whether people eat fast food or not is an individual choice. There are many people who eat fast food, but aren't obese. They may do some exercises for burning calories, or try not to eat fast food as much as they can, caring for their health. Moreover, some fast food companies serve relatively healthy foods, such as Baja Fresh, Subway and so on. Even though people don't have enough money or time to eat except for fast food, they can choose those fast food shops. Therefore, the responsibility of obesity should be taken by obese people, though fast food companies should also take actions to decrease the number of these people by showing their food's calories, serving healthy food, and giving more choices.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Caffeine And Fast Food

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gender, age and income are all factors that impact fast food consumption. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in 2010, More than 2 in 3 adults were considered to be overweight or obese, which can be connected with fast food being in Americans diets. About one-third of children and adolescents

    Read More

More about Essay On Fast Food

Open Document