Fast-Food Advertising Causes Obesity

Obesity Prevention Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. "Obesity."

It appears this person does not need more food; they are wasting my taxpayer money. As a consequence angry tweets and Facebook postings ensue. Unknown to some people is the relationship between obesity and poverty. Rising costs of fruits and vegetables, falling costs of processed foods, physiological reactions to the mental stresses related to poverty, partnered with lack of nutritional guidance leads to increased obesity in today’s society. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), over one third of adults and about 17% of children in the United States are obese (2013).

Did you know more than 35% of adults and 17% of children and adolescents ages 2 – 19 in the United States are considered Obese (Bucci 32). Obesity is a huge growing problem in not just the United States but everywhere that needs to be controlled. The U.S is the fattest country in the world with Mexico as a close second. Fast Food and Technology are some of the main reasons you usually think of when you think of causes of Obesity, but did you ever think that Parents and Family members have a huge part in the cause of Obesity? Family Influence can cause obesity in children by not eating healthy.

16 Apr. 2014.

Fast food is a factor people blame for causing the increase in obesity because of the innutritious foods, large portions, and drive thru convenience. The typical fast food restaurants do serve burgers, fries, fried chick, etc. which are high in salt, fat, and sugar, but they do offer healthier choices including salads, fruits and grilled chicken (Roizman). America runs on a consumer-producer economy which means the producer is only going to sell what the consumer buys. Most Americans do not have the self-control to stay away from the innutritious foods and eat the healthier choices; therefore restaurants sell more unhealthy choices.

Recently, obesity has been hitting the United States in great numbers. Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for sleep apnea, social and psychological problems, and low self-esteem. Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults, and develop all of the health problems obesity causes. Such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease. Food advertising is linked to childhood obesity, and is a great contribution to the problem.

Companies spend billions of dollars marketing food, drinks, and meals to children and youth (Mackey). So when you ask a kid what they want to eat, they will choose the food they have seen on television. Americans also show lack of willpower toward choosing healthy meals, which could be responsible for rising obesity. Overeaters now find themselves in the... ... middle of paper ... ...for the foods they sell somewhere so you can see what the food you’re eating has in it, and maybe make better choices. All of these things help.

Research shows “the prevalence of obesity among U.S. preschoolers has doubled in recent decades” (May 629). This is not surprising because we live in a “fast food” world where convenience is king. Where the television is the babysitter, and staying indoors to play video games is preferred to playing outside. So is this the child’s fault? Sometimes, but it is my opinion that parents are mainly to blame for childhood obesity because they are the ones that buy the groceries, set the television limits, and rely on fast food to feed their children.

04 Apr. 2014.

SNAPS stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Although this program helps to alleviate America’s hunger problems, it also created a new problem in the nation, which is obesity. Members on the Food Stamps program or SNAPS have abused ones advantage of discounted groceries and are buying cheaper foods that are unhealthy to one’s body. Bill Wolphin wrote for the article The Fat and the Hungry, “Currently, 127 million adult Americans are either overweight or obese.” In order to help cure the epidemic of obesity amongst the poor, massive changes need to be made in the area of assistance to mandate healthy options and eliminate the ease of processed and convenience foods which are readily available in food pantries, backpack programs, and low cost groceries. The nation is suffering from a new epidemic from a program that had good intentions.