From the advancement in technology, food preparation has changed over the twentieth century from food mainly being cook and prepared in a home setting to now mainly being prepared and served through lines of a fast food restaurant. With people on the move from place to place and having a busy schedule, people now rely on fast food restaurants for main course meals. Even though fast food has provided food for people with a low income or no money at all, fast food still have processed food, preservatives, and filters that can cause cancer and other harmful effects. Today, the average american diet is usually what other countries would consider abnormal; due to the abundance of restaurants with all of the quick and fatty foods that most people eat. Most americans today do not realize that they should only have a daily intake close to 3000 calories per day (V. K. R. V. Rao). However in America, the average person either doubles or triples the amount of calories that is actually needed. With this being said, it proves that many Americans would gain more weight because they have such a poor diet. Fast food restaurants try to target children of all ages because they can be seen as an easy target. Children just eat to give them something to do because they have nothing better to do with their time. Many restaurants today try to appeal to kids whether it be from the toys or the new design of the box(Susan E.Lin).With fast food restaurants targeting children, adults are more likely to go to a fast food restaurant to save them time from cooking. Whether it be junk food at a low price from walmart or a low price meal from a fast food restaurant, people seem to still buy the food because it is more affordable.As weird as it ay be, healthi... ... middle of paper ... ...because we want to while other countries eat because they need to. Works Cited Chitrita Banerji, “The Propitiatory Meal,”Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture Vol. 3, No. 1 (Winter 2003), pp. 82-89. 5 Dec 2013 Linn Susan E, “Food Marketing to Children in the Context of a Marketing Maelstrom,” Journal of Public Health Policy ,Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (2004), pp. 367-378. 4 Dec 2013 Rao V. K. R. V, “Some Nutritional Puzzles: A Note,”Economic and Political Weekly , Vol. 16, No. 28/29 (Jul. 11-18, 1981), pp. 1205+1207-1208. 4 Dec 2013 Taenzler Sheila A, “The National School Lunch Program,” University of Pennsylvania Law Review ,Vol. 119, No. 2 (Dec., 1970), pp. 372-388. 4 Dec 2013 Young Lisa R. and Nestle Marion, “Portion Sizes and Obesity: Responses of Fast-Food Companies,” Journal of Public Health Policy ,Vol. 28, No. 2 (2007), pp. 238-248. 4 Dec 2013
The typical American diet is about 50% carbohydrate, 15% protein, and 35% fat, which is over the dietary guidelines for the amount of fat (below 30%), below the guidelines for carbohydrate (above 55%), and at the upper end of the guidelines for the amount of protein (below 15%) recommended in the diet. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_pattern_diet). Not only is the Standard American Diet completely lacking in terms of the quantity of macronutrients being consumed, but the quality of the foods that most Americans are eating is extremely poor as well. The Standard American Diet is high in animal fats, low in fiber, low in complex carbohydrates, and low in plant-based
However, when creating fast food restaurants, the industries were not thinking about the negative effects such as obesity. Other than obesity, other harmful effects exist as well. Fast food restaurants serve unhealthy products such as greasy foods and artificial meat that lead to dietary health issues in many adults and children. A recent study showed that “Young children who are fed processed, nutrient-poor foods are likely to become unhealthy teenagers, and eventually unhealthy adults. Now twenty-three percent of teens in the U.S. are pre-diabetic or diabetic, 22% have high or borderline high LDL cholesterol levels, and 14% have hypertension or prehypertension”
The Western Diet mainly consists of fried foods, refined grains, sugar, high carbohydrate and fats, and meats (3). It has been hypothesized that having a Western Diet increases one’s chances for developing depression. There has been a great deal of research into why the western diet increase’s one chance of having depression. A common sense reason maybe that the Western Diet consisted of large amounts carbohydrates, fats and sugars which promotes obesity and then causes depression (1). More scientific evidence suggest that having a improper diet like the Western Diet negatively affects peripheral and central dopamine, which are neurotransmitters (chemical which transmit signals across the synapse from the nerve cell to the target cell) directly linked to the mental health of the brain and are negatively affected by high fat diets (4). Research has also suggested that having a poor nutrition status such as lacking folate (a natural water form of vitamin bg which is crucial for many of the bodies processes) and key vitamins like vitamin b12 significantly increases the risk of depression in elderly people (5). Research into the topic of dietary habits and mental health is very crucial with the growing rates of obesity and depression in the United States compared to the rest of the world. Thus, does having poor dietary habits increase the likelihood of having depression? The likelihood of developing depression has been linked to the type of diet one consumes such as the Western Diet, Diets Low in Fat and Carbohydrates and weight control diets like binge eating.
A. This paper will consider the adaptations of the United States to a changing diet, from the early to late twentieth century.
In chapter two of this book it describes the many ways fast food restaurants influence children to but their products. They also describe the many tactics that are used in order to keep children interested and coming back for more.
In the article “ If You Pitch It, They Will Eat” by David Barboza, Barboza explains how major food companies advertise to children because they know kids are easy to sell products to. The article is about why fast food companies market to children and how can be harmful to them. Fast food companies are everywhere children are. They advertise in cartoons children watch and sell their food in schools. The main argument is these fast food companies are wrong to sell to kids, and the kids are seeing the effect of eating all the fast food shown to them. Barboza wants a change to happen because these are our children and they cannot grow up with obesity and diabetes.
Fast food corporations go to the extent to pursue children by making advertisements specifically targeting children, and even swaying children by giving some sort of toy that attracts the younger customer. Some corporations even produce a whole line of toys that the children can collect if they continue to come back and purchase their products. In “The Hunger Gene” written by Ellen Ruppel Shell, she goes into this controversy stating “ I sit down with the two executives whose companies make and sell these toys. They tell me that their toys are not cheap, that in fact the cost of these ‘premiums’ can sometimes blot out profits from the sale of the kids meal. But the fast food industry's goal in luring in kids is to lock in lifelong customers, not necessarily to turn a quick head.” (Shell 195). A child does not have much knowledge on fast food. When fast food companies for example, Mcdonald's advertises their happy meals, the only thing the child notices is the toy that is being shown. Children can care less about the food as long as they get the toy. For the child, the incentive is the toy that comes along with the food. If a parent decides to bring in a child for the first time into a fast food establishment and purchases any sort of meal along with a toy, the corporations have rightfully done their job correctly. As soon as the child walks out of the restaurant they have
Most Americans do not care enough to take a look at the nutritional values of the food that he or she is consuming. That is why America has the highest percentage of obesity in the world. This is a serious problem because one in every three adults is obese, and one in every six children is obese. There are many factors that go into the regular American diet, but most of those factors are not appealing nor is it healthy. Americans put way too much processed food into their daily diet. Some would say that other countries diets superior the American diet because of nutritional values that it carries. Other countries have proven that an active lifestyle is a huge element in the average weight of the country. There are many things that Americans could change about their diets and lifestyle that would help them to become healthier.
Even though American children are overweight or obese, fast food companies still continue to aim unhealthy food to children. For the most part, food that is aimed at these children is high in sugar, and fat, and is not beneficial to their developing bodies. Food advertisement companies use creative strategies in food promotion, such as characterization, animation, humor, and themes. They focus on using appeals and messages that are attracting to children. When children see a certain advertisement that is pertaining to food and play, they assimilate it faster than we know.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2011, the average American consumed nearly one ton of food, 1,996 pounds of food a year. That means that, a minimum of 1 in 4 people include some type of fast food in their menu on a daily basis. Junk food is a poison to health. Fat food is high in fat and sodium, which increase obesity risk and the possibilities of a stroke, diabetes and a coronary artery disease. Many people might be aware about the physiological side effects presented when eating fast food. However, the hidden truth about the real cost of cheap food does not only includes esthetics and evident things to sight, it goes far beyond to affecting our biosphere
Worcester Polytechnic Institution. "Fast Food Marketing to Children." Public Health Communication. (2007). http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-082107-231740/unrestricted/Appendix_1.pdf (accessed February 17, 2014).
Play lands, Happy Meals, and the toys have been some of the couple of ways to lure children into buying their unhealthy product. About the 1950s, kids meal soon appeared and none of this has much attention until 1997. Which is ironic since today, no restaurant marketing executive could keep his job without slating a roster full of toys, that are usually tied with a current film or TV show, to go with the meal deals and by now, nobody had questioned it. Kids marketing are a billion dollar business that assumes that when kids see the toy meals that are advertised, they'll beg their parents for them, and the parents acquiesce. According to researchers M. B. Schwartz and R. Phul at the Yale University Department of Psychology, many parents feel that they have limited control over what their children eat. Y-Pulse LLC conducted 1800 kids from ages of 5 to 15 and interviews them to why many of them go to fast food restaurants. M...
Like I said more than fifty percent of Americans diets are affected by price because healthy foods are so expensive so people buy the cheaper unhealthy foods. Healthy foods are so, for example, take expensive because apple an a can of soda the can of soda is filled with sugar and unwanted chemicals but
From the dollar menu, coupons and value meals, fast food is a cheap way to eat. Wendy’s fast food restaurant serves a small fry, drink, hamburger and four piece chicken nugget for four dollars or get any size drink and McDonalds for just one dollar. These low prices have driven many low income families to eat at fast food restaurants. Healthier foods tend to cost more which make them harder to buy. This goes beyond just low income families but coordinates with communities that are low income. There are low income communities that do not have big grocery stores where there is quality fresh produce. Families that live in these areas do not have much of a selection and most of the high quality food that’s available is normally expensive. Fast food is getting cheaper and “According to the researchers, in the 1930s, Americans spent one-quarter of their disposable income on food. By the 1950s, that had dropped to about one-fifth. The most recent research finds Americans now spend less than one-tenth of their money on food” (Firger). The amount people have to spend eating at a fast food restaurant has slowly decreased. Low income families are able to use the money saved eating at a fast food restaurant to pay bills. It is a lot cheaper and convenient to pick up something on the way home from work than to go to the store and purchase all
People think that the price of fast food is cheaper than a home-cooked meal. Although many people like to eat fast food because of it is inexpensive and tasty, the actual price of the fast food is not exactly same like the menu. The price of fast food sounds affordable, but actually it is quite expensive. This is because people are influenced by the fast food restaurant’s advertisement. It illustrates the price of a set of fast food is affordable compared to cooking at home. When people go to the fast food outlet, they realize the price at the bill is not as same as the advertisement stated. The price is even higher than the price stated at the advertisement. Although the fast food advertisement provides the information that the price of fast food is low, the price in the advertisement does not include the tax and tips. On the other hand, cooking at home is much cheaper than eating fast food. It is always affordable, healthier and more emotional fulfillment when eating at home and cooking ingredients compare to eating out (Warner, 2015). The people only need to buy the ingredients and cook it by our own.It is always affordable because people only need to pay ingredients and cook it at home. There are no tax and extra tips! If people prepare their food in large quantities at home, it is more economical than buy several sets of fast food. According to Yeager (2010), “A family that commits to eating at home can save $3000 in one year and eat just as well,” (p. 52). Save and