Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Health effects of fast food consumption
Obesity and fast food industry essay
Is fast food responsible for obesity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Health effects of fast food consumption
The Start of A New Era
How does fast food affect the health of people in the United States? Fast food has definitely played its mind games and tricks on people in the Unites States, making people want more and more of the unhealthy and spurious food that fast food restaurants provide. Out of all of the horrible issues in the US, the biggest one affects the health of the people in the United States. This involves gaining massive amounts of weight, otherwise known as becoming obese. Fast food makes obesity happen.
What Is Fast Food And Obesity?
People sometimes don't even know what they eat and what the possible outcome, obesity, is. According to Carla Power's article, fast food is food “…high in fat, sugar and salt" ("Big Trouble"). One meal of fast food alone has almost enough calories you need for the day. Paul Schwartzman’s article claims that fast food is “…ready-to-consume food," and "customer queing" (“Defining 'Fast Food' Is Slow Work”). People are either just clueless about what is in that food or they just don’t think that one meal will affect their body that much. Jenni Laidman's article defines obesity as being at "a body mass index of 30 or above (about 198 pounds for someone 5'8)" or just being "overweight" ("Fat City"). For you, this should be a special indicator of what really goes into your body and what obesity is classified as being.
How Are Fast Food and Obesity Connected?
Fast food and obesity are like best friends. According to Josh Ozersky's article, "If you are trying to keep kids from eating fattening meals so as not to become big and fat themselves, arm-twisting McDonald's into making its Happy Meals less caloric (or kids into swapping the fries for apple slices) is one way to do it" ("Pint-Size Me"). Most...
... middle of paper ...
...n:
Persistent link to this record (Permalink): http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=70536885&site=ehost-live
• Happy Meal
Ozersky, Josh. "Pint-Size Me." Time 176.22 (2010): 62. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.
The fast food has a negative impact on the American people. The fast food industry can be compared to that of a drug dealer pushing their product down the throats of suspecting, but ever willing customers. The community is doing nothing to stop this going industry and yet encouraging them to continue to impact the health of its customers.
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.
What is happening to our economy is that so many people are going to these fast food restaurants because they are basically on just about every corner. So, for adults that makes it easy if they didn’t have anything planned for dinner because they can just pick something up from the local fast food restaurant on their way home from work. Also, it is very cheap. For example, a bundle at McDonald’s can feed up to four people at one time and it only costs about fifteen dollars! So, in the long run, it is just easier to go pick up some fast food rather than wasting your time cooking an actual meal. Lastly, even though fast food is very cheap and on every corner, it is not healthy at all. Studies have proven that a person that ate McDonald’s for his meals for a full month ended up having some serious health changes. In conclusion, even though it is very easy to access and very cheap, fast food has some serious health issues and be very harmful.
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.
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.
Scientists claim that the consumption of fast food leads to rapid weight gain, heart attacks, diabetes, reduced immunity, irreversible changes in the liver, raising the level of cholesterol in the blood. The fat contained in fast food, mainly consists of saturated fatty acids, which are deposited on the walls of blood vessels.
Since Americans typically live hectic lifestyles, fast food is a quick and easy way to grab a meal on the go. However, eating fast food frequently provides the body with high amounts of calories, sugars, saturated and trans fats, while lacking in vitamins and minerals. Overtime, eating fast food can take a toll on ones body and increase the risk of developing illnesses and diseases. These diseases include heart disease; type 2 diabetes, stroke, and cancer, breathing problems, arthritis and even reproductive complications.
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...
Ask a teenager what their favorite fast food restaurant is and most of them will probably say McDonalds. "McDonalds operates approx. 30,000 restaurants on 6 continents, and feeds about 46 million people in a single day! In the U.S. alone, McDonalds accounts for 43% of the fast food market." Manhattan alone contains 82 restaurants packed into the island (Super Size Me). McDonalds has been criticized by the media and other people for offering too many unhealthy choices on their menu, therefore leading to obesity in America. Eating too much McDonalds, or any other fatty food, will give you many long term health problems.
The connection it has with the obesity is that the epidemic is caused by high consumption of fat, sugar, and salt (Hogan). Fast food is literally contributing to obesity by providing unhealthy food restricted to people at risk for obesity and even with those with obesity. In the article Fast Food, David Hogan found out the most fast food restaurants’ menus offer burgers, fries, soda, and desserts. Those types of food are unhealthy where burgers contain the high amounts of fat, fries contain a lot of salt, while sodas and desserts contain excess amounts of sugar. These types of food are considered as junk food that the body does not necessarily need to consume, but they are often eaten for the delicious taste from the high amounts of fat and sugar they contain (Wolin and Petrelli). Fast food is also providing quick service by frying a lot of the foods to provide a quick service and hot food (Hogan). Fried food is considered unhealthy from the high amount of fat needed to cook the fried foods which is restricted to those with obesity (Wolin and Perelli). Hogan also noted that McDonalds and Burger King are fast food restaurants that regularly compete in the fast food industry. Since unhealthy delicious food has been on demand in the food industry for many years, these fast food restaurants compete by serving those foods to stay in business (Hogan). Obesity is therefore
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).
Fast food is prone to have high calories, and when people overweight have them, they are just adding up more fat to their body. So, 3,500 calories equal to 1 pound, by consuming a complete meal at a fast food facility, the individual would be way over that in one day. It goes without saying that the United States is among the leading countries when it comes to
Throughout the years, fast food is becoming more and more of an outlet for many people that are short on change, in a rush but still need to grab a bite to eat, or even who are just too lazy to cook a meal. Fast food is very cheap, yet when we eat it we don’t necessarily realize the price we pay when we are starting to gain weight. Who is to blame? The person that is addicted to fast food, or the fast food restaurants? I agree fast food is cheap, yet delicious. I understand that it may get addicting, I do not believe that it is the restaurants fault for your lack of self-control. Eating fast food all the time can put you up against some major health risks. As claimed by, “Fast Food and Obesity,” Every 4 out of 10 adults in the USA will become obese in the next 5 years if they keep eating this food the way they are.
Many people don 't realize how unhealthy stopping at the drive-thru is. Fast food can negatively affect you physically and emotionally. A average woman should have 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day. An average man should have 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day. When eating fast food regularly increases your chances of type 2 diabetes. In a 15 year study, people who ate at least 3 days a week fast food gained 9.9 pounds of body weight, compared to a person who ate once a week. Most fast food meals are high and low in fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables help to balance a high fat meal, helping to reduce the harmful effects on the blood vessels. According to studies within 3-5 hours of eating a high fat meal, your blood vessels function usual. For some people this can cause a heart attack or a stroke. Fast food may lead some people to depression compared to people who have little to no fast food. According to studies the more fast food you eat the greater risk you are of
One of the effects is that junk food contains a high amount of unhealthy ingredients. The sugar and oil in junk food gives the body extra calories that the body doesn’t need which will later be unhealthy fats. Fast food also contains high number of calories and sugar, which does not gives the body any nutritional value. Junk food has a high amount of sodium, which will increase the risks of heart diseases. According to Eric Schlosser (n.d) in “The bad effects of fast food,” that fast food is popular because its convenient, it’s cheap, and it tastes good, But the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu. Your body and health should mean a lot to you, you should keep it clean and healthy. To do that