Eating Fast-Food: The Leading Causes Of Fast Food

Statistics from the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition indicate that “over 78 million U.S. adults and about 12.5 million (16.9%) children and adolescents are obese.

Recent reports from the same council project that by 2030, half of all adults (115 million adults) in the United States will be obese.” Current overweight children have a higher percentage of becoming obese adults and will fill this projected estimate.

Fast food is one of the leading causes of obesity in the U.S. An old proverb states “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” simply stated, eating healthy keeps one healthy. While Fast food is convenient for most people 's schedules, parents should regulate the amount of fast food their children eat because A meal

Eating fast food can be expensive. It is a lot more cost-effective to buy groceries than fast food every day. Even though individual high calorie foods are often cheaper than fresh groceries, grocery shopping allows one to shop for creation of many healthy meals at a time and ingredients can be used to prepare a variety of types of dishes.

Eating fast food instead of healthy home cooked meals will affect the pocket in more ways concerning overall and long term health. According to the American Diabetes Association, average medical expenditures among people with diagnosed diabetes were 2.3 times higher than those without. People with diagnosed diabetes incur average medical expenditures of about $13,700 per year, of which about $7,900 is attributed to diabetes. That $1.50 double cheeseburger appears to be a good deal, but relishing it too often can translate to costly health

Eating fast foods high in sodium, sugar, and fat will increase the risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart related diseases resulting in early heart attack, stroke, or death.

A large majority of fast foods are loaded with saturated and trans fats. According to the American Heart Association “A diet high in saturated and trans fats raises blood cholesterol — a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Too much sodium can raise your blood pressure and too much fat and sugar can lead to obesity, both of which may contribute to Cardiovascular diseases as well.”

Home cooked meals gives the parent the ability to control the nutrition of the child. There is an almost unlimited amount of groceries and combinations of vegetables, fruits, meats, and other products which can be combined or served individually with better nutrition value. Parents who take control of their children’s food intake and offer more home cooked meals instead of fast food will allow for better nutrition and cut chances of health