Is Fast Food the Cause to Obesity?

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Is Fast Food the Cause to Obesity, or is it Just a Factor? Over three hundred thousand deaths occur every year due to obesity. Obesity adds over one hundred seventeen billion dollars in health care every year (Stern 11). Obesity is an ongoing epidemic in the United States as well as in other countries. Kids eat out more than often, portion sizes are exceeded, and fast food has started being served in school cafeterias. Eating out often leaves the consumer used to eating above average portions .They then think that these portion sizes are normal, when really they are way above normal. In the United States, one out of every five people is obese (Murphy 4-10). Fifteen percent of kids are obese and one third of adults are obese (Holguin 11). Fast food acts a contributor to obesity, but the real cause is the individual’s choice of what to eat as well as how the individual allows snacking and advertisement to influence them. Obesity harms the body in many ways. Obesity adds unnecessary weight to the body, through fat, and the unnecessary weight can add up to six extra pounds a year (Holguin 1). The disease also increases the amounts of cholesterol, salt, saturated fat, and trans fat in the body (Schoenstadt 4). The amounts of these extra substances vary between males and females because eating habits are different. Men consume about one hundred twelve extra grams of carbohydrates, while women consume only seventy five extra grams of carbohydrates. Men and women both consume about thirty five extra grams of fat. They both also consume about thirty grams of excess sugar (Bowman and Vinyard 164). When these extra substances add up, they can lead to diseases. Some of the diseases caused by obesity include type two diabetes, heart diseas... ... middle of paper ... ...t very often due to temptation. In America, fast food can be found in thirteen percent of schools. Free-standing restaurants can be found within a half of a mile of most schools, even within a tenth of a mile of some schools. The schools with fast food nearby tend to have higher obesity rates than schools located farther away from fast food (Maclay 7). An individual’s choice of what to eat causes obesity, not fast food. Obesity can harmfully affect your body with excess fat, cholesterol, and sugar and can lead to diseases. Snacking has been a major drive to obesity because people have started to snack a lot more while still eating the same size meals. Advertisement influences a person to eat at fast food restaurants, and it is the reason some people eat there. Individuals need to learn to make their own decisions on eating healthy to stop the problem of obesity!

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