Obesity And The United States

In 2013, a poll was taken making the United States the second fattest country in the world, following Mexico (NYPost, “Mexico Beats US to be World’s Fattest Country-”). So the questions stands, is America taking it too far by blaming fast food for the obesity rate? After all, It is the individuals choice where, and what to eat, but on another note, fast food restaurants have a very appealing way in getting buyers, and basically tricking society into eating processed junk food that is high in calories and fats. Even though it is the individual’s decision what to eat, fast food is one of the main reasons for obesity. It is cheap, easily accessible, and fast, but it also problem causing and very dangerous to our bodies.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2009-2010 78 million adults in the US were obese. Regarding the youth, 12.5 million boys and girls between the age of 2 and 19 were overweight. The reasons for such alarming statistics may depend of genetic, disease but most commonly, the environment. Compared to other countries, the US is likely to have the highest number of fast food restaurants per square mile. This industry includes about 550,000 restaurants which is approximately the 10% of the ones distributed around the world. Major companies include Mc Donald’s in the first place followed by KFC, Pizza Hut and other 50 chains of fast food and beverage service. Why is fast food so popular in the US? Besides of being accessible and inexpensive, other reasons such as marketing, bio-chemical dependence and the lack of knowledge of how is this food processed may be involved.

Fast food is a major health issue because it causes obesity. In the article, “Obesity and Fast Food”, Dr. Anaya Mandel claims, “It is well known that eating out may lead to excess calorie intake and increases the risk of obesity because of large portion sizes and increased energy density of foods”(1). This author is stating that restaurants such as McDonald’s can cause obesity. Thus, eating at any fast food restaurant can increase chances of obesity. Meals at these restaurants are cheap, therefore people in a rush or people who regularly consume fast foods will end up buying the cheaper and greasier meals. The “dollar menu” on many fast food restaurant drive in menus may seem like a “better buy” to customers, but, the cookies, sweets, and sandwiches are all what creates the fats in their bodies. It will eventually increase the calories in their body and cause them to gain weight and develop obesity. American psychological association article states, in America, the rates of obesity have about tripled in children and youths(1). Younger people in America have started gaining weight

Obesity is caused by a plethora of different factors. Fast food restaurants are culpable of the majority of the reasons children in America are developing obesity at a higher rate each year. In David Zinczenko’s article, Don’t Blame the Eater, he asserts, “Shouldn’t we know better than to eat two meals a day in fast-food restaurants? That’s one argument. But where exactly, are consumers-particularly teenagers-supposed to find alternatives?”(44). Take McDonalds, for example, a simple burger meal is laden with excess fat calories. Healthy alternatives at fast food restaurants, if they can truly be called “healthy”, are few and far in between or they are too costly to be

Over the past few decades the obesity rate along with the amount of fast food restaurants has increased at a drastic amount. In fact in the past thirty years the, “U.S. spending on fast food has risen from $6 Billion to $110 billion” (Jason P. Block) dollars. While there are many contributing factors, the fact of the matter is that the United States is growing to become one of the most obese countries in the entire world. Also it seems that in today’s times nobody can spare time to get the physical exercise that they need to burn off all of the empty non-nutritious calories that they consume from these fast food restaurants. The reason that we, being the United States, consume so much fast food is due to the lack of time/desire we have to make a meal, the communities that we live in, the non-stop advertising that is geared towards the youth, and the fact that we just love our fast food.

Some wonder whether if the fast food industries should be held accountable for people’s obese attire and health, others say that it is the independent consumers’ responsibility. About 37% of American adults are obese and approximately 17% of children are reported obese as well. Researchers say about 3/4 of Americans will be obese by the year 2020, or maybe sooner (Muntel). It certainly does not seem to be slowing down, unless somehow fast food industries can find indigents to make their food a bit healthier or that people limit the amount of times they go to the restaurant and keep track of their eating habits.

Obesity is a common problem in America that continues to increase throughout the years. It is a problem because of the life threatening side effects that are posed to a lot of individuals. A lot of blame is placed on the laziness of the modern times. People are getting lazy and don’t go outside or have any form of exercise anymore. Meanwhile, there are fast food chains catering to these people, continuing to increase everywhere people go. It is common knowledge that fast food is not healthy. Unhealthy foods are lot cheaper than the cheaper foods people can be consuming instead. In addition to prices, fast food is also a lot quicker to attain. These low prices and easy access are what attract people to the food and keep them coming back and in turn, contributing to the factors of weight gain in the country. This is why there is a large debate on how food industries are to blame for the increased food consumption leading to weight gain. There are many factors involved when it comes to obesity, but whether fast food or individual responsibility is to blame will be analyzed.

Although people seem to believe individuals are to blamed for obesity, the proximity to fast food significantly increases the risk of obesity. “Researchers show that more labeling is needed in fast food place so that people will have a choice to eat organic foods and not just east food because it looks good” (Maiello). Fast food restaurants do not label what is on their menus because they know that if they do, people will realize that the food given to them have many unhealthy ingredients so they might not want to eat there anymore and the restaurant can go out of business. “ In the webster dictionary food is any nourishing substance eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc. In American society food is which is fatty, tasty, processed, refined and contains no

Although people will perceive fast food chains being everywhere, people can educate themselves on what is in their food and how to make healthy and educational choices. People should educate themselves to make healthy choices so that in the future they could pass it down to the future generations. A study was conducted by Indiana University that “if an individual lives near a fast food joint, it increases weight in children as opposed to if one were to live near a supermarket, it would have the opposite effect and decrease weight.” (“Fast Food not Weighty Problem for Kids”). Parents can educate their children on what goes inside their food, so eventually their kids can also make healthy choices. Why go to a fast food chain where the food is doused in grease? Enviromental is a factor towards obesity- effects on body mass- it can be the opening or closing of a store, or the installation of a playground or public trail (“Fast Food not Weight Problem for Kids”).

The speed of a person getting a meal has changed. In the days of pioneers, they used to have to wait for their crops and animals to grow so they could make their next meal. Now all we have to do is stop at the closest drive thru and we can have an entire meal in a matter of minutes. America has a problem, the low cost and easy accessibility to unhealthy foods at fast food restaurants in the US are one of the leading causes to our high obesity rates. According to a 15-year study of 3,000 adults, people who visited fast food restaurants more than twice per week gained roughly 9 to 11 pounds more than people who visited them less than once per week (Pereira PhD, Mark A)

It may appear that the food industry is to blame for obesity since it's everywhere, but all that's needed is physical activity and better choices when it comes to consuming products. With the fast food industries, local availability they need to take into consideration how this will affect them when consuming that food and what actions need to be done to stay healthy. “Fast food is mainstreamed, cheaper,quicker service and tasty meals(Down to Earth)”. People are choosing to be sedentary and choosing to make not so smart health choices which is leading to their weight problem not that fast food is locally available in every area it just takes better choices and exercise. Even though fast food is everywhere in all areas no matter the location and local availability doesn't mean you should eat it. “Fast food along America's roadways,burger advertising on TV, rows of candies at the checkout corner of any convenience store(Murray)”. Food is everywhere, but people can get active and start making health focused choices even if their community is surrounded by fast

Not a long time ago, I was a strong junk food consumer. McDonalds was my second home on the weekends when I demanded my dad to buy me kid's meal. In that time, I was not aware of how much I was hurting my body. Until one day, I said "no more" and took the initiative to work on my eating habits. Nowadays, I am informed of how dangerous the fast food can be. In fact, family relatives suffer from obesity due to eating fast food almost daily. Therefore, fast food restaurants should be accountable for peoples’ obesity problems because they have low nutritional products, cheap food which tempt consumers to buy more, and incent children and young adults with advertisings to consume their junk food.

Over the years “nearly seventy-eight million adults and thirteen million children in the United States deal with the health and emotional effects of obesity every day”. (http://www.heart.org) The cause of these outbreaks of obesity are from fast food restaurants. People these days work too much and when they get home they are hungry and tired. When you’re just exhausted from work and tired the first thing that comes to your mind is that you don’t want to cook anything because you’re going to have to cook your food and clean up your mess. This is where fast food restaurants come to place when people get out of work or school they either go to McDonald’s or Carl’s Jr or any fast food restaurants they choose to go to and eat. In return, they go there every time and eat, this becomes a habit for some people and results show it Nearly seventy eight million adults and thirteen million children in the United States deal with health and emotional effects of obesity every day.

How many times do you eat fast food in a given week? Is it tough choosing which fast food restaurant you want to go to? What do you order when you are sitting the McDonald’s drive thru? As a college student, with no income, writing papers and taking strenuous tests, I do not have the time or the financial resources to spend ample amounts of money going grocery shopping and cooking a heart healthy meal. A one dollar hamburger from McDonald’s is much more adventitious regarding my financial situation. This busy life style relies on fast food as an common, easy meal. In Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser associates America’s fast food dependence to the rapid escalation in the number of obese men and women: “The United States has the highest

Fast food is the most popular food in the United States. There already is over 200.000 restaurants in America, such as Jack in the Box, McDonald's, In and Out, and have 50 million people Americans eat at one of them in a single day, and fast food industries can earn $200 billion as their profits for every year . In addition, the attraction of fast food is not only by their low prices, which is affordable by any society class, but also they provide multiple flavor available for people choosing. However, America has the most obese people compared to any other single country, the main reason is that people cannot control themselves for eating fast food, which contains a high calorie and fat. If people intake of fat and calorie excessively, which will lead to people have health problems, such as obesity, heart attack, and other health issues. Even though the negative aspect of eating fast food is horrible. In contrast, it can give people benefits that other restaurant cannot, such as saving time for waiting the food be cooked, prices are cheap and easy to earn money. Currently, fast food restaurant tends to grow rapidly, and it offers a variety of options that positively benefit society.