Proposal for Research on Fast Foods Essay

OAK BROOK, IL, October 9, 2012 - McDonald's on going commitment to offer healthier menu options

America is known for being one of the most obese countries in the world. Once you step foot in America, people can quickly find out why; everywhere you look there are a ton of fast food chains on nearly every block. Fast food to Americans is a quick, easy, and affordable way to get food. In the past Forty years, more than 160,000 fast food restaurants have opened in America (Pirello). This cheap and quick meal comes at a cost; according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDCP), more than 66 percent of Americans are overweight and obese. To make things worse, the CDCP notes that one third of children and adolescents are obese. David Zinczenko, the editor-in- chief of Men’s Health

frying purposes, the dieter should use canola, peanut and grape seed oil. Cold water fish is

In America today one in three adults are considered to be obese. Over the years the rate of obesity keeps climbing up and up. Some people blame fast-food or the environment Americans live in. After all,someone can purchase a chocolate bar at a bookstore nowadays. But, most people are looking at the incorrect factor to blame. Although the food industry is a huge contribution to obesity in America, people are ultimately responsible for their own health.

In the essay David Zinczenko wrote about how fast food chains are making it easy for people to become obese especially in children. Zinczenko makes some very good points throughout his essay. At the beginning of his paper Zinczenko stated “I tend to sympathize with these portly, fast-food patrons, though. Maybe that’s because I use to be one of them.”

Rose, Caitlin. “Obesity in America.” Down to earth. 16 September 2011. Web. 29 April 2013.

It was designed for quick service, yet having great food to eat. That right there, will come back years later to haunt Americans. With a small menu of only 9 items, there was one food item that stuck out like a sore thumb when it came to the sales charts. That item would be the delicious fifteen cent hamburger. By 1958, McDonalds sold 100 million hamburgers. Over the years, they opened many more restaurants. Not only were they selling, they were expanding. Business was booming, so they had no choice rather than to expand their services. In the very next year, they had opened their 100th McDonalds restaurant. All this was in just four years, if time could tell how quickly things change, lets skip ahead another three years. The year 1962 truly marked an era of how Americans are today. Lazy and arrogant! A Denver, Colorado McDonalds introduced indoor seating for their McDonalds restaurant. This seems like everyday dining for most of everybody reading this. With just one food chain opening up, surely it could not be the only cause of obesity rates in the United States. Please remember, McDonalds is not the only fast food chain around. They inspired others along with their success. Burger King, Checkers, Hardees, Wendys and Sub Way are just a few example of fast food chains that have began to dominate the food industry.

In 2012 CDC statistics show that “over 35 percent of adults and 32 percent of children in the United States of America are recorded as obese (30kg/m2), the obesity rate has doubled since 1971.1” Not only is epidemic growing in numbers of victims but also in expenses. The United States spent 147 billion dollars in 2008 on medical expenses costs and that does not include the programs that fight against the problem. “In 2003 over 300,000 died due to obesity related health problems, diseases and cancers.6” One of the most important battles we wage on American soil is the war for citizens to be fit, and it nearly always starts in the childhood. Since 1971 the problem of childhood and adult obesity started to grow annually due to many reasons related to our ways of living. Now the food industry, including fast food has been getting more and more unhealthy due to unnatural modifications. What Americans eat is not organic anymore and is taking its toll on American lifestyle. The fast food industry has been making advertisements and foods focused upon youth. Since the original commercials directed towards children, it has nearly tripled since the rise of technology. Technology has been growing rapidly as obesity is, statistics show that with the advancement of technology, the population starts to slow down, stop exercising and eating healthier foods. As long as there is childhood obesity, there will be adult obesity, with effects on children causing obesity, there will be a

Obesity is a big topic in American society, it has grown over the years and it has become very well known. It has become an American concern and the food industry has been an easy target to blame for this “epidemic”. The truth to this is that it can be easy to blame the fast food industry, but the real truth it is, that obesity has become what it is now because our society has let that happened; the government, the citizens, the food industry's. They have all played an important role to what it is now obese.

Ultimately, obesity is sweeping the nation because of how easy it is to eat cheap and on the run from fast food restaurants. If Americans do not change their habits of eating with no physical activity the obesity rates will never decrease but only continue to steadily increase. Not only is fast food easily accessible but over the years serving sizes have increased two to five times (Miller,

Many studies have shown that obesity is not only around but it’s here to stay and it’s on the rise. In (the obesity blame game 2006) Lorraine Heller explained that “being overweight comes down to a simple balance: energy intake versus energy burned and a fundamental Change in lifestyle has resulted in the last part of the equation being increasingly ignored”. In today’s society many Americans want to have someone to blame, shoving bad food into one’s body at a fast food restaurant isn’t the peoples fault, it’s the fast food industries fault. Now that doesn’t sound right, now a days many people prefer to eat out in America people are always busy. When hungry and in a hurry there are many fast, convenient, and healthy items available. Many people who insist that fast-food chains are a main cause of obesity in America because there are a plethora of fast-food restaurants on every block with few healthy alternatives, are not looking at the whole picture. Mark Bittman stated “in 2010 the average American, regardless of weekly earnings, watched no less than an hour and a half of television per day. The time is there” (is junk food really cheaper?

From 1960-62 to 2005-06 the number of obese Americans almost tripled from 13.4% to 35.1% (Weight-control Information Network 2). These two extreme upward trends might make a convincing case that the extra fast food intake has caused the hike in obesity rates, and it may very well be a good indication, but it is far from proof. Too many things have changed over the years, from the way the average American exercises, to the types of other food that people are consuming.

Products and Services: McDonald has to continuously evolve its menu to meet the emerging customers need and to attract new customers. Currently, nutritional value has become very important for customers.

McDonalds changed menu with items such as porridge, smoothies and chicken wraps is on reason for the growing business

While, McDonalds is the world largest fast food chain that does not come without problems, the more knowledge that people have the more power they have, McDonalds has in recent years made many adjustments to preparation of certain food items, adjustments to the size food items as well as increased nutritional value to certain food items. Many