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Obesity rates have been steadily rising for the past 50 years (Fryar, Carroll & Ogden, 2012), alongside the rise in fast food restaurants in the United States. An obese person is clinically defined as a person has too much body fat and a Body Mass Index (BMI) that exceeds 30. Fast food restaurants are identified as businesses that serve food quickly and easily to their customers. The content of most popular fast foods is generally known to be unhealthy but it does not deter the choice of people in consuming them, as shown by the study conducted by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (Dahl, 2013). Furthermore, an external opinion by Madeline Fernstorm, NBC News Diet and Health editor asserts that, “...consumers choose taste, value, and convenience over nutrient density and controlled calories,". The decisions made by consumers on their fast food consumption are conscious, taking away the blame from restaurateurs and shifting it to the consumers.
Currie, DellaVigna, Morreti & Pathania in 2009, conducted another study with different parameters that has underlined a casual correlation between the availability of fast food restaurants and obesity rates , whereby children located within short distance from a fast food restaurant has increased likelihood of being obese. Alongside the enterprising and aggressive marketing tactics and advertising that has been used by large fast food corporations, the fast food consumption amongst children and young adults have increased(Long, 2014). This growing intake of fast food has created a larger demand for fast food products, as well as a larger market as each person consumes more fast food, encouraging entrepreneurs to open more chains in that location. This phenomenon is a worrying dat...
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...da, (2008), Top 11 Reasons for Fast Food's Popularity, WebMD, Retrieved from: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20081202/top-11-reasons-for-fast-foods-popularity?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Sifferlin, Alexandra, (2013, August 29), Forget the Food: Fast Food Ads Aimed at Kids Feature Lots of Giveaways, Time Health & Family, Retrieved from: http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/29/forget-the-food-fast-food-ads-aimed-at-kids-feature-lots-of-giveaways/
Manios, Yannis, Moschandreas, Joanna, Hatzis, Christos, Kafatos, Anthony, (2002), Health and nutrition education in primary schools of Crete: changes in chronic disease risk factors following a 6-year intervention programme, British Journal of Nutrition, 315-324, DOI: 10.1079/BJN2002672, Retrieved from: http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FBJN%2FBJN88_03%2FS0007114502001708a.pdf&code=5c73ac531122c3ad8a9e7b504bdd5319
Common sense seems to dictate that fast food is bad for you, however, many Americans consume fast food on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. In “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues that fast-food companies and the food industry are to blame for America’s obesity epidemic, essentially that it is not the individuals fault for becoming obese, and that in essence, fast-food companies ought to take responsibility for the health issues induced by consuming the food. He explains how bombarded you are with unhealthy, greasy, and fattening food everywhere you look; whereas it is much more difficult to access healthy alternatives. He describes the vicious cycle of purchasing cheap ailing meals, rather
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
Millions of American people buy fast food every day without thinking about where, how and why. The ramifications of fast food is impacting the American people both around the waist line and the community where they live at. “As the old saying goes: you are what you eat.” (Schlosser) The customer have made the choices to eat fast food or not. The industry doesn’t care about the customers; studies have shown that the fast food industry is the reason for the rise of American obesity. “Live fast and die young” (Moore); this could not be more true when looking at the impact of the fast food industry.
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.
Fast food restaurants such as Burger King and McDonald’s, create advertisements where it urges people to consume their product. For example Mcdonald’s created a product where you can get two items such as a mcdouble and a medium fries for three dollars. According to “The battle against fast food begins at home”, by Daniel Weintraub, it shows how companies are intriguing their customers. “ The center blames the problem on the increasing consumption of fast food and soft drinks, larger portion sizes in restaurants and the amount of available on school campuses”(1).For the most part, the Center for Public Health believes that fast food companies are the problem for health
Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.
Buchholz, Todd. "Are Fast-Food Establishments Making Americans Fat?." Journal of Controversial Medical Claims 10.4 (2003): 1-10. Print. 1 Feb 2011.
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser writes about the fast food industry. Schlosser tells the story of J.R. Simplot, the man behind McDonald’s source for potatoes. He started his own business right out of the eighth grade, after dropping out. He started out small but eventually became one of the riches men in America. He owned then 160 acres of land to start off this business. He sold his potatoes to companies at first all natural. But he soon discovered that if you dry out the food it will keep for longer, more companies then bought from him. Then in the 1950's he found out about freezing them, and the method of frozen food. McDonald’s started buying and selling Simplot fries. The customers seemed to like it, they didn't mind the change or even realize it. As a result though from freezing the potatoes, they lost a lot of the natural flavors. Companies began cooking their food in a high percentage of animal fat to capture that flavor, but soon they switched. They traded beef fat for more chemicals. The fries flavor all depends on the chemicals, it is all fake, and there is even more saturated fat from their fries than in their burgers.
Obesity is an epidemic in America, greatly impacting youth, the health care system, and economically vulnerable populations. Among all of the high-income countries in the world, obesity rates remain the highest in the US. According to Harvard, US obesity rates have more than doubled since 1980, although they have remained the same since 2003. (Harvard School of Public Health) Approximately 31.9% of children and adolescents from the ages of 2 to 19 are obese or overweight (NPLAN), while roughly 69% of adults fall into the category of overweight or obese. (Harvard School of Public Health) With obesity rates this high, America is facing a huge crisis that could become greater in the future. In order to understand the issue of Obesity in America it is important to evaluate the extent to which the problem effects large populations of children and adults and how the fast food industry has served as one of the major causes of this epidemic.
Since the fast food industry is targeting America’s youth, providing healthier options on children’s menus will reduce the rate of childhood obesity and allow for a healthy future.
With the continued growth of fast food restaurants, low priced food, and fast friendly service, these restaurants have become very appealing to the average consumer. With this increase in popularity, there has come many problems for these companies associated with the fast food industry. These stores are being blamed for the rise of obesity and other health issues in America; leading to many wanting a ban or probation on these fast food restaurants. The Government has stepped in on this issue and is trying to coming up with solutions for this so called “epidemic”. “One ordinance has passed by the Los Angeles City Council that bans the issuance of permits relating to the construction of any new fast food restaurants in South Los Angeles, California to promote healthy eating choices” (Creighton, 2009, p. 249). This law stops fast food restaurants from building any new stores in South Los Angeles. This law tells people that the “government is better at making choices for people than the people are for themselves” (Creighton, 2009, p. 249). It is like the government is treating their citizens like children making decisions for them, because they do not know better. Fast food restaurants should not be blamed for the consumers’ health problems, because it is the consumers’ choice to eat there, and these restaurants are not as bad as anti-fast food activists make them out to be.
“For someone not to know that a big mac is unhealthy is ignorance, and ignorance is not the responsibility of the fast food industry,” (Daniel Speiser). The amount of fast food joints has largely increased which has become a problem for many people throughout the United States. Several people place the blame for the rising obesity among children on the rising fast food industries due to its convenience, price, advertising, and somewhat un-nutritional content. Some people even take it as far as court to place blame on the fast food industries and for those industries to make changes to their restaurants. The high percentage of obese children in the United States is not caused by the fast food industry. The obesity epidemic has other outside influences, the fast food industries have changed dramatically, and people should take responsibility for their own consumptions. It is time for people to stop placing the blame on others and take responsibility for themselves and their actions.
One way that fast food effects obesity is by advertising their products to children (Miller). In her article Food Advertising Contributes to Obesity, Patti Miller explains that the fast food companies are targeting kids and teenagers by advertising on television. The fast food advertisements are promoting unhealthy products as acceptable food which influences children to choose those meals. The American Psychological Association, an organization focused on improving the lives of individuals, expressed that with the exposure of different fast food commercials, children request to purchase these unhealthy products and cause the parents to be influenced by these requests. This concludes the idea that once children are encouraged by the commercials, they opt to consume the fast food advertised on television. Today, fast food companies are even advertising through schools by offering pizzas and burgers as school lunches, which consequently becomes a daily meal for children and teenagers to consume (Wadden, Brownell,
Obesity is a big social issue in America. Due to the popularity of fast food and other unhealthy foods, more and more Americans are developing health diseases and disorders. We should be getting the correct daily nutrition amount, but because of our fast paced lifestyles we sometimes do not have enough time. Fast food restaurants make it possible to grab a meal and go. We often do not pay attention to the nutrition amount, but are simply looking for a quick bite to eat that will fulfill our hunger. Fast food is assisting in the increase of obesity in America (“Phrase” par.2).
Through Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation he examines the effects that fast food has impacted the world and the way it is affecting the people that are consuming it. As the fast food industry continues to grow throughout not only the United States but the whole world, marketing companies are always looking for ways to broaden the group of people that are interested in buying their product over another company’s. As a marketer for a fast food company it is essential to have a group of people that you can rely on to always buy the company’s product, to many fast food companies they found this group of people to be adolescents and children. Marketing groups specifically market their products to entice this group of people to lure them in. Food is an object that is needed for the survival of a human, but the type of food that humans chose to eat is also not always the best. Because fast food is so cheap and easily accessible just about everywhere you turn your head, many people resort to eating it even though it is very unhealthy. With these factors present, many adults have exposed their children to fast food at a young age, these parents do not always think about the long term effects of feeding their children fast food because they are so caught up in the moment of feeding their kids right then and there; they do not think about the health risks that can occur later as a result from eating fast food now.