The Fast Food Trap: How Commercialism Creates Overweight Children

In America almost two thirds of the nation is overweight. That is about 79.6 million people who are obese. Fast food is without a doubt the problem why these statistics are so high. According to Shannon Brownlee, a journalist for the Sacramento Bee “ It’s Portion Distortion That Makes America Fat” she mentions how fast food corporations are luring buyers into their offers . In another article by David Weintraub “The Battle Against Fast Food Begins in the Home” he focus more on self responsibility rather than fast food restaurants being convenient everywhere you go. In America, the obesity epidemic is caused by the lack of parent not taking full responsibility for their childrens health, as well as fast food industries distorting portion sizes in order to make more

It is essential for the government to continue to regulate the food in our school systems. In the article, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,” Michael Moss shows how the food industry is targeting children in school systems. “A potato chip that tastes great and qualifies for the Clinton-A. H. A. alliance for school...We think we have ways to do all of this on a potato chip, and imagine getting that product into schools, where children can have this product and grow up with it and feel good about eating it” (Moss 488-489). This is a prime example of how the food industry is circumventing regulations already in effect. The children of the United States of America are being zeroed in on by companies finding a loophole, instead of protecting the children, by using

Dawes reveals that the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood united with two parents made known their intent to sue the Kellogg’s corporation as well as Viacom, owner of Nickelodeon. The CCFC and their partnered parents declared that the two afore mentioned companies were deceitfully marketing nutritionally unsound foods to children under the age of eight. The litigants were seeking to end junk food advertisements aimed at children younger than eight-years-old during highly popular children’s programming on Nickelodeon’s station, while also seeking to terminate Kellogg’s advertising campaigns which targeted young children with the company’s fat and sugar laden products. Interestingly, the author points out that this distressing issue is not new, as identical concerns, of adverse health effects incited through advertising high-fat and high-sugar food products to children, were voiced at an FTC hearing at the end of the

It is an established fact that childhood obesity in America is a developing disease that has become an epidemic with ongoing psychological effects, this is due to many reasons, among them are the wide spread of fast-food advertisements and bill boards, the lack of physical activities and parental control. This has made food become a major health issue in many young teenagers’ life today.

The government may not be the only responsible party for what is going on in America, Fast Food corporations have grown into a part of everyday life. Relentless advertising focused on children with the use cartoon characters and larger portions or extra sizes to entice people. Yves Engler, author of Obesity: Much of the Responsibility Lies with Corporations, points out it’s not only fast food restaurants where unhealthy products are being consumed, but also soft drink companies with high calorie soda pop who are giving money to cash-strapped schools to advertise their product on school televisions. Meanwhile targeting young children who get their parents to buy their products. Engler proposes a solution regarding the increase in childhood obesity by first stating that vending machines should be removed from schools and the

Over time America has become bigger. Not just in population size, but also in pant size. Obesity has been on the rise and children are now being affected at an alarming rate. Obesity can be defined as having an unhealthy amount of body fat. The rise of childhood obesity can be linked to bad diets, family, and a lack of exercise. Being obese as a child can cause serious consequences later in life. Bad diets are a major cause of obesity, especially in youth. Consuming unhealthy food often is linked to weight gain. Food that is high in fat, sugar, and calories are the staples of an unhealthy diet. Fast food has all three. According to studies “adolescents associate junk food with pleasure, independence, and convenience” (Sahoo Par 12). Fast food

While the idea of parents taking more responsibility for their children’s health may seem like a very logical solution, not all people agree that this is the best way to handle childhood obesity. For example, geneticists, critics of the food industry, and many parents might not agree with this plan of action. Geneticists would not necessarily oppose this solution, however they would not believe that it would be very successful. They believe that genetics play the most important role in determining whether a person will become obese, and that it really does not matter much what a parent does. They would encourage parents to feed their kids healthy food, but they are strong believers that how a child will turn out is directly related to genetics. People who are critical of the food industry would also not think this is the best solution. Unhealthy food is around children everywhere they go, whether it be at school, the grocery store, or their homes. These critics would argue that a parent cannot control everything their child does, and that eventually they will eat unhealthy. These people would most likely suggests making changes in the food industry, or passing government legislation to get rid of these unhealthy foods. They believe that the only way to combat unhealthy eating is to eliminate some of the unhealthy foods available to consumers. Some parents may also disagree with this solution. They believe that no matter what they do, or how hard they try, their children will

Today, an unhealthy diet is the number one issue that causes obesity in children. It is very common to see children of all ages consuming fast food which can be purchased everywhere and is easily accessible. Fast food contains high calories and fat which eventually leads to various different diseases amongst young people.

Since the last decade, Americans have been drinking more soda pop than ever before. Statistics confirm that children are one of the heaviest consumers of soft drinks, and over 50% of children above 8 years of age drink sodas daily, and a third of teenage boys in The United States of America drink at least three cans of soda pop a day. It is obvious that soft drinks are a great factor that leads to diabetes and obesity, but it is dreadful to know that over “60% of all public and private middle schools and high schools nationwide now sell soft drinks with the aid of vending machines and soda dispensers” (QUOTE). Since it goes without saying that the authoritative figures in ever middle school and high school only want the best for their students, I often found myself wondering why the soft drink corporations were specifically targeting middle school and high school children, when clearly, the several soft drink corporations have multiple regions in the United States as well as overseas where they can attain large profits. Although soft drinks have been of interest to several school children’s palates, it seems suspicious that the children just dove straight for the sodas, without any sort of instigation in physical form. By blaming the schools that purchase these drinks only to gain popularity among their competitors, the adults and other such authoritative figures have overlooked one pivotal question: Why do the soft drink industries direct their sales towards innocent school

Making healthy choices today can be hard. You know eating fast food isn’t good but you still indulge, why? You do this because fast food is easier to get access to than making healthy food. In fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that, “...17% of youth, or 12.5 million are obese.” The CDC also adds,” Obese and overweight people also ate more fast food.” This shows that kids these days are eating too much fast food which causes drastic weight gain. Therefore, kids these days are mostly becoming obese because of fast food.

According to the JAMA Network (jamanetwork.com), in response to increasing rates of obesity, many food companies have announced policies of corporate responsibility. McDonald's claims, “[we] empower individuals to make informed choices about how to maintain the essential balance between energy intake....and energy expenditure...." Coca-Cola states, “we have launched new broad-based physical and nutrition education programs that reach even the least athletic students.” PepsiCo says, “we can play an important role in helping kids lead healthier lives by offering healthy product choices in schools, by developing healthy products that appeal to kids and by promoting programs that encourage kids to lead active lives.” Kraft says, “helping children and their families make healthy food choices while encouraging physical activity has become part of how Kraft gives back to communities.” These convincing and powerful statements lead us to think that the food industry should be welcomed as a constructive partner in the campaign against obesity. However, this is not the case. Marketing agents and managers of leading fast food chains think that they can minimize and gloss over the impacts of their food by ramping up corporate social responsibility efforts. By claiming to develop healthy options and supporting active campaigns, restaurants cleverly cover the eyes of the public whilst still offering terrible products and bad food choices. Companies like McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Kraft cannot fully battle obesity whilst continuing to offer the products that they

Several studies have shown that the increase in fast food restaurants over the past few decades has resulted in a negative impact on the already outrageous obesity rate.According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the number of fast food restaurants over the past thirty years has tripled, which equates to about three hundred thousand establishments in the United States alone. During this time the number of children, ages six to nineteen classified as obese, has risen from five percent to seventeen percent. The percentage of adults classified as obese has risen from half to two-thirds the population. Although fast food restaurants may be a contributing factor to the increasing obesity rate in the United States, people are

Nowadays, people eat out a lot and not from a healthier perspective and food choice but from fast food restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King and among many others. Initially this was not so as parents found any time necessary to make meals at home rather than purchase any food at all which they considered to be the “last resort”. What has caused the increasing rate of childhood obesity in the past few decades? Obesity in children has become one of the No. 1 health concerns in the United States today, topping drug abuse and smoking. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood obesity has more than tripled in children

The fast food industry promotes childhood obesity by manipulating the young mind, putting them at risk for health complications such as hypertension and diabetes. The super-sizing of America is been a frequently talked about subject lately. Especially since it is seem to have negative effects on the health of children and adults alike through massive consumption of fast food. Health providers and other authority figures are now concerned about children’s obesity rates shown during the past 3-4 decades. They have now drawn a close connection between fast food and obesity and identified a childhood obesity epidemic with increased negative health factors. According to the American journal of public health, 2005 September issue, fast food

Fast food outlets in America have become numerous and along with it a childhood obesity epidemic has sprouted. Continuous concern for our youth has grown, as our youth are on average heavier than the previous generation. For these reasons, it is necessary to address the relationship that fast food has on children, particularly the relationship that childhood obesity and fast food proximity have on one another. However, this may not be necessarily true as there are many other factors and variables that may cause obesity within children. Compounded with the many factors that cause obesity such as genetics, disease, and culture, through research, I have found that children that are generally closer to fast food restaurants are on average above the normal body mass index. This shows us that there is a positive correlation between fast food proximity and consumption, which eventually leads to childhood obesity.