Fast food: It’s cheap, tasty, and convenient. Each and every day, thousands of people will choose it to satisfy their hunger. What these people probably don’t know is how harmful it can be to their body. It’s high in fat and calories, and is not a healthy choice to cure your hunger. Fast food causes obesity in society, and little is done about this greatly important issue. When on-the-go, the local fast food place seems like a great idea to pick up some food, but it is really a bad decision if you care about your health and well being. Fast food is dangerous, and something needs to be done about it before this problem grows anymore.
We all are familiar with fast food places, like McDonald’s, Burger King, Arbys, KFC, Chick-fil-a, and Wendy’s. That list could go on and on, and that is one of the problems of fast food. There is so much of it around us it’s like it consumes our lives, with those neon signs screaming to us late at night “You’re Hungry!” on the way home from a long days work. We some how always give into the sly advertising techniques of fast food chains and stop in to get a bite to eat. And somehow, it turns into a pattern for most, one they can’t get out of. What is it that is so appealing to the average person when it comes to fast food? Whatever it is, fast food is unhealthy and dangerous to the people who consume it.
Advertising of fast food has become increasingly popular with the media.[1] Since children watch a lot of television, they are the main targets of this advertising. Through bright, flashy colors and popular pop culture figures, companies can lure children right to their products. Popular Ronald McDonald is an example of one of these catchy figures to children. Advertising is not always targeted toward children; it can be targeted to teenagers and college students also by using sexualized figures and the bandwagon approach. Whatever method of advertising, fast food companies will use it to their advantage at all times to market their products to you. The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) is in the process of reviewing and rewriting the guidelines of fast food advertising. (“Unhealthy Advertising to Kids”)
The health concerns of fast food are great. “Many fast foods are fried (which facilitates quick preparation), high in fat and sodium, and low in fiber, vitamins, and some minerals.” (Rodriguez). This is an alarming fact, especially when most fast food chains give you the option to “super or biggie size” your meal, which in turn just adds to the fat and calories you take in. A super-sized meal could very well meet you suggested calorie intake for the whole DAY, and have little to none of the nutrients your body needs on a daily basis. This fact alone shows how fast food is dangerous to your body, because that one meal usually is not the only meal that a person has in a day. Fast food is to blame for obesity and diabetes, and with more people consuming fast food on a daily basis, these health concerns are on the rise.
Obesity, it’s the silent killer, and its being seen in more and more people each year. Fast food is one of reasons for obesity. Adults are not the only ones affected by this; children are targets as well. Obesity is being seen in children at younger ages, and fast food is one of the contributing factors in this. Children eating more and more fast food and getting less exercise leads to an increase in obesity.
“Obesity is a gradually evolving disease and the effects of it
take time to accumulate. There is a time component to this.
The longer you are obese the more likely you are to accrue
all the damaging side effects of obesity,” (Collins)
Today’s youth may not notice the effects of fast food on their body today, but as they get
older it will begin to cause problems for them.
Diabetes is also another health concern that is on the rise that fast food is contributing to. Mostly occurring in older patients, it has become more frequently diagnosed in young children. Type II diabetes, the most common form[2], is a serious health factor, because it leads to future complications like heart disease, blindness, nerve damage and kidney damage. Professor Andrew Prentice of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine says “Diabetes is a very serious, life-threatening disease. So if you put all those things together, these young people who are being ambushed by this change in the environment are storing up for themselves enormous ill health in the future.”
Despite the health factors, fast food also has affects on other things in our world, like popular culture and even real estate. Fast food is believed to cause our landscape to change. With more fast food chains opening up and spreading out, you get the need for more processing plants, which then in turn usually means big buildings taking over what used to be rural land. Fast food has also created a gap between the rich and the poor. The popular “dollar menu” items at fast food restaurants are contributing factors to this.
In the movie “Fast Food Nation”, the issue of fast food is exposed. This in-depth documentary tells of all the trans-fats, chemicals and artificial flavors that fast food companies put into their food. The movie blames the fast food companies for the poor quality and unhealthy food they produce for people. Dishonesty is a big role in these companies, because after all, they want you to buy their product, but don’t want you to know the details about what’s in it. The companies hide all kinds of information, like what they put in their food, how it’s packaged or produced, and even to the major health risks it could cause to you. It’s shocking to watch and see all of this unfold in front of your eyes, but this film does a great job of doing just that.
The book, McDonaldization of Society, is a book about how McDonalds is transforming our lives and society.
“…McDonaldization,…is the process by which the principles
of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more
and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest
of the world.” (Ritzer)
This book offers new insights into our society that we are constructing with fast food. Its purpose is to “un-McDonaldize” the society by creating guidelines to control fast food.
Your fast food; Do you know exactly what you are eating? The fat and calorie contents of fast food are often alarming to most. In a McDonalds Double Quarter Pounder with cheese, you are consuming 740 calories and 42 grams of fat. A McGriddle contains 460 calories and 32 grams of fat. McDonald’s healthy alternatives, like the Asian salads, have about 350 calories and about 15 grams of fat. At Chick-fil-a, the popular chicken sandwich has 410 calories and 16 grams of fat. A Chick-fil-a cool wrap has about 400 calories and about 8 grams of fat, and their char grilled chicken garden salad has 180 calories and only 6 grams of fat. At Arbys, the Roast Beef sandwich has 320 calories and 14 grams of fat. These are just a few of the many nutrition facts of some local fast food restaurants, and do NOT include other side items in your meal.
So, what exactly are fast food chains doing to help this growing problem of their unhealthy products? McDonalds now cooks their fries in 0g trans-fat oil. Restaurants like Wendy’s and Chick-fil-a are offering healthy sides to their combo meals. At Wendy’s, you can get a salad or baked potato with your combo instead of fries. Chick-fil-a offers their customers the option of adding a fruit cup to a combo instead of their popular waffle fries. These healthy alternatives are better for you, but you still have the other items in your meal that aren’t so healthy. As far as far as getting health and nutrition information from a fast food restaurant, it is often hard to do. To make their customers better aware of what exactly they are eating, restaurants should have the nutrition fact pamphlets right next to where you pick up your napkins and straws because you often have to ask for them. At Subway, nutrition facts are printed directly on their napkins. When it comes to schools, they usually follow the National school-lunch program, which is sixty-one years old, and sets nutrition guidelines for the school system to follow. This program is starting to be accepted by more school systems because it is healthy. If a school system does not use the national system, they use an independent system.[3]
Other countries still have issues with fast food in their society. You just hear about fast food in America because obesity and laziness are stereotypes of Americans to other
countries. McDonalds is worldwide[4], serving 54 million customers each day. Fast-food is present everywhere and every place.
So, next time you are hungry, what will you choose to eat? Will you choose the cheap, tasty, and convenient fast food? Remember, if you do choose fast food, the health dangers you are putting your body in. And by all means, don’t give into the question “Would you like to super size that today?” because in thirty years, you will end up having badonkadonk buns and thunder thighs.[5]
Works CitedInternet
Rodriguez, Judith. “Fast Foods – Nutritional Issues.” faqs.org. 24 Mar 2007 .
Collins, Anne. “Obesity & Health Concerns.” 24 Mar 2007 .Books
Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of Society. Revised New Century. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2004.Media
Fast Food Nation. Dir. Richard Linklater. DVD. BBC Films, 2007.Newspaper
Prestidge, Holly. School Lunch U-Turn.” Richmond Timdes Dispatch [Richmond, VA]28 Mar 2007: Front Page Headline A1.TV Program
“News At 5.” Unhealthy Advertising to Kids. Gene Lepley. NBC 12, Richmond, VA. 28 Mar 2007.Other
McDonalds USA Nutrition Facts for Popular Menu Items
Chick-fil-a Nutrition Guide
http://arbys.com/nutrition/calculator.php
Outline
1) Introduction
a) Fast Food facts
b) Heath consequences, etc.
2) Fast Food
a) Restaurants
b) Advertising
3) Health Concerns
a) Calories and Fat
b) Obesity and diabetes
i) Quote “Nutrition and Well being”
c) Obesity
i) Facts
ii) In children
iii) Dangers
(1) Block quote obesity and health concerns site
d) Diabetes
i) Facts
ii) In children
iii) Consequences and other problems it causes
(1) Quote Professor Andrew Prentice
4) Other Problems of Fast Food
a) Social
b) Culture
c) Real Estate
5) Fast Food Nation Movie
6) McDonaldization of Society
7) What’s In Your Fast Food?
a) Go over nutrition facts from McDonalds, Chick-fil-a, Arbys, and Wendy’s
b) Compare/contrast raw facts
i) 0 Grams trans fat
ii) “Healthy” alternatives offered
8) How to Fix, What is Being Done?
a) By non-profit organizations
b) The government
c) Schools
d) Restaurants themselves
9) Other Countries
a) Same issues?
b) Why or why not
10) Conclusion
a) The end.
[1] NBC12 reporter Gene Lepley states that “4200 advertisements can be seen on television each year, targeting kids ages two to seven”
[2] 90-95% of all North American cases of diabetes are Type 2
[3] “Independent food-services programs have been attractive to school divisions because they could server popular, fast-selling foods and didn’t have to follow the 61 year old national programs nutrition guidelines” (Prestidge Front Page, A1)
[4] McDonald’s operates over 31,000 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 1.5 million people
[5] © Subway Commercial, 2007
