Obesity and Fast Food Essay

Obesity is defined as a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduce life expectancy and/or increased health problems. “The problem of obesity is increasing in the United States. Understanding the impact of social inequalities on health has become a public health priority in the new millennium. Social, political, and economic factors now are acknowledged to be "fundamental" causes of disease that affect behavior, beliefs, and biology.” (Goodman, 2003)  In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous problem. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. Obesity has not always been seen as a medical

Are Americans, where obesity is found to be a major struggle, in jeopardy with the various aspects that may cause obesity, such as poor eating habits, lack of physical activity, etc.? Poor eating habits such as eating processed foods is one reason for weight gain in children and adults. These eating habits are affordable, tasty, and an easy way out when an individual does not want to cook. Obesity is a personal issue that many have struggled with all their life. There are many risks that come along with being obese as well as ways to overcome it. In order to explain this the research report will ask: do individuals who are obese know the various health risks that come along with the constant weight gain and how to lose the weight

Obesity in America is real and profoundly alarming when you look at the major impact it has on our communities. Major health concerns like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure cases are at an all time high. Specifically, the disparity between low-income urban inner cities in regards to obesity as compared to more upper class wealthier communities makes you take pause. This relates to my professional goals of going back into my community as an activist and organizer of issues related to my environment, like health and education.

“I’m Lovin’ It.” This slogan has become one of the most recognized in both the United States and in the world. Our nation has slowly gravitated towards fast food, allowing for a new industry to explode and expand over the past few decades. This monumental fast food industry has become a symbol of America and our diets. Fast food is convenient, quick, and cheap, requiring hardly any effort. It is the perfect formula for our fast-paced nation and suffering economy. The problem is shown through our sky-high rate of obesity. Though fast food has some short-term benefits like saving time and a few dollars, it has severe physical, mental and financial consequences for children, showing that the negatives of consuming fast food outweigh the

Would you feed your children lard? The answer for most all of us is “No Way”. Most parents can safely say that they want healthy choices for their children and would never want to give them something that is bad for them. However, with many of the foods on fast food menus this is not far from the truth. We have all heard the statement that childhood obesity is on the rise, and has been for quite some time now. We have seen the heartbreaking stories of overweight children being bullied, made fun of, and even being subject to more diseases. According to the center for disease control the childhood obesity rate rose from 7% in 1980 to an unbelievable 20% in 2008 (CDC, 2011). Parents

You don’t have a lot of money on you and you’re hungry so you grab a bite to eat at a nearby fast food restaurant. Without realizing what you are putting into your body you continue eating these inexpensive meals every night on your way home from work. Weeks turn into months and the next thing you know your cloths don’t fit the way they used you beginning to notice yourself gaining weight. Obesity among young Americans is a problem and can have serious effects if nothing is done about it.

He was right, at least after awhile. Simplot's next step in his riches was determining what foods housewives would want to put in refrigerators. Due to this, he assembled a team of chemists to develop a product that would later become known as the frozen french fry. He wanted a cheap, frozen fry that was just as delicious as an unfrozen one but without the hassle of preparation. His chemists experimented with many things until finally reaching a breakthrough, which would begin to be sold in 1953. Although sales were disappointing at first, Simplot kept at it. He went to Ray Kroc, the man who made McDonald's so successful, and offered to build a new factory to make McDonald's french fries using his frozen fries. Kroc agreed but with no long-term commitment included, so that Kroc could drop out of the agreement if it went sour. McDonald's began selling the fries, to which customers were not noticing a difference in taste. The difference in production price made the fries extremely profitable, even more than their burgers, which allowed Simplot to be the main supplier for McDonald's fries. Within a decade after this arrangement, McDonald's restaurants quadrupled in quantity and was booming with income.

Why do Americans overeat to the point of becoming obese and what are the effects on the body? As the world looks at society today, clearly Americans have an issue with being overweight and becoming obese especially compared with other countries. “Approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese,” and “more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese” (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 2013, Data and Statistics).

Over one-half of all Americans are overweight or obese. If you are overweight or obese, carrying this extra weight puts you at risk for developing many diseases. Women generally have more subcutaneous fat than men, but appear to suffer a greater cardiovascular risk from a given degree of fat than women.

Obesity rates are soaring throughout North America (What Is Obesity?, 2013). With obesity reaching almost epidemic proportions in the United States, and the threat of a global epidemic, we must watch this alarming increase carefully ( Health Risks of Obesity, 2013). Obesity is defined as: "…an excess of adipose tissue…" (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014). The two most common measures of obesity are Body Mass Index (BMI is a ratio of weight to height) and relative weight index, such as percent desirable weight (Body Mass Index , 2013). BMI is the most frequently used measure of obesity as it has a strong correlation with more direct measures of adiposity, such as underwater weighing (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2013). Some

In today's society, fast food has become a large part of many American's lives. With the rising numbers of obese people, it is hard not to draw a correlation between the increase in fast food and obesity. Most obese people don’t want to be obese and wish they could lose weight, yet they continue to struggle with their fast food intake and obesity. This is due to the advertising done on the consumers, the highly addictive food itself, and most importantly, how advertising and addiction combine with children to form habits that are kept once they become adults. These factors are the reasons that fast food restaurants are to blame for the rising obesity and health risks across America. The government needs to step in and place regulations on

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

Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.

In recent years there has been a growing epidemic of obesity, especially in America. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey posted on the Center for Disease Control website there are 12.5 million children from ages 2 through 19 that are obese. Many people are starting to complain that the commercials and ads for these restaurants are the result of such an incline in obesity. Although there have been current ad campaigns aiming at children to live a healthy life style there are still hundreds of advertisements that are putting restaurants in a sort of ultimatum position. Either restaurants change their advertisements or they improve their menus. In 1979 McDonalds debuted their world famous Happy Meals to the

Schlosser provides his personal experience when he went to visit the International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) where the company is responsible for making our food taste the way it does. There, Schlosser reveals that the “snack-and-savory lab is responsible for the flavors of potato chips, corn chips, … and pet food. The confectionary lab devises flavors for ice cream, cookies, candies, toothpastes, mouthwashes, and antacids” (73). Dedicated into making our food taste and smell good, the IFF’s items that we are eating and the aromas that we smell can be present in our own pet’s food and household products. As said by Schlosser, “all these aromas are made through essentially the same process: the manipulation of volatile chemicals” (74). It becomes clear to Schlosser and his audience, as he continues his tour around the IFF building, that there are no differences between creating the flavors of food and the scent of household items such as: shampoo and