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Fast food and childhood obesity
Fast food and childhood obesity
Fast food and childhood obesity
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The Definition Essay: Fast Food and Child Abuse
American families are struggling with problems of child abuse and obesity. These problems are issues for many reasons, but one major reason is the availability of fast food. Parents often take advantage of the easy and affordable options for food; however, when parents begin to take their children to a place that serves this food every day, it turns into child abuse. The parent or guardian neglects the need of nutrition for their child, causing the child to become overweight, which can be seen as disfigurement. Neglect and disfigurement are harsh words, but they are necessary to show the severity of the issue.
Fast food is everywhere, and sometimes hard to differentiate from healthy food that can be ordered quickly. McDonald’s is a company that is known for being a place to buy fast food. Their food has large portions, is fairly inexpensive, and contains a lot of sugar, so it fits the requirements for a fast food restaurant (“Food and Diet,” 2012). There are meals at McDonald’s specifically for children. Happy Meals, as they are called include an entrée of chicken nuggets, a hamburger, or a cheeseburger. These all come with a side of French fries, a choice of apples or yogurt, and a drink.
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There are typically six main categories into which all types can be organized. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, exploitation/sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, and parental substance abuse. Neglect is “frequently defined as the failure of a parent or other person with responsibility for the child to provide needed food…medical care, or supervision to the degree that the child’s health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm” (“Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect,” 2014, n.p.). Considering this definition in relation to obesity raises questions. If a parent or guardian is feeding the child McDonald’s every day, causing them to become obese, then the child’s health is being
As the world strives for convenience and a fast-paced lifestyle, an epidemic of poor health is on the rise. With constant life struggles, fast food readily available, and little time for preparation, citizens of the United States are not paying attention to what they’re putting in their child’s mouths. The state of Mississippi has developed the highest percentages of childhood obesity in the United States. Although this percentage has decreased in recent years, the numbers are still astounding. The children of Mississippi are slowly being poisoned by their parent’s poor choices. Due to parent’s poor nutritional education and poor health habits, the children of Mississippi will continue on the destructive path of obesity
Obesity in the United States, which the media has labeled a national crisis, has also been connected to poverty rates. Big fast food industry’s target poor communities, and spend millions of dollars each year to create advertising that appeals to these specific areas. These industry’s also target naïve children when advertising because they know that eating habits developed in childhood are usually carried into adulthood. Children who are exposed to television advertisements for unhealthy food and who are not educated well enough on good nutrition will grow up and feed their families the same unhealthy foods they ate as kids. A big way fast food giants are able to make certain young people have access to unhealthy food is by strategically placing franchises in close proximity to schools. They will often place three times as many outlets within walking distance of schools than in areas where there are no schools nearby. The way fast food advertising is targeted towards children is very alarming considering how important good nutrition is for young people and how a child’s eating habits can affect their growth and
It is apparent that living an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as eating poorly, negatively affects one’s health. From a young age it is quickly learned which foods are considered healthful as opposed to junk food. It is a parents responsibility to supervise the intake of their child's food, however there is a higher risk than ever before of childhood obesity.
The children range in age from 12-15 and their issues from simple obesity to needing gastric-bypass surgery. The children are fed fast food in school cafeterias, with government labeling of pizza, fries and tomato paste as vegetables. Stores have candies and snacks at children’s eye level, and at home they eat the standard offerings of processed foods. One of the other things this film shows is the complete lack of support for these families in the area of proper diet education. A couple of the parents talked about the doctors encouraging them to seek help with nutrition, the doctors did not have any useful advice on where to get this
Crouse, Janice Shaw. "The Fast-Food Industry Intentionally Markets Unhealthy Food to Children." Fast Food. Ed. Tracy Brown Collins. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2009. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
Also approximately, 13 million children and adolescents between the ages of 2-19, are obese in the United States too. A child who is obese will have the following symptoms, such as a physical look of being overweight, binge eating, and it is very common for them to have a shortness of breath when they take on a physical task, or exercise. Child obesity, if not treated, nor looked after can cause very mortal complication diseases in the near future that awaits for them ahead. It can lead the child towards having future high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. It is considered neglect that parents have an obese child, this is because children need to be looked after, and not have to look after their own wellbeing, they don’t know any better. The parents on the other hand, are grown adults to know their own child’s medical history, and what needs to be in order for their child to live a healthy. In order to avoid obesity from their children, parents have to know all of the fundamentals towards becoming successful on their child’s health, and away from the bad eating choices. At the end of it all parents need get their child proper medical treatment, and counseling towards a healthy lifestyle, or it is considered for the child to be obese, and a result the state will affirmative action against the family
“This might be the first generation where kids are dying at a younger age than their parents and it's related primarily to the obesity problem.” Judy Davis. Childhood obesity is not a new term by an means but in the last few years it has grown in popularity. Some call childhood obesity the next “national epidemic”, sounds pretty scary especially when it’s effecting the youngest of Americans. Obesity is among one of the easiest medical condition to recognize but is the most difficult to treat. Children who are overweight are 10x more likely to become overweight adults unless they change their eating habits and exercise. (“Childhood Obesity. Pg 1). 30% of adult obesity begins in childhood, it is also said obesity is the cause of 300,000 deaths a year and cost society an estimated $100 billion a year. Today, about one third of American’s children and teens are considered to be overweight or obese, it has nearly tripled in size since 1963 (“Childhood Obesity”. Pg 1). Obesity is causing numerous health problems that typically aren’t seen until adulthood. Childhood obesity can effect the physical, emotional, and social well-being of a child.
When it comes to the topic of childhood obesity, most of us will readily agree that there are long-term medical affects associated with childhood obesity. The National Institute of Health states that obese children are more likely to become obese adults. Adult obesity is associated with a number of serious health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers (National Institute of Health). Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of who is to blame. Whereas some are convinced that the government and the food industry are to blame, others maintain that parents are primarily bearing this burden. The people who believe the government and the food industry are to blame are consistently at odds over the issue of who is to blame for the long-term affects from childhood obesity with the people who tend to believe parents are to blame. Medical conditions are becoming more and more frequent, childhood obesity is becoming a growing problem and until recently, the government has not aided in the fight against obesity.
Is fast food to blame for more obese Americans? Fast food restaurants advertise all their ingredients in plain sight. They provide healthy options to their more popular foods such as grilled items, skinless options, low calorie/no calorie beverages, and small portion orders. Most obese Americans are overweight because they are uneducated about the dangers of fast food. Once they learn about eating healthy, managing overweight issues becomes more elementary. Fast food restaurants should not be blamed for America 's obesity issue because there are healthier options, self-discipline, and self responsibility for each individual.
A franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation operates a McDonald’s restaurant. Thus, McDonald's Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees or sales in company-operated restaurants. According to Yahoo Finance report, McDonald's Corporation had annual revenues of $27.5 billion, and profits of $5.5 billion (McDonald’s 2014). McDonald’s primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken snacks, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, fish, wraps, smoothies, and fruit. Their food caters to all age groups, and they have a special menu known as “happy meal” that is targeting children.
This problem has fueled debates and court cases. Most of the time parents of obese children are obese themselves, and if it is not a medical issue it could be a mental health problem that causes them to eat everything that they eat. “Defining childhood obesity as abuse would put a tremendous burden on obese children’s parents”. (Yam)
While you may think of obesity as just an appearance issue, I define it as an epidemic of being overly unhealthy, with many risk factors such as stroke or diabetes, it can be deadly. When it comes to the topic of obesity, most people would concur that it is an ever growing problem. Where this agreement ends, however, is on the question of, who is to blame for the epidemic of childhood obesity? On one hand a portion of people believe it is the parents fault of the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, whereas, others are persuaded that it is the fast food companies job to inculcate children with good eating habits My view however is that the prevalence of obesity throughout children in America is all at the fault of parent not teaching their kids healthy eating
Research shows “the prevalence of obesity among U.S. preschoolers has doubled in recent decades” (May 629). This is not surprising because we live in a “fast food” world where convenience is king. Where the television is the babysitter, and staying indoors to play video games is preferred to playing outside. So is this the child’s fault? Sometimes, but it is my opinion that parents are mainly to blame for childhood obesity because they are the ones that buy the groceries, set the television limits, and rely on fast food to feed their children.
McDonalds chicken nuggets were my favorite meal as a kid. Theres nothing like getting a free toy and some greasy food. However, I 've gotten older and my palette has changed. As a kid I struggled with obesity and fast food was a major contributor. I now live in an area where fast food is really not an option. On the other hand, some Americans only option is fast food.
“We need to teach our children to eat real food. No fast foods. No junk foods. No processed foods. Just honest, nutritious, real food.” As the years go by many more people are becoming obese because they consume too much fast food. People need to get in habits to cook at home rather than eating out everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. People in this world are now always trying to look for the easy way out of things. Eating out at a fast food restaurant is not a healthy meal to eat. We the people need to avoid the fast food restaurants and stop being lazy and have home cooked meals everyday. Although fast food is convenient for everyone, it causes obesity and consuming too much fast food can lead to type 2 diabetes.