Fast food restaurants have permanently altered young people s eating habit

Name : Zafir Haider
ID no. : 1431081405
Course code : Eng 105
Section no. : 28
Semester : Spring 2015

Fast food restaurants have permanently altered young people’s eating habit

Fast food is a term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. These foods are usually very high in cholesterol, animal fat, protean and lack fibers and essential nutrients . In recent times, fast food is gaining astonishing popularity worldwide due to its soothing taste and less time-consuming preparation method. The eating habit s of young children have drastically changed from those of previous generation and is a major concern in many countries today causing negative effects primarily on health.

Fast food chains like McDonald’s , KFC , Pizza Hut , AnW , Burger King etc have earned huge popularity among the children and young people all around the world . Instead of eating home-made nutritious food, they are opting for the junk foods. Thus, they lack the proper nutrients and minerals . As lifestyles become more hectic, fast-food consumption has become a growing part of the American diet. More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese and frequent fast-food consumption has been shown to contribute to weight gain. Eating junk food is a major cause of obesity. Researchers at Harvard University predict that by 2050, 42 percent of the U.S. population will be obese. The excess fat, carbohydrates, and processed sugar found in junk food contributes to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, weight gain, and many other chronic health conditions.[1][12]A study by Paul Johnson and Paul Kenny at the Scripps Research Institute in 2008 suggested that junk food consumption alters brain activity in a manner similar to addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin. That explains why young people are so fond of those foods and why their eating habit is consequently altering.

However, living in a busy and highly sophisticated community greatly affects the interest of the children today, For instance, due to the fast-paced life, specifically in the key citied of the country, parents are too busy to prepare home-cooked foods. Fast food chains has been the solution to that problem. Parents resort to buying foods instead of personally cooking healthy meals at home. Although these establishments make our lives easier, what we are not aware of is that these unhealthy foods can raise the risk for cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension and stroke. Over the last decades, eating patterns have changed in the wealthy countries. Both the quantity of foods and the energy density of the foods have increased.

Most Americans still eat at home, according to Harry Balzer, a vice president at the The NPD Group. The marketing information group has been studying our eating habits since 1980. "We've always eaten in the home," Balzer said. "In fact, the trend has been toward eating more meals in home, always. It's just that we've been getting more and more of those meals at a restaurant to eat at your house." He said that has changed over the last three or four years. Frozen and pre-prepared foods have gotten more popular and people are not ordering as much. Lola O'Rourke, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said that grocery stores are offering more foods that are both good for you and easy to fix. "I think that there are very healthful options available," she said. "If you look in the produce department, there are pre-prepped vegetables that are ready for stir-fry or whatever.

In conclusion, this essay explained how and why today's generation of food preference and lifestyle has changed. In my point of view, parents should inculcate to the minds of their children the habit of eating healthy foods and its benefits and organize activities to be done to stay healthy and fit.