problem!

Abstract

Fast food restaurants had taken over American society, and it seems like no one cares about how bad fast food is to the human’s body and economy. This community problem is to inform the importance of knowing what you eat, where does it comes from and what are its consequences. It provides research information from specialists on the topic, as well as statistics. This document informs the reader, on how fast food is directly related to America’s today problem: obesity.

The Negative Effects of Fast Food: obesity

Over the last three decades, fast food has gained access to every corner and nook of American society. A business that started as a modest hamburger stand has extend all throughout the nation, selling a wide range of unhealthy foods wherever customers willing to pay may be found. Schlosser (2002) explains that, “In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion.” Fast food is now served at high schools, elementary schools, universities, airplanes, airports, gas stations, groceries stores and even at hospital cafeterias.

            The problem of consuming fast food is not only how unhealthful this is, but the fact that, Americans are spending a lot of money on food that is not only damaging their wallets, but their own health.  The whole experience of buying fast food has become a daily routine that is now taken for granted especially by kids and teenagers. Media advertisement plays an important role nowadays; as children learn to read and to watch television, they also start learning and, wrongly understanding, that eating at fast-food restaurants is a must in their lives.

The purpose of the following community problem is to inform American society what really is behind the fast-food restaurants chains, how they affect not only a person’s body and health, but also their economy. Also, this is to report how advertising manipulates a person’s own decision-making on what to or not to eat, from a baby to a grown-up individual.

Why is it bad to consume a lot of fast food?

Fast food has become an important feature of the diet of children in the

United States and throughout the world. Consumption of fast food among children in America seems to have an unpleasant effect on dietary quality in ways that probably could increase risk for obesity. (PEDIATRICS, 2004. Pg. 112)

It has been proven that the consumption of fast food adversely affects dietary factors linked to obesity risk. Fast-food consumption has a strong association with weight gain and insulin resistance, suggesting that this type of food increases the risk of not only obesity, but type 2 diabetes (Pereira, 2005. Pg. 36). According to Schlosser (2002), “Fast food is tasty and convenient but the price we pay to eat it goes well beyond the tab at the cash register.” Fast food restaurants evolve cruelty to animals (cows crowed together in feedlots while being fattened for slaughter) and cruelty to humans (fast-moving lines that lead slaughterhouse workers into accidentally stabbing themselves and others). (Schlosser, 2002) Researchers suggest that it is very easy for food-borne pathogens to get into ground beef and how this pathogens cause much sickness and death every year. (KnowledgeWharton, 2001) Fast-food contains ingredients that cause customers become addicted to their food, therefore when a kid tastes for the first time a hamburger or a hot dog, he wants more and more as he grows up, making him dependable of this ingredients.

What are some of the effects of fast-food?

Fast food is a driving force behind the childhood obesity epidemic and a host of diet related health conditions, predisposing kids to a lifetime of health problems. Diets high in unhealthy food – such as fast food – increase the probability that a kid will develop type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and even asthma. (Corporate Accountability International, 2004) People with obesity are 92% more likely to experience asthmatic symptoms such as, breathlessness and chest tightness. Obesity is largely driving the recent increase in childhood type 2 diabetes, which used to be exceedingly rare in children. Today, obesity surpasses both hepatitis and alcohol abuse as the most common cause of liver disease, and all this narrows down to the mistaken American culture of fast food. (Corporate Accountability International, 2004) People are increasingly being warned against the ill effects of fast food and the potential damage they pose to the human health. The effects of fast food include nutritional deficiencies, obesity, increased cholesterol levels, cardiac problems and many other threatening health hazards. (Manohar, 2000) Fast food not only affects the human body’s health but a person’s budget. In the United States alone, people spend $100 billion on fast food every year, which is almost 40 times than what was spent in 1970s. (Naik, 2010) According to Naik (2010), “Approximately 25 percent of the American population resorts to fast food on a daily basis.” Fast food joints are also being seen as a factor that is making a number of families spend less and less time together. Family meal-time is something considered as an opportunity for all the members to come together and share their experiences. However, the fast food restaurants are quickly eating into this quality time. (Bose, 2009) Fast food and obesity go hand in hand. A diet that lacks essential nutrients results in poor dietary fiber levels in the body. Since fast food is addictive in nature, it causes one to buy more and eat more of it.  Effects of fast food are not only in the human body, but in his/her surroundings and the environment where they evolve.

How does advertising contribute to what we consume?

Advertising campaigns for fast food restaurants have changed over time. Most fast food restaurants target their advertising at children and students - an important market for them. Food marketers are interested in youth as consumers because of their spending power, their purchasing influence, and as future adult consumers. (Story, 2004) Food marketing include television advertising, in-school marketing, product placements, the Internet, toys and products with brand logos, and youth-targeted promotions. Not satisfied with marketing to children through playgrounds, toys, cartoons, movies, videos, charities, and amusement parks, through contests, sweepstakes, games, and clubs, via television, radio, magazines, and the Internet, fast food chains are now gaining access to the last advertising-free outposts of American life. (Schlosser, 2002) Foods marketed to children are predominantly high in sugar and fat, and as such are inconsistent with national dietary recommendations. (Story, 2004) Moreover, children – especially younger ones – may not be able to distinguish advertisements from regular programs and have little understanding of their persuasive intent. Using children’s favorite characters and linking products with concepts such as fun, happiness, and well-being, food advertisements can successfully attract children to consume their products.

Nevertheless, the effect of television advertising on childhood obesity is complex, dealing with the interplay between the characteristics of the children, the attitudes of their parents, and environmental settings. (Chou, 2006)

Conclusion

A generation ago, three-quarters of the money used to buy food in the United States was spent to prepare meals at home. Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants - mainly at fast food restaurants. (Schlosser, 2002) Hundreds of millions of people buy fast food every day without giving it much thought, unaware of the subtle and not so subtle consequences of their purchases. American consumers rarely consider where this food came from, how it was made, what it is doing to the community around them.  Customers just grab their tray off the counter, find a table, take a seat, unwrap the paper, and dig in.

References

Bose, D. (2009). Advantages and disadvantages of fast food. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-fast-food.html

Bowman, S. (2004). Effects of fast-food consumption on energy intake and diet quality among children in a national household survey. PEDIATRICS, 113(1), 112-118.

Johnson, P. (2010). Is fast food bad for you. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/is-fast-food-bad-for-you.html

Manohar, U. (2000). Fast food facts: effects of fast food. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/fast-food-facts-effects-of-fast-food.html

Nalk, A. (2010, October 25). Fast food facts. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/fast-food-facts.htm

Pereira, M. (2005). Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the cardia study): 15-year prospective analysis. THE LANCET, 365(9453), 36-42.

Schlosser, E. (2002). Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-american meal. New York, NY: Perennial.