Junk Food

Shalisa James
Prof. Recasner
ENG-1001-31

6 December 2012

Junk Food Is Addictive

Junk food like soda pop, candy, donuts, and chips are addictive. Most teenagers, young adults, and children in America are addicted to junk food because they tend to crave sweet and salty things because it tastes good. People are addicted to junk food because sugar stimulates people to want more and more. Eating junk food may even be as addictive as people using illegal drugs. There are so many people addicted to junk food that they lost interest in anything else there is to eat besides junk. This paper is to inform you how junk food is addicted and is the leading cause for obesity in America. Eating junk food can lead to juvenile diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Americans buy junk food every single day but don’t realize how unhealthy it is and also how much money they are spending. According to Novikoua, Victoria (2010) How does junk food negatively affect our health “Countless people at the International Academy purchase lunch at the school on a daily basis, while also consuming snacks and caffeinated beverages between classes. Most individuals don’t have time anymore to make lunch or make nutritious snacks from home, so the substitute nutrition for conveince. Many individuals go completely unaware of the harmful effects that the unhealthy food. Merriam-Webster describes junk food as food that is high in calories but low in nutritional value. It could have negative effects on their mental and physical health, in the long term and short term. It is imperative that the students in schools all over the USA are aware of the unhealthy food they purchase at school and that they pursue healthier alternatives, which could include a changes implemented throughout the school by the power of the student body.” Junk food is the number one cause of Juvenile Diabetes. According to statistics as many as three million Americans may have type 1 diabetes. It also says that each year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults and approximately 80 people per day are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the U.S. It also states that 85 percent of people living with type 1 diabetes are adults. The rate of type 1 diabetes incidence among children under the age of 14 is estimated to increase by 3% annually worldwide. Cite: Type 1 Diabetes, 2010; Prime Group for JDRF, Mar. 2011 For the past decades high schools, elementary, and preschools have substituted student’s beverages with milk for lunch because it’s a lot healthier than giving out soda pop and juice. The schools also try to give out healthy side items such as carrots, green beans, and fruit so that the children can eat their veggies everyday like their suppose to but that still doesn’t stop kids from eating junk. For example a lot of younger kids eat junk food and never stops eating it no matter what the consequences are. They are so addicted to junk food that they never stop eating it even if they get obese from it or end up in the hospital suffering from health problems. This problem is growing more and more within different states. Individuals that are suffering the consequences of constant consumption of junk food have diabetes and high cholesterol which is more commonly in teens and younger children. If people were focused on their eating habits then they wouldn’t be so worried about what satisfies their taste buds. Three reasons why so many children are attracted to junk food is convenience, taste and cost. The first reason is convenience. The increase in availability is mostly within neighborhoods lacking funds to supply nutritious food. Junk food is available in almost any grocery, market or corner store, even Auto part stores sell junk food. “Students save themselves the hassle of preparing a lunch the night before or even eating breakfast because some find it tedious and time consuming. In fact, they prefer to grab a quick bite in between classes or to have a quick lunch from the cafeteria so that they can continue with their tasks being almost uninterrupted, hence making junk food utterly convenient for students to purchase”. Victoria Novikova 2010 The second reason junk food is addictive is because it taste good. Chocolate, soda pop, and other junk food contain a lot of caffeine. William Morrison wrote an article called Caffeine Addiction explaining why caffeine is addicted. “The most commonly consumed psychoactive substance on earth, caffeine, is used daily by an estimated 90% of Americans”, therefore making it as addictive as tobacco. Sweets get its taste from large amounts of oils, salts, and sugars; mostly resulting in empty calories (they provide energy without any real nutrients). The temptation of junk food can be over whelming , especially on stressful days because some studies suggest “that carbohydrates, which are present in most junk foods, increase serotonin levels, prompting one to feel happier.” However it doesn’t last long, satisfaction soon wears off and individuals tend to eat more to restore the good feelings. This is how one gets caught in a junk food addiction cycle. For this reason, many find it hard to consider the loss of nutrition that junk food brings. The third reason is that junk food is cheap. Let face it children do not have a lot of money to buy food. Junk food companies know this so to drive sales they make it cheap. Cheap is convenient for children. The prime ingredients in Pastry foods are butter, flour, sugar, and baking soda are very inexpensive. Therefore they turn to the cheap, efficient, and tasty alternative that appears to keep everybody content. Of course, the pot eventually boils over and students begin to display signs of the effects of junk food, mainly manifested not only in their physical appearance, but their educational output such as test scores. It’s been discovered that it is the actual availability of junk food, rather than advertising that is associated with weight gain. In general, a "10 percentage point increase in the proportion of schools with junk food is correlated with about a 1 percent higher BMI for the average student," according to National Bureau of Economic Research. This means the more junk food available, the more weight gain--showing a large disregard for the health risks associated with it; if it 's there, students will eat it.” The taste of junk food is so addictive to people that it has an impact on our society. These different types of sweets are so harmful to individual’s bodies physically and mentally that people just don’t understand when to stop. In paragraph three the information is basically trying to get people out of that addiction because it causes a lot of problems to the human body. It mentions that as people continue to eat junk their going to meet up with their match one day which is an increase in gaining weight, being poor from buying so much junk food, and concerns on health risks. Having high cholesterol and eating a lot of salt which are mainly in chips can result in having a stroke or heart attack because of the simple fact that people are eating to much salt and sugar that are in junk food. Junk food can lead to death and as much as people keep going into stores to buy it then of course junk food isn’t going to sellout. In regards to people wasting their money on junk the people at the stores who’s selling the junk is making money off of all the addicts who’s constantly buying snacks everyday. Their selling their product which is basically what they want then sitting back and watching all the junk food addicts pay for the harmful consequences. As people go on with their everyday life eating junk food they really enjoy the fact that it puts a great taste in their mouth, but in the long run when it catches up to them they look back and ask themselves “Why did I do that?” The reason to that question is because they don’t care if junk food is unhealthy they’re just so addicted to it that they want more and more known stop.

Works Cited
December (1979) Junk Fooders Have It Made, 38(4)
Novikova, Victoria (2010) how does junk food negatively affect our health
Morrison, William 2010 http://www.myaddiction.com/education/articles/caffeine_addiction.html
Type 1 Diabetes, 2010; Prime Group for JDRF, Mar. 2011

Cited: December (1979) Junk Fooders Have It Made, 38(4) Novikova, Victoria (2010) how does junk food negatively affect our health Morrison, William 2010 http://www.myaddiction.com/education/articles/caffeine_addiction.html Type 1 Diabetes, 2010; Prime Group for JDRF, Mar. 2011