Fast Food

Fast food is something that every American knows about. Most likely you, the person reading this has had fast food before, and probably enjoyed it. Whether it may be Mcdonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, KFC, etc. There is nothing as cheap, quick to get, and tasty as fast food. With the ever-growing population of obese Americans, people are looking for a reason and for most that reason is fast food. Now according to the CDC (centers for disease control) the definition of overweight is having a BMI (body mass index) of 25-29.9 and the BMI for an obese person is 30 or higher. Could it be that fast food is causing 78 million Americans 20 years or older to be obese, or that 17% of all children and teens in the US are over weight because of it? I think not. Sure, fast food may not be the healthiest choice for you, but seriously, no one is forcing you to eat that cheeseburger and no one is forcing you to drink that soda. You see fast food is not the problem, the decision making of the obese American population is. Now just so we’re clear I have nothing against obese people and there is a big difference between a little chunky, which is okay and obese.

Now just so your aware of the obesity problem here in America, here’s some cold hard facts about obesity. Here in the US more than 35% of adults are considered obese, that’s more than 78 million people across the country that are obese. Seventeen percent of children and young adults are obese, which is triple the rate of a generation ago. Studies have shown that obesity gives you a greater chance of getting type2 diabetes and even cancer.

If you are wondering why there are so many obese people in America today just ask your self a few simple questions. Would you rather go for a nice evening jog or stay home and watch your favorite TV show? Would you rather eat a salad or something not as healthy like a burger or pizza? And finally would you rather go to the gym or hang out with friends? If I had to guess I’d say most of you would rather hang out with friends, eat junk food, and watch your favorite TV show. You see most people have the time to work out and eat right they just choose not to and just like every choice made in life it comes with it’s benefits and consequences. You don’t have to pay for a gym member ship just walk up some steps or play catch with your kids or take a walk at the park, anything is obviously better than nothing.

Now researchers will argue against my claims, and that’s understandable. They’ll mention that 33 percent of children and adolescents in the U.S. consume fast food on a typical day; they’ll also state that on average adolescents will visit a fast food restaurant twice a week. Well all I have to say to that is whose fault is that? How are these kids buying the fast food? With their parent’s money of course. Why can’t the parents make them something healthy and control what there kids eat instead of giving them money to eat fast food? It’s the parent’s fault that the kids are eating fast food so often. Fast food isn’t going to make you obese unless you eat it most of the time. If you eat it occasionally but you also eat your fruits and vegetables you’ll be fine. It is crazy to know that in the U.S. 49% of money spent on food is spent away from home. Which means people are choosing to buy food from restaurants and other places rather than go to the grocery store and cook at home. That percentage is always increasing due to the fact that people now a days are looking for more convenient ways of getting there food. If your wondering just how much money is being spent on quick service restaurants, in 2011 quick service restaurants were expected to gain 168 billion dollars, 3% more than 2010. If people would just spend half the amount of money that they usually spend on fast food and cook a nice healthy meal instead there would be no problem with fast food. Once again the decisions of the American people are to blame.

Hit the gym and help yourself get slim. Studies have shown that physical activity plays a big role in loosing weight but of course you knew that, its common sense. But what many people don’t know is that according to the CDC (center for disease control) fewer than 2 out of 10 Americans and less than 30 percent of adults get the recommended level of exercise. Also that more than 25% of U.S. adults do not devote any time to physical activity, the worst states being Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. It is very intriguing that correlations have shown that those states with the least amount of exercise have the most health problems. Type2 diabetes is mostly triggered by obesity, and in 1980 5.5 million adults had it; now approximately 25.6 million adults have type2 diabetes. The ever so increasing percentage of obesity and decreasing percentage in physical activity is definitely to blame. An interesting fact is that by loosing weight and getting from overweight to normal you can save on average $1400 a year on medication. If you don’t have time to hit the gym, there are a few tips that can help you get fit. First don’t drink soda; on average if you drink a soda can a day you’ll gain 15 pounds in a year, that is if you don’t work out of course. Take the stairs or walk around the block, a few extra steps could be the difference in burning some extra calories, and finally anything is better than nothing, curl some soup cans or do some crunches while watching TV. Any of those things can help you with your obesity, then you wont have to blame it on fast food.

Fast food companies are now making a bigger push to serve healthier items in their stores, but it is up to the customers to get them otherwise it is all for nothing. McDonalds is taking the biggest step with there new items like the all fruit smoothies, apple slices, salads, and there brochures that show you there below 400,300,200, and 100 calorie items. Jack in the box is jumping on board as well with their 3 choices of salads, and serving grilled chicken instead of fried in there sandwiches. These fast food chains are realizing that healthy is the new way to go but yet the majority of people in America aren’t. We need to watch what we eat, eat healthier brown rice or bread instead of white, more fruits and veggies and less burgers, next time you go to mcdonalds get a salad instead of a Big Mac it might change your life.

In conclusion the fast food industry is not to blame for Obesity in the United States of America. They’re taking steps in the right direction and the people of America should too. We need to start exercising more and getting active because that is the true reason for the increasing obesity. Make better decisions in your life style, choose a healthy one and like I said get a salad next time you go to McDonalds.

- http://www.getamericafit.org/statistics-obesity-in-america.html
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/14/obesity-rate-by-state_n_1774356.html
- http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/morbid-obesity/overview.html
- http://www.uptodate.com/contents/fast-food-for-children-and-adolescents
- http://abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-report-americans-exercise/story?id=12932072#.UJdg-qmSIzU